ALCOHOL AND THE REVIVAL CENTRES

Revival Centre people who drink any alcohol can be disfellowshiped. Those who teach that Christians can drink in moderation are ridiculed at Revival Centre meetings. I'll just quote something from the Revival Centre 'Drink Drink Drink' pamphlet. Apart from some dreadful translation of Greek, it concludes with Lloyd Longfield saying, "Beware and be warned, drinking intoxicating liquor is O-U-T Pentecost take note!" How would Jesus have reacted? Would they have ridiculed Jesus? Did Jesus drink?

Despite what Revival Centres might say, there is nothing inherently wrong with alcohol. Melchizedek served wine to Abraham. The priests in Israel were allowed to drink wine, except when serving in the tabernacle or temple. It was used during the religious feasts, with God’s approval, and was gratefully accepted as a divine provision (Genesis 14:18; Leviticus 10:9; Psalm 104:14, 15). Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine (John 2:1-11).

Yet, first of all, it is clear that drinking any wine, if it would be a stumbling block for someone, is wrong (Romans 14:21). Scripture is also clear that drinking too much wine destroys lives, causes confusion, makes people do unwise things. Being drunk, according to the writer of Proverbs, gives us "woe ... sorrow ... strife ... complaining ... redness of eye ... Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things" (Proverbs 23:29-33). Jesus wisely showed that this drunkenness was unbecoming a Christian (Luke 21:34), who was to be the light of the world. Wine in excess is definitely harmful. However, even honey, when eaten in excess, is bad (Proverbs 25:27). What do the Revival Centres say of exercising self-control when drinking alcohol? Did Jesus completely abstain from alcohol?

A Revival Centre 'pastor' would be correct in saying that there are no explicit references to Jesus drinking alcohol in Scripture (except as a type of 'sedative' on the cross - John 19:30). Matthew 11:19 may suggest that he drank, but the verse is disputable. We can be certain, though, that Jesus drank. At the so-called 'last supper', we are told that Jesus drank of the "fruit of the vine" (Gk. "genematos tes ampeloy") - Mark 14:25. A Revival Centre leader would be correct in saying that, literally, "fruit of the vine" could mean unfermented grape juice (this is what they say). However, from the context, fermented grape juice - wine - is the only possibility.

We know that Jesus' last supper was the Passover meal (Mark 14:14-17). Jewish tradition was to drink wine, not grape juice, at the Passover. One writer has said, "Oral tradition contained in the Mishnah commanded that even the poorest person must drink the minimum four cups, even if he had to sell himself to do labour or had to borrow money in order to buy the wine" ( Rosen, C. and M. Christ in the Passover. 1978. Page 51).

Of course Jesus didn't sin. He drank in moderation. The key is in moderation, as it is with all things. At 1 Timothy 3:2, 3, we read that an overseer should be "temperate" [some versions put as 'moderate']. That means in all habits. Likewise, the older men and women are given similar counsel to be "temperate" (Titus 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:11). The key is temperence (Gk. Sophron). The Greek comes from sozo ('to save') and phren ('the mind'), in other words don't go too far and blow your mind! So, in disussing the qualifications of the deakonos, Paul says that they should be, "not indulging in much wine" (1 Timothy 3:8). Women are similarly warned not to be "slaves to drink" (Titus 2:3). Those words imply that drinking some wine is acceptable. But the warning is this - don't go too far with your drinking!

The Revival Centres have actually set up a string of arguments to show why Christians shouldn't drink. When one is knocked down, they will quickly jump to another one. Then, when beaten, as was recently done in the Newsgroups, simply exclaim that they have proved the point from the Scriptures and we are 'liars'!

Here are a few of their arguments. Firstly, they say that, because the Levitical priests did not drink (Leviticus 10:8), then Christians, who according to Revivalist John Kuhlmann are 'always in the Holy Place', should also not drink. But the Levites were also bare-footed (Exodus 28:1-43) and wore turbans (Leviticus 8:13)! Do Christians have to follow them there, too?

Following from this is a rather devious and deceptive argument. Most Revival Centre people don't know Greek, and so Revivalists in the past have redefined Greek words to try and show that either 'wine' really means 'grape juice' (Drink Drink Drink pamphlet), or that 'to be drunk' really means to have drunk any wine. According to Longfield, someone is a 'drunkard', Methusos (as in 1Cor.5:11), after they have drunk any alcohol. However, that is not what the Greek word means. Plato uses the same word to describe being reduced to a state of 'childish helplessness' (Rep.., III, 325). So, Methusos really does mean 'to be drunk', and this is what the Scriptures counsel against.

A final argument from a leader usually goes along the lines of, "well, we don't allow any drinking, just in case someone gets drunk". What little faith they have in members of their group! Not allowing them to drink anything in case they go to far and get drunk (very black / white cult thinking involved). Yet, we could use the same argument and say, we better not eat anything, in case someone becomes gluttonous!

In other articles, we have considered how the Revival Centres trample the blood of Jesus. The 'gospel of Christ' is replaced by a gospel of tongues. The system of church government set up by Christ, where no one would be 'lord over another' has been trampled. The freedom in Christ has been changed to petty rules regarding food and drink. What Jesus himself did (drink alcohol) is criticised! We can be sure that if Jesus went to a Revival Centre, he would have been severely rebuked by his Revival Centre oversight for drinking wine. If he continued drinking, perhaps he would have been disfellowshiped!

Let's face it, most Revival Centre / Fellowship people know this drinking rule is unscriptural - drinking in private. Do they question the rule? No, it is wrong to question the rules, no matter how crazy! One thing we want you, the reader, to do after considering this article is to go through it with your 'pastor'. If no one questions the rules, the Revival Centres will continue being a cult and their leaders will never come to repentance.

© 1997, Nick Greer. P.O. Box 494, Glenside, South Australia, 5065. All rights reserved. Feel free to copy and distribute any information on this page as you like, but please don't try to sell it without my permission. Unless otherwise indicated, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.