Is It Wrong to Get a Little Drunk Sometimes? - Ask Pastor John

Video from Desiring God

Is It Wrong to Get a Little Drunk Sometimes? - Ask Pastor John

Audio Transcript

"We talk about substances on the podcast quite a lot: alcohol, drunkenness, nicotine, smoking, vaping, chewing tobacco, the abuse of caffeine, painkillers, morphine, and of course marijuana. You’ll see my digest of all those episodes in the Ask Pastor John book on pages 269–276. We’re back talking about alcohol today because one of the most important texts on alcohol is in our Bible reading tomorrow: Ephesians 5:18. It’s a timely text for us in the advent of this question from a Christian teenage boy who’s seeking to grow closer to God and facing temptations to drink. Obviously, it’s illegal for a teen to drink in the US — so that’s one angle we need to state here at the outset. But here’s the question.

“Pastor John, hello. I’m a Christian teenager trying to get closer to God, and I’ve been wondering if getting a little drunk every so often, for fun or to help with some pain, is sinful. When I’ve been drunk, I’ve stayed in control and haven’t done anything bad. I even pray for God’s help in making good decisions. I’ve never been so drunk I forget things or act crazy, and I don’t intend to. Is it still sinful to do this even if I don’t do anything wrong or out of hand?” Pastor John, beyond the legal question, what would you say to a Christian teen asking this question?

The most encouraging thing about this question is that this young man says, “I’m a Christian teenager trying to get closer to God.” That’s encouraging because the Bible says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). And for God to draw near to us, that’s just glorious. I mean, when it says “draw near to [us],” it doesn’t mean in judgment; it means in fellowship, in blessing. “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). And he’s offering that to us as we draw near to him. That’s what nearness means: pleasures and joy, now and forever. That’s a beautiful aspiration for a teenager, or an old man like me. I want the nearness of God with our young friend.

So, when he asks if getting a little drunk every so often is sinful, my question back is this: Are you really asking (or should you be asking), “Does getting a little drunk every so often get me closer to God?” Because that’s the way everything started. Those may not be the same question for him: “Is it sinful?” and “Is it getting me closer to God?” There are religions that think that the use of some drugs puts you in a kind of mental trance where you do, in fact, have closer experiences with God. Some Rastafarians and some Hindus and some Native American religions use drugs that way. But Christianity has never viewed drug-induced states as a bona fide way of getting close to God.

Call for Clarity and Alertness

The reason for this becomes really clear when we look at the passage of Ephesians 5 that leads up to Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery.” So, let me read the verses leading up to it. I’ll emphasize the words that I think are so opposite to drunkenness, which causes Paul to say, “Don’t do that. Don’t get drunk with wine.” That’s what he says in verse 18. But here’s Ephesians 5:14–17:

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, [buying up] the time [redeeming the time], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

And then, by way of example, he says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but [instead] be filled with the [Holy] Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

So, the reason Christianity doesn’t use drugs, including alcohol, in search of closeness to Christ is that God puts a huge premium on being seen, understood, known for what he really is, with our minds that he’s given us in his own image, so that he piles up words that emphasize mental clarity, alertness, precision. So, he says:

“Be awake,” not drowsy or sleepy or woozy, in your perception of reality (verse 14).

“Be alive,” not dead toward spiritual reality and the beauties of God and the world (verse 14).

“Look carefully how you walk.” In other words, don’t be careless where you put your foot — your mental foot, your physical foot, your spiritual foot. Be alert; be careful. Look — look. The Greek word is akribōs: accurately, carefully (verse 15).

“Don’t be unwise, but wise.” In other words, be able to use your mind clearly to assess situations and make good judgments (verse 15).

“Purchase the time.” In other words, there’s a sense of urgency about the choices you make, and you want them to be shrewd and wise and good, and not blunder your way into any situation that would make you unalert or act in a stupid way (verse 16).

“Understand what the will of the Lord is.” In other words, involve all your mental capacities. Don’t be dull. Don’t let them be dulled with drugs. Heighten them with wakefulness and alertness and careful thinking and careful observation (verse 17).

In other words, all of that is just a lead-in to verse 18: “Do not get drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Spirit.” The implication seems to me to be this: The Holy Spirit is precisely the power of God in you to make you wakeful, and alive, and careful in your observations, and alert in your senses, and wise in your judgments.

Work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit doesn’t come in to replace human faculties, mental faculties, faculties of observation or thinking, but rather to take them to a new level of spiritual acumen. I think that’s really crucial. The Holy Spirit doesn’t replace mental faculties of observation and thinking. It takes them to a new level of spiritual acumen, because the Holy Spirit is given to bring about exactly what our young friend says he wants — namely, closeness to God. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. He reveals Christ. The Holy Spirit leads us to Christ.

To be full of the Spirit is to be full of the enjoyment of the nearness of Christ, which Paul says is the opposite of drunkenness, because drunkenness dulls the very faculties God has given for the enjoyment of Christ. We’re not even talking here about the 32 percent of all fatal car accidents involving alcohol, or the 81 billion dollars a year that are lost in businesses owing to alcohol abuse, or the 178,000 people who die every year in America from the overindulgence of alcohol, or the devastation on marriages and the wreaking of divorce. We’re not talking about any of that right now. We’re just talking about this man’s desire to get close to God, which is the fundamental error that I want to point out. (At least, I think it’s in his mind — I don’t know for sure, but from what he says, it looks like it, and it’s really common. It is common for all of us. We’re all tempted to this at one time or the other.)

The error is this: If your desire is truly to draw near to God, you don’t calculate your behavior by asking how close you can get to sin. If you want to get close to God, you don’t ask, “How close can I get to sin?” If you’re asking how to get close to God, you ask, “How can I do everything that would enhance closeness to God?” not, “How can I nuzzle up as close as possible to sin without really sinning?”

That’s like asking, “Is it okay to drive a car when I’m a little bit sleepy?” Well, if your goal is to drive safely and get to your destination (namely, God), you’d better pull over and take a nap and not indulge in sleepiness while driving, not even a little bit of sleepiness. Open the windows, stick your head out, drink something, slap your cheek. Taking steps away from sleeping is not, “How close can I get to sleepiness and still drive?”

So, my conclusion for our friend and for all of us is this: When you look at the list of sins in Galatians 5:19–21 that keep you out of the kingdom of God, you don’t say, “Well, can I be a little bit envious? Can I be a little bit angry? Can I be a little bit jealous? Can I be a little bit idolatrous? Can I be a little bit sensual? Can I be a little bit lustful? Can I dabble a little bit in sorcery? Can I enjoy a few moments of strife?” You just don’t ask those questions, not if your goal is really to be as close to God as you can be. So, let’s not ask, “How close can I go to sin?” but “How full can I be of the Holy Spirit?” from the Transcript

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of Desiring God and chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy.

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