The call came in at two o’clock in the morning. When the phone rings at that hour, it is almost never good news on the other end of the line. The person on the other end of the line was clearly drunk. For the most part, they were unintelligible apart from a few phrases that they were able to string together. The main words that I could make out were, “Johnny, help me, help me please.”

I have never consumed alcohol and have no desire to do so. Sadly, many families and lives are ripped to shreds by this toxin. This event, preserved in the rolodex of my mind, underscores the mind-altering qualities of alcohol and the lack of control it creates when consumed. Still, I wished to help her with alcoholism if it had been possible.

Despite the slurred speech, I recognized the voice of the caller and had been told by members of the congregation that this person had a serious problem with alcohol abuse. After the call, I contacted another member of the congregation who subsequently knew the lady who called and went to her home. Since I was new to this congregation, I did not know where she lived or how to proceed given the circumstances of attempting to help a single, inebriated female. The person who called me was found on the floor passed out in their home.

After being found, she was taken to Vanderbilt hospital and placed on a floor for people struggling with addictions. I visited her as soon as I found out, and the news about her condition was very serious. She was told by the doctors that she had to stop drinking. She said to me, “The doctors have said that my liver cannot process any more alcohol, and if I have another drink, it will kill me.” She stopped drinking for a short time but was back at it in about six months.

Sure enough, she was dead in less than one year after calling me on that sad morning. That thinly veiled call for help was answered to the best of mental health care providers’ ability, but it accomplished little in her case.

I was asked to have a part in her funeral services. What does one say at such a funeral setting? The gentleman who helped me preach the funeral started his portion of the ceremony by saying, “It is a sad set of events that have brought us here today.” No truer words have ever been spoken.

I could share even more stories about people who have struggled with alcohol abuse. I know many of my brethren could do the same about family members, friends, and acquaintances who have succumbed to the mind altering, devastating effects of alcohol. Still, there are those among members of the church who want to defend social drinking. Any argument that is offered to do so will fall upon deaf ears if it is aimed at me. I have seen too much as a preacher and therapist for any defense of social drinking to make sense.

Drinking devastates lives, destroys marriages, ruins jobs, kills relationships, and wrecks families. Nonetheless, people what to treat the consumption of alcohol as if it is not a problem in our society. More disturbing still, members of the church attempt to defend something that can destroy a person’s soul.

Consequently, some will say that scripture prohibits one from becoming drunk and not engaging in the consumption of alcohol. They get this idea, in part, from Ephesians 5:18 which says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Paul is drawing a contrast between being filled with wine, which results in debauchery (ESV), and being filled with the spirit which results in godliness.

The Greek verb used in Ephesians 5:18 is μεθύσκω. This verb coupled with the μή means that Paul is offering an injunction against using alcohol. The term as used in this passage, μεθυσκεσθε is in the present tense, passive voice, imperative.1 When taken with the tense of the verb, it prohibits one from starting the process of becoming drunk. Logically, a person begins the process of becoming drunk with the first sip of an alcoholic beverage.2

Beyond this argument, some will contend that Paul told Timothy to drink wine, so “we should be able to do so as well.” This is in reference to 1 Timothy 5:23 which says, “Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.” There are two points that stand out from this passage.

Paul had to tell Timothy to do it. As a Jewish young man, Timothy would have understood the dangers and prohibitions associated with drinking wine. Moreover, it was prescribed by Paul for medicinal reasons. To argue that it is acceptable to socially drink on the basis of this passage, is a stretch to say the least.

Finally, scripture provides the best directions regarding the treatment of alcoholic beverages. Proverbs 23:29-35 says, “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: ‘They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?’" After reading this passage, one should not have to say anything more about the dangers of drinking alcoholic beverages.

1 Mounce, William D. (1993). The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, pg. 312.
2 Darrell Broking has an excellent parallel to demonstrate this point. He says, “Let me give you an example, look at Romans 6:12: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” The word “reign” is the present, active, imperative of βασιλεύω and it is negated with μή, hence a prohibition. Now, what if we approached Romans 6:12 like some approach Ephesians 5:18? Can we allow a little sin to reign in us? If we can have a little intoxicating beverage, then why not a little bit of any of the works of the flesh?”