Alcohol and Redemption

Steve McCoy at Reformissionary has an excellent post (you MUST read the comments too!) on Alcohol, Abstention and Redemption.

It's a follow-up on an earlier post in which Steve and many other Southern Baptists wrestle with Albert Mohler's stand that SBCers should be teetotalers.

Here's a quote:

If we are working out our salvation through being redeemed and redeeming, then our response to cultural abuses is not to abstain but to redeem. That not only pushes us to maturity by teaching us how to eat, drink, and have sex to the glory of God (though it won't come easy), but it is also a witness to the world that God redeems. The pervert throws away the pornography (abuse) and learns to love sex with his wife (redemption). The glutton refuses to order a 5 piece fried chicken and fries meal (abuse) and learns to order a salad with light dressing instead (redemption). The alcohol abuser stops drinking until drunk (abuse) and learns to stop after a beer or two (redemption).

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UPDATE: Check out the excellent quote Steve offers from CS Lewis on Abstinence.

technorati: spiritual formation, Christian Worldview