A little wine for my stomach's sake? Please?

A funny thing happened to me twice in the last two months.  It happened first at the annual United Way train pull.  This is an annual event sponsored by the local United Way, as a fund raiser.  The local pastors were asked to put a team together--which we did--and off we went to pull a train.   This train is actually a train caboose which weighs 100,000 pounds.  Each team gets a chance for two pulls, with a little breather in between.  After our one pull, the MC for the day laughlingly suggested we take a break and go over to the beer tent and have a brew--before we pull again.  The comment was made in jest and simple fun.  

The second time something similar happened was just last week. I was at the local radio station and was asked by the manager if I was going to attend the annual St Thomas award night.  He described the night, location, time etc. and then, tongue in check, said something like, 'Oh and remember, there will be a wet bar!"  Again, the comment made in jest and simply fun.  There was no thought whatsoever that I was actually going to sit down and have a drink.  

There are two questions that keep coming up in my mind, I'd like you to consider.

First, pastors, Christians, and church people are 'known' for being tea-totalers--at least by these two 'worldly people'.  So, here is my first question.  Really?  Can't we be known for anything better? Is that the image we portray?  What about loving people?  What about caring for the lonely, lost, and crying person?  I'm sure you get my concern.

Second, what is known apparently by 'worldly people' is not known by a growing number of church people.  And, that is--church people don't drink alcohol--at least that's what 'worldly people' think.  But, rumour has it more and more church people are in fact tipping the bottle.  So, now the world knowns something about the church that the church doesn't know about itself.  Is that good or bad?  Or doesn't it make any difference at all?

Hmm.  Just one tea totaler (ask the world--they know)  asking some questions.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning to hate your sin

Image
   John 5:13-15 (NLT) 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.   Lord give me grace, power, and effort to maintain a resilience against sin.  Sin is ALWAYS a dark path. It ALWAYS pays wages.  The wage of sin is death.  Sin will always hurt, always destroy, always wound—you, relationships, stuff, goals, etc.  It is a killer.  It is a wound-er.  It is a consumer of all that is healthy, strong, good, and perfect. Learn to hate sin. Learn to fear sin. Learn to run as fast as you can away from sin. Search deeply for hidden sin. Be disgusted with your sin.  Repent, repent, repent daily for your sin. Be afraid of your sin. Be petrified of your sin. Be worried ab...
Read more

Meditation

Image
Meditation I realize as we move on with this series that there are two things that need some clarification.  We already looked at the idea of silence and quietness—this week we will look at meditation.  Let’s begin by giving you the descriptions of the differences between these two disciplines.  Although from an outsider’s position there may be little or subtle differences, I want to help you process the vast difference between these—-and the immense benefit from both of these disciplines: Silence/ Quietness: Here the idea is shutting out your active mind —leaving lots of space for two things.  First, space to give your mind a rest, relaxing your mind.  It is a stopping of your mind from racing around solving all the problems of the world.  Second, giving space to hear from God! It is laying aside your agenda.  It is putting aside the debris, hurriedness, and hectic pace to relax in God’s presence.  Often music can help...
Read more

God is after you! And... for a different reason than you think!

Have you ever been pursued by a suitor—a lover—someone who is very interested in you? Was it pleasant to be liked?  Was it pleasant to be wanted?  Well, yeah—for sure.  Who doesn’t want to be loved? Who doesn’t want to be sought after?  Who doesn’t want to be appreciated? I do!  I am sure you do too! Did you know that is actually the message of Christmas—and the actual ‘story’ of the Bible?  It’s a story about God pursuing humanity. Too often when we think of God, or church, or the Bible—we think of behaving ourselves enough to get God’s attention.  Or, we think of trying hard to impress God—so that God would appreciate the hard work we are doing down here and give us His nod. Well, actually that is not true.  That is not the message of the Bible—nor the core message of Christmas.  It is actually the total opposite.  The core message of Christmas is not our chasing God—it is God chasing us! God is so in love with ...
Read more