drinking games
For whatever reason, I found myself for a brief moment somehow in a somewhat awkward conversation (for me) on the subject of drinking games. It was awkward for a few reasons:
1.) The conversation was in the context of a gathering where we asked that no one drink, and because of that I'm sure that it wasn't just awkward for me.
2.) As much as I tried to steer the conversation in an "intellectual" tone, I wasn't driving the conversation and didn't really want to get in a debate with anyone at a social gathering where the emphasis was on community and having fun (and that was definitely accomplished :) ).
However, I do want to say my peace...
The Bible does not condemn drinking in moderation, and in some passages actually talks positively about wine and relates it to joy (Jesus did, for his first miracle, turn water into wine at a party). It does, however, have a lot to say about getting drunk and especially the habit of continuously seeking to get drunk. In light of that, it means that if we take our relationship with Christ seriously, then we need to have solid guardrails in this area because if we do not, then we will cease to enjoy a gift that God has given us and given some freedom in, and will instead be consumed by something that we in turn choose to make an idol (which is... something that God takes very seriously).
In light of that and knowing what I know about drinking games, I don't know how anyone can participate willingly in one of these in good conscience as a committed follower of Jesus Christ (if you can rationalize it, feel free to but I'm pretty sure you couldn't back it up with scripture). If you don't follow Christ or don't really consider a relationship with Christ an important aspect of your life, then I understand... but if you are committed to Him I can't see this being something you'd want to do. Because if you play the movie out and think for a few seconds about what's about to happen, at the end of the day you're going to be "forced" to drink a lot of really cheap/bad/gross beer/liquor/whatever and get so wasted that you'll be sick the next morning. For example:
At Indiana, there was a game that was played at Nick's called "Sink the Bismarck" in which you floated a shot glass in a lake of really cheap beer poured into a metal bucket in the middle of the table. Then people take turns pouring beer into the shot glass or the bucket (I'm not too sure, I wasn't really that interested in watching it happen) and the one that ended up sinking the shot glass (aka - the "Bismarck") ended up having to chug all of that gross beer in the bucket. As you can probably see, if you do a few rounds of this someone's bound to hurl their wings and have to be carried home.
This is a lot different than ordering a glass of wine at dinner and slowly enjoying it with a group of good friends over stimulating conversation.
This is an invitation to play the fool and join in with a few.
Like I said, if you don't care about Christ, then I suppose that you are free to trash your body and your brain as you wish. But if you like me value Christ and His Kingdom, this isn't anywhere you'd want to go and I'd really ask you to think about not only the immediate physical consequences of putting yourself in a position to get that hammered, but also the spiritual consequences to your intimacy with Christ and your influence with outsiders when you allow something that you should control to take control of you. Regardless of what your convictions are in this area, the constant that is universally true is that we need to exercise wisdom, constraint, and caution in light of the fact that we do not live for ourselves but for a Savior who paid for our forgiveness and freedom by dying a cruel death in our place on the cross.
Because if anyone or anything outside of me should be in control of me, it should be the Spirit of Christ in me. And that is something that I can revel in. I'll pass on the beer pong, thank you very much :-)
1.) The conversation was in the context of a gathering where we asked that no one drink, and because of that I'm sure that it wasn't just awkward for me.
2.) As much as I tried to steer the conversation in an "intellectual" tone, I wasn't driving the conversation and didn't really want to get in a debate with anyone at a social gathering where the emphasis was on community and having fun (and that was definitely accomplished :) ).
However, I do want to say my peace...
The Bible does not condemn drinking in moderation, and in some passages actually talks positively about wine and relates it to joy (Jesus did, for his first miracle, turn water into wine at a party). It does, however, have a lot to say about getting drunk and especially the habit of continuously seeking to get drunk. In light of that, it means that if we take our relationship with Christ seriously, then we need to have solid guardrails in this area because if we do not, then we will cease to enjoy a gift that God has given us and given some freedom in, and will instead be consumed by something that we in turn choose to make an idol (which is... something that God takes very seriously).
In light of that and knowing what I know about drinking games, I don't know how anyone can participate willingly in one of these in good conscience as a committed follower of Jesus Christ (if you can rationalize it, feel free to but I'm pretty sure you couldn't back it up with scripture). If you don't follow Christ or don't really consider a relationship with Christ an important aspect of your life, then I understand... but if you are committed to Him I can't see this being something you'd want to do. Because if you play the movie out and think for a few seconds about what's about to happen, at the end of the day you're going to be "forced" to drink a lot of really cheap/bad/gross beer/liquor/whatever and get so wasted that you'll be sick the next morning. For example:
At Indiana, there was a game that was played at Nick's called "Sink the Bismarck" in which you floated a shot glass in a lake of really cheap beer poured into a metal bucket in the middle of the table. Then people take turns pouring beer into the shot glass or the bucket (I'm not too sure, I wasn't really that interested in watching it happen) and the one that ended up sinking the shot glass (aka - the "Bismarck") ended up having to chug all of that gross beer in the bucket. As you can probably see, if you do a few rounds of this someone's bound to hurl their wings and have to be carried home.
This is a lot different than ordering a glass of wine at dinner and slowly enjoying it with a group of good friends over stimulating conversation.
This is an invitation to play the fool and join in with a few.
Like I said, if you don't care about Christ, then I suppose that you are free to trash your body and your brain as you wish. But if you like me value Christ and His Kingdom, this isn't anywhere you'd want to go and I'd really ask you to think about not only the immediate physical consequences of putting yourself in a position to get that hammered, but also the spiritual consequences to your intimacy with Christ and your influence with outsiders when you allow something that you should control to take control of you. Regardless of what your convictions are in this area, the constant that is universally true is that we need to exercise wisdom, constraint, and caution in light of the fact that we do not live for ourselves but for a Savior who paid for our forgiveness and freedom by dying a cruel death in our place on the cross.
Because if anyone or anything outside of me should be in control of me, it should be the Spirit of Christ in me. And that is something that I can revel in. I'll pass on the beer pong, thank you very much :-)
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