(589) Alcohol 2

A group of people read 1 Timothy 3. We noted verse 2 and 3: A bishop must be ... Not given to wine ... Also verse 8: Likewise must the deacons be ... not given to much wine ...

It was interesting that no two people around the table interpret it the same way. I quoted from the authorized King James version. Since different people use different versions, it is noted that in other versions bishop was replaced by elder or overseer. For readers who are not familiar with churches, deacons are the second tier leaders who may be called council or committee members.

The church I attend right now takes a tough stand against alcohol of all forms. Hence my younger children do not touch alcohol at all. My husband and my eldest son would take beer or wine in moderation. I grew up sipping whatever my father was drinking at that moment. Yet my father drunk sparingly and most of the time for health purposes. Since my allergic reaction to wine at the age of eighteen, I have avoided alcohol of all forms. Two times I was taken in; once was in the form of mint liquor in an ice-cream dessert, the other was a Chinese dish with rice wine added but not taken to boiling point. Were it not for the unfortunate allergy, I would have been a confirmed wine lover.

Jesus turned water into wine at a Canaan wedding as recorded in the second chapter of John. Most wedding receptions in the East would serve wine or liquor. At my wedding reception, no alcohol was served. That was not unusual for Christian couples in my country. Actually for that reason we registered a gain of a few thousand dollars for throwing the dinner reception. It is customary for guests to such wedding receptions to give cash gifts to the newlyweds.  

While I find nothing wrong with folks who can control their intake of alcohol to acceptable levels, I am mindful of the fact that a certain percentage of the population is genetically prone to alcoholism. In fact the family who took me in as a guest for my first Christmas found out tragically that their son turned alcoholic in college. Since one of the grandmothers was adopted, there was no way for them to even guess at this unexpected legacy. Interestingly everyone from both sides of the family could handle alcohol. Some drink socially and some abstain, my college friend's brother was the only one in the entire clan with the risk factor and drunk to his own detriment. I am happy to note that he has been dry for many years now.