TV Program CURRENT EPISODE Better Than a Binge SERIES: The Clash of Cultures #4 of 5 2006-02-19 PRODUCTION #: 1004 SPEAKERS: Shawn Boonstra, Mark Finley, Some rats are binge drinkers. Well, rats, that is, that were part of an extensive research study on alcohol consumption and cancer rates. Some of these binge-drinking rats consumed more than four to five drinks an hour. In addition to getting drunk, these heavy-drinking rats had eight times as many cancerous tumors as their non-drinking counterparts. Moderate-drinking rats had twice as many cancerous tumors. One thing is for certain, binge-drinking rats are headed for disaster. Is it possible that "binge-drinking" college students and adults are, too? Alcohol consumption is at an all time high in the United States. More than 86 billion dollars is spent annually to purchase alcoholic beverages. As much as 116 billion dollars is the cost of alcohol's damage to society, in health care, divorce courts, lost work and premature deaths, annually. All totaled, alcohol costs us 202 billion dollars per year. Add to this alcohol's devastating effect on living a productive life. Recent research reveals that alcohol is related to cirrhosis of the liver, peptic ulcer disease, increased cancer risk, increased infectious diseases, high blood pressure, stroke, impaired sexual function, osteoporosis, gout, heart problems, low blood sugar, chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple other health problems. Quite a list! Government research indicates that alcohol consumption causes more than 100,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. In spite of all of these clear health consequences, there are those who argue for the so-called benefits of moderate drinking. There are some who cite a French study that seems to indicate lower heart attack rates for moderate drinkers. Some Christians attempt to defend social drinking from the Bible. They use passages like, "Drink a little wine for the stomach's sake," (1 Timothy 5:23) and Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding feast of Galilee (John chapter 2). This leads us to some critically important questions: Why do some people lapse into alcoholism? Is alcoholism a disease? Is it genetic? Why do some college students lose themselves in binge drinking? What does the Bible teach about alcohol consumption? Is moderate drinking contrary to Scripture? Join Shawn and me as we tackle these tough questions now. MARK: Shawn, what does the Bible teach, generally, on the subject of alcohol? Give us an overview. SHAWN: Well, let's go straight to the Bible and take a look. There is a broad principle, a broad foundation for this subject, laid in the book of Proverbs, chapter 20 and verse one. Listen to what the Bible says. (Proverbs 20:1 KJV) "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging." Let me pause there for just a moment. Strong drink, in those days was not 80-proof alcohol. It was simply referring to any alcohol. "Strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
The general principle in the Bible is, there is no wisdom in alcohol consumption. Why? A few chapters later, in chapter 23 of the book of Proverbs, we get a list of reasons why it is not wise. Listen to this in Proverbs, chapter 23, beginning in verse 29: (Proverbs 23:29-33 KJV) "Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.? Here is a whole list of reasons why it is not wise. It says it brings sorrow to our homes. It brings contention or fighting, babbling, wounds or injury without any good reason for them, redness of eyes, sexual perversion, hearts uttering perverse things. These are things we see in homes where alcohol is consumed. These are the reasons; it is not wise. MARK: Does the Bible contradict itself though, because you take the New Testament, for example, where Jesus created wine at the wedding feast of Cana of Galilee and when Paul said to Timothy, "Take a little wine for the stomach's sake." How do you respond to that? SHAWN: Let's visit that wedding in Cana in John, chapter two. Let's examine it. The question is this, if you were to invite Jesus to a party at your house, could you really see Him coming with a case of beer? And with most people, that picture, when we put it in modern context, doesn't seem quite right. Why? Is there any question Jesus provided wine in Cana? No question at all. But wine can refer to more than one thing in Scripture. We have one word in the English Bible for two different concepts. We call it all wine, but it could refer to fermented wine or unfermented wine, the pure juice of the grape. And here is the situation in John, chapter two, once we understand that there is more than one kind of wine. In the ninth verse of John two, we have the governor tasting the wine that Jesus created. And he says, "This is very good wine. This is the best we have had." Weddings in those days went on for quite a long time, Mark, sometimes days and days. If they had been drinking alcohol all that time, I am willing to guess that that governor wouldn't know the difference between good and bad wine, right? After enough drinks, jet fuel would taste good. They just wouldn't care. But he has discernment left toward the end of the wedding. Was Jesus giving out alcoholic wine, I don't believe so. MARK: There are a couple other things in that passage that to me are quite exciting, to explain the fact that this is not fermented wine, it is actually unfermented wine. If you look at John two, verse six, it says (John 2:6 NKJV): "And there were set there six water pots of stone,containing two or three firkins apiece." (That is about 20-30 gallons each.) So you take six, times the conservative number, 20, that's 120 gallons. So Jesus made 120 gallons of wine. What further complicates it is that this is in Cana. Cana is not far from Nazareth. I have been through that little village. It probably contained 300 people in the days of Jesus. There were probably 100 people at the wedding. So what we would be saying is that He really got these people (with two gallons apiece) drunk, and that their families got drunk. Maybe some guy goes off with a woman other than his wife, and some guy drives his ox-cart off the road; some guy goes home and beats his family. I think it is unconscionable to think that Jesus got all those people drunk. I think the key, though, is in the first verse. It says on the third day, (a reference to the third day, Jesus will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, and on the third day He will rise from the dead) there was a wedding at Cana. The word Cana literally means "wickedness." It also says the mother of Jesus was there. Every chapter, John points forward to the cross. So Jesus pitched the cross in the middle of wickedness. His mother was there and on the third day He rose from the dead.
SHAWN: This is a picture of the Crucifixion. MARK: Exactly. Because what this parable is really saying, this is the first miracle that Jesus works and it illustrates that He will take the water of Judaism that no longer satisfies and turn it into the beautiful wine of the gospel. And from Jesus, the wine of His blood has to be unfermented, because it is not sin-tinged blood. So this whole story, if you see the deeper hidden meaning, is that Jesus will take that which is common and ordinary in your life and He will fill it with grace, and fill it with love. The unfermented blood of Christ untinged with sin, comes to provide us with grace and mercy. SHAWN: All right, but, Mark, we have kind of gotten away from alcohol. There are other texts in the Bible, aren't there, that people refer to? Doesn't Paul say, "Take a little wine for the stomach's sake." And doesn't it say in the book of Proverbs, "Give strong drink to those that are ready to perish." MARK: What do you think about those? SHAWN: I have read them and I have heard a lot of people say, "Jesus might not have used alcohol here, but obviously Paul is recommending it." In First Timothy 5:23, that's where we read, "Take a little wine for the stomach's sake." First Timothy, chapter five and verse 23. Here is what he says, to Timothy, the young pastor (1 Timothy 5:23 KJV): "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." Now, I want to point something out here. It says here, "Drink wine." But there is nothing that clearly indicates that wine was alcoholic or non-alcoholic. It does not specify which it is, and I think you have to read this in context. If Paul is advocating drinking alcohol here, he is violating his own counsel to Timothy given just a couple chapters before. In First Timothy three, verse three, he tells him to: "Stay away from wine." (1 Timothy 3:2, 3 KJV): "the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine" Now, obviously, both can't be true. He does not say in the same letter, "Timothy, stay away from wine, but drink some wine," right? MARK: Right. SHAWN: It cannot be both alcoholic wine and non-alcoholic wine. One must be one and the other, the other. He is telling Timothy, "Stay away from alcohol. You need good judgment as a young pastor. Take a little wine for your stomach's sake." Is it alcoholic? It doesn't specify, but I am guessing, no, based on the context. MARK: You know Shawn, the passage in the Old Testament that says: "Give wine to those that are ready to perish." (Proverbs 31:6) Let's grant that that may be fermented wine. I am willing to grant a person that argument. SHAWN: Sure. MARK: If it is, it is still no endorsement of social drinking. SHAWN: Absolutely not. MARK: What it is really talking about is wine for a medicinal purpose to a person whose body is so wracked with pain that they are about ready to die. In fact, there is a context issue there, isn't there?
SHAWN: Absolutely. Context is very important. We can't go lifting texts out of their context. You can teach anything you want that way. Here is the passage. It is Proverbs 31 and verse six (Proverbs 31:6 KJV): "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts." And again, to use this as an endorsement for social drinking would be to say that it is OK to use morphine recreationally. We use that to kill pain. But, look at the context back in verse four (Proverbs 31:4 KJV): "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes, strong drink." Why not? See verse five (Proverbs 31:5 KJV): "Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." The principle being taught in Proverbs 31 is that people who need good judgment should stay away from wine. Then it says, "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish." In other words it is saying, you need good judgment, stay away from wine, leave wine to the people who need it as medicine when they are dying. MARK: The book of Revelation says that when we come to Jesus, we are kings and priests of God. SHAWN: Absolutely. MARK: There were two groups in the Old Testament that would never take alcoholic beverages. And those were kings and priests, because it would pervert their judgment, and it would keep them from ministering to their people. In the last days of earth's history, in the light of the coming of Jesus, Jesus says to us: "You are a king. You are of a royal line. You are a priest of God." As a Christian, God does not want our judgment affected at all. What about the communion service? SHAWN: Yes, that is a question I hear all the time, don't you? People saying, "Ah, the communion wine, that is alcoholic wine." And I have been giving that a little bit of thought. What does that wine represent? And when did that take place? In Scripture, it took place on the Passover. Jesus is substituting that Passover meal with a new ceremony for the Christian era. And He is taking the bread and the wine and He is saying, "These things represent my body and my blood." The Bible tells us, Jesus is without sin. In Scripture it talks about leaven and alcohol as being symbolic of sin. If we assume that was alcoholic wine, then we are saying the symbol of Jesus' blood is tainted. That would not have happened. As a matter of fact, at Passover, they purged all the leaven from their homes. There wasn't any in the home at all. It was symbolic of sin. That wine represents the blood of Jesus Christ. That bread had no yeast in it, represented the body of Jesus Christ. The symbols of sin are completely absent. That wine was not alcoholic. MARK: So the general teaching of the Bible is, wine is a mocker. It deceives you. And look not upon the wine when it is red. So the general teaching has to do with abstinence from wine. But why all the big deal about social drinking? Is social drinking really that harmful?
SHAWN: I have heard a lot of argument and I guess some people might get away with it all their life. They might have a drink now and then and never develop a real problem. But there are a number of things we ought to think about. And one of them is this: When you pick up your very first drink, you have no idea how prone you are to addiction when you pick up that drink. The numbers used to say that one in 10 people would develop a drinking problem. I understand now that it is more like two in five. Forty percent of the public that starts drinking is going to end up with a serious alcohol problem. So when you pick up that first drink, it is like playing Russian roulette. You have a gun with five chambers, there are bullets in two, and you are pulling the trigger, gambling that you won't develop a serious problem. Second, your example might end up being a problem for other people. Romans 14, verse 13 says that we ought not to become a stumbling block to others (Romans 14:13 NKJV): "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." Let's say that I did get away with it all my life, and I pick up that drink once in a while. But I have a child who is one of those two in five and sees Daddy picking that drink up every day. So they decide at a party, if Daddy does it, I can do it. Now my child has an alcohol problem. Where did they pick it up? What was their example? It was me. A third point. Even social drinking one drink kills some brain cells. We need those, don't we? We need every one of them to maintain judgment, to keep ourselves in line with God. The Bible recommends in First Corinthians 10:31, that everything we eat and drink ought to be to the glory of God. So even if I am killing five brain cells deliberately, I need to think, does that glorify God in the body He has given me? MARK: I talk to young people about that very point. And they say, "Well, look, we've got over 100 billion brain cells. What difference does it make?" And I have explained it to them this way: It is not just that the drinking kills brain cells, but it kills those brain cells that have to do with conscience, reasoning and judgment. It has to do with the forebrain, the most discriminating part of the brain, and we are destroying our ability to have good judgment. Let's suppose that you are in a 737 aircraft and you are taking off and you learn that the pilot has taken three or four drinks just before getting on the plane. Would you want to fly with that pilot? Why not? Because you wonder about the fact that, "Hey, this guy needs the best judgment possible when he lands this plane." You don't want to fly with a pilot that has been drinking. We are getting ready to take the most amazing space trip possible, and Jesus is about ready to come and get us. And as a Christian, I need all my discriminating judgment to be influenced by the Holy Spirit. You mentioned earlier that, approximately two in five people who drink have a serious drinking problem. And I have likened it this way. Let's suppose you had a dog and you said to me, "Mark, come on over to my house. My dog only bites two out of five people." I am out of there! What about the French studies? Don't the French studies seem to indicate that drinking wine reduces heart disease? SHAWN: Yes, that was a very controversial study. It was Renault who came out with that study in the late 1990s. And he said, "Two to three glasses of red wine is actually good for you and prevents heart disease." And I suppose it is possible that those two to three glasses of red wine really do help.
But I have likened that to swatting a mosquito with a shotgun. You don't chase a mosquito around your house with a shotgun, shooting, because of all the holes you are going to blow in the wall. You go after it with a swatter. Think of what you are doing. You might take two or three glasses of red wine each day to help heart disease, but what else is happening? What else is happening in your body with that alcohol? I have thought about this a great deal. Why is it red wine, why not white wine? Why doesn't the alcohol help you with vodka? It's red wine, why? Because it's not the alcohol, Mark. They have actually shown that non-alcoholic red wine carries the same benefit, but without the risks. The benefit is flavanoids; it is the antioxidants. You can get the same benefit from exercise and fresh vegetables without the risk of alcohol, without the negative things that come with drinking. MARK: Shawn, I think we need to factor some things in about the French study, too. And there are three or four things that come to my mind. Number one: heart disease is the number two killer in France. So it is not accurate to say that the French have no heart disease because they drink wine. It is just not factual. Number two: In a study of 24 nations whose alcohol consumption from 1950 to 1980 went up 70 percent, it was the French who went down 15 percent. Why? Because the French realized the social consequences of drinking. It may not be the wine issue at all. Now the other issue is that the French eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, which increases your antioxidant intake. Here is another thing to take into consideration. Let's compare the French that drink a little bit of wine with Seventh-day Adventists who do not drink any wine. The heart attack rate of Seventh-day Adventists who don't drink any wine is dramatically less than the French who drink a little wine. SHAWN: So, you don't need the wine. MARK: That is the whole point. It is not factual to think that you need wine to reduce coronary heart disease. The problem is the wine may have some benefits, but it has all these liabilities which are significant. SHAWN: Absolutely. You might have a healthy heart, but you also might beat your wife because you can't control what you have been drinking. MARK: Sure. But some people say that alcoholism is genetic. Is it genetic? SHAWN: Well, let's suppose for a moment that it is. Let's say that we do know that we inherit tendencies from our parents. And let's say that my parents wrestled with alcohol, which they don't, but let's say that they did and that I developed that same problem. Does that men that I am now condemned, that I have absolutely no choice? Are my genes steering me in a direction that I cannot control? I refuse to be that fatalistic. I do not think the Bible goes that direction. I might have irresistible urges, but that does not mean there is no way out. First Corinthians, chapter 10 and verse 13, tells us a little bit about any problem. But I think this applies to alcohol as well. It says in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13 (1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV): "There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man." No temptation, including alcohol. "but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." No temptation. Everything you are tempted with has a solution from God. Even if you have irresistible urges, He is bigger than those urges. He will give you a way out. MARK: There are many genetic trends that are outlined in Scripture. A person may have a genetic trend to lose their temper, for example. They may have a genetic trend for anger.
A person born of a crack addict may have a genetic predisposition for crack. A person born of an alcoholic father may have a predisposition for alcohol. Whether the predisposition is for lust, whether it is for anger, whether it is for impatience, we all have fallen natures, and we all have a predisposition toward something. So we are all in the same boat with alcoholics, because we are all sinners. Even though we may have that genetic predisposition, the grace of God comes and gives us strength. It is God's grace, it is God's mercy, it is God's power. SHAWN: He is bigger than the bottle. MARK: Exactly. Talk to the person who is really struggling with an issue of alcoholism. And talk to that college student as well, who is fiddling around, socially drinking, to be accepted. SHAWN: I think a lot of people in their hearts are sensing that they have a problem, right now, at this moment. This is out of control, out of their hands. And they need to understand that they do not have to go through this alone. First of all, one of the reasons Christ established a church is so that we do not have to face struggles alone. So, go start talking to somebody, come to a church, talk to a pastor. Be honest, recognize that problem and confess it to God. And then, 1 Corinthians 15:57 says (1 Corinthians 15:57 KJV): "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory." You do not have to struggle for something that is a gift, do you? God will hand it to you. Get that help. God can hand that to you. Talk to somebody. Find a Christian you can pray with. Go to a pastor. Talk to them. You can be free from this. And I don't mean struggling with it the rest of your life. You can be absolutely free. MARK: Jesus offers us something better than a binge. In John, chapter four, Jesus met a woman with incredibly low self-esteem. She was the object of scorn and ridicule in Samaria. Everyone knew her and the men of the village knew her only too well. She had an intense longing for love. This unfulfilled longing led her to sell her body to the highest bidder. She prostituted herself. She sold out cheap. She destroyed herself on the altar of passion. Jesus offered her more, much more than she could ever imagine. Speaking of her insatiable search for satisfaction in all the wrong places, Jesus said in John, chapter four and verse 14: (John 4:14 NKJV) "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." Like the woman at the well, the drinker has an insatiable desire that can never be quenched. The more they drink, the more they desire. One drink demands the next and the next and the next. Jesus offers us something so much better. The "Water of Life." His own loving presence fully satisfies. Jesus Christ offers us Himself. He is better than a binge. Drinking at the fountain of His love, we are fulfilled. Drinking in His grace, we are satisfied. Drinking from the living stream of His goodness, we are content. So come to the waters of His love, His grace, His mercy, His goodness, His compassion, His forgiveness, His acceptance, His power. Come to this Christ who can meet the need of the human heart. Do you feel burdened today? Is there something that is really troubling you? Something that is really bothering you? You need not lose yourself in a drink, only to wake up in the morning with the same thing troubling you, the same thing bothering you, the same thing burdening you. You can find in Jesus the center of your life. You can find in Jesus the purpose of living. You can find in Jesus the One who will fill the aching void within. Would you like to say, right now, as Shawn prays, "Jesus, I want you to be the center of my life." PRAYER: Our gracious Father in Heaven, today somebody watching this program has been turning to things to
Our gracious Father in Heaven, today somebody watching this program has been turning to things to solve life's problems that leave them feeling empty. They sense chains on them. They sense that they are slaves to substances, and today they want to be free. Teach us Lord, to look to Jesus Christ. He has taken everything that sets us back and nailed it to the cross. Teach us to take Him by the hand as He leads us into a better, more abundant life. Teach us Lord, to drink from the streams of living water. Touch that person today. Help them to sense how close you are, how much you love them. And to know that you will set them free. For we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Scriptures Used in Better Than a Binge "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Proverbs 20:1 KJV "Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things." Proverbs 23:29-33 KJV "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." 1 Timothy 5:23 KJV "the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine." 1 Timothy 3:2, 3 KJV "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts." Proverbs 31:6 KJV "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes, strong drink." Proverbs 31:4 KJV "Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." Proverbs 31:5 KJV "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." Romans 14:13 NKJV "There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory." 1 Corinthians 15:57 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14 NKJV Keywords: addiction alcohol alcoholism Bible and drinking binge drinking drinking Mark Finley moderate drinking Shawn Boonstra The Clash of Cultures It Is Written Box O Thousand Oaks, CA 91359 USA Tel: (805) 433-0210 Fax: (805) 433-0218 Copyright 2010, It Is Written International Television. All rights reserved. Webmaster