What will you do with the facts?

Alcohol…Friend or Foe

According to Time magazine (October 31, 2011), the United States spends $224 billion a year to cover the cost of excessive drinking in the U.S.  According to About.com, on October 25, 2011, we have spent approximately one trillion dollars fighting the war in Iraq. The war started March 20, 2003, which means that at the writing of this article, we have been fighting there for about 8½ years (which I will round off to 9 years to make the math easier).

If these figures are accurate, while we have spent approximately 1 trillion dollars fighting this war, we have spent twice as much cleaning up the messes left by the excessive use of alcohol (over 2 trillion dollars).

On 9/11 about 3,000 innocent people died. In Iraq, there were/are 4,481 who were killed, and 32, 195 who were seriously wounded. (Total number killed: 7,481) In that same period we lost between 711,000 and 900,000 lives to alcohol abuse (depending on whose statistics you look at). (One source lists 79,000 (cdc.gov/alcohol); another lists 100,000.)

According to, http://www.greenfacts.org/en/alcohol/l-2/01-number-people-affected.htm, there are 2 billion people worldwide who consume alcoholic drinks, and over 76 million are affected by some abuse, or, as they label it, disorder. According to this article, approximately 1.8 million deaths a year are attributed to be directly caused by alcohol.  A recent report suggests that women who drink just two drinks a week increase their chances of breast cancer by 15%.

For some reason we have banned smoking commercials from television, but the beer industry is thriving and making us all believe that drinking is normal, good for relationships, and expected in certain situations.  But, as in all evil that is trying to normalize in a culture, it is not enough that the evil be normal, the old normal needs to become evil.

Seldom does the church challenge culture.  In fact, often the church breaks down and imitates culture. The church today, instead of leading the charge against something so devastating,  embraces the right and freedom to drink. The church often acts as if this Christianity thing is just about Heaven and Hell, and has little to do with a transformed life from the empty Godlessness we used to possess. Alcohol destroys lives through addiction, death, financial ruin, and lost potential. Alcohol destroys good thinking and promotes stinking thinking. And yet, with all the negatives, it is still used to celebrate special occasions? How absurd. This type of thinking can only be initiated by Satan, for all those who celebrate their marriage or special milestone by hosting a drink are holding a substance that will bite them and destroy them if given the opportunity.

The church has its ways of silencing its critics, for they often make the idea of criticizing the church on the same level of criticizing God Himself, which might be true if the church were acting like the church should act, and in the case of the church actually being the true church, or bride of Christ.

The attacks usually have to do with legalism, freedom, or judgment issues. If you do not drink, you are legalistic, or you do not understand the freedom we have in Christ. If you condemn others for drinking, you are judgmental. (It’s as if the statistics show something to be proud of.)  Perhaps, but perhaps not.

I don’t drink because I think it is evil. The statistics given indicate that alcohol is something very dangerous, not something productive and positive. I make no points with God for not drinking, and have no more of a favored status. (I guess that takes it out of the legalistic realm.) I do not drink because alcohol destroys the lives with which we are entrusted. It causes one to not think clearly, and can easily lead to actions one regrets. I do not drink because I do not want to support an industry that I believe destroys everything good about life and is fueled by lies and deception.

I do not drink because it is addictive, and I am one who can easily be addicted to things. I do not drink because I love my wife and children and do not want to do something that would intentionally destroy them. I do not drink because I want young men to be able to follow me in all things, and be stronger because of it. I do not drink because it makes our nation and world a worse place to live.

I also believe that the Scriptures are full of warnings about having our minds clouded or controlled by anything other than the Spirit of God. The term “sober-minded” can be twisted to mean anything you want it to mean, but it means sober-minded--to abstain from wine. I believe that I should be ready to show my world who God is at all times, to be ready to give an answer at all times, and to live in a way that honors my Heavenly Father. I do not believe I can drink and accomplish that.

From my reading, it seems that as little as .02 alcohol affects our thinking and response time, which is really the alcoholic content from one drink. Those Christians who drink, in some ways, are the new legalists, for they need to decide how much is too much and they need to play that game each time they drink. They can add that game to the how much is too much when eating, sleeping, dating, etc. They can throw in rules about how much is too much when it comes to movies and other entertainment.

As for me, I can keep it simple. No alcohol, 100% purity, and when watching or listening to entertainment, Philippians 4:8 can be my guide:
⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
When that is my guide, then the next verse is applicable without regret.

⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 (ESV)

We have a problem in this nation and the problem is us. Facts have little power to sway us. Logic plays a minor role. We see what we want to see. God is strangely looking more like me than me looking like Him, and the church seems to blend in rather than being salt and light.

It is what it is and always has been. Too bad; it really could be different.

I just heard on the news last night that 14,000 people died in one year due to overdoses of pain medication. When I compare that to the war in Iraq……(I will spare you the discourse….)

Proverbs 23:29–35 (ESV)

²⁹  Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? ³⁰  Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. ³¹  Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. ³²  In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. ³³  Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. ³⁴  You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. ³⁵  “They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

 How can alcohol be blamed for 100,000 deaths each year?

  5% of all deaths from diseases of the circulatory system are attributed to alcohol.

  15% of all deaths from diseases of the respiratory system are attributed to alcohol.

  30% of all deaths from accidents caused by fire and flames are attributed to alcohol.

  30% of all accidental drownings are attributed to alcohol.

  30% of all suicides are attributed to alcohol.

  40% of all deaths due to accidental falls are attributed to alcohol.

  45% of all deaths in automobile accidents are attributed to alcohol.

  60% of all homicides are attributed to alcohol.
(Sources: NIDA Report, the Scientific American and Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario.) Also see Alcohol Consumption and Mortality, Alcohol poisoning deaths, CDC report,

 


Dave Wager davewager.com