SCL

Ha!

Hucklebuck–I was just thinking that I'd like to see a tract shaped like a beer bottle. I couldn't figure out how to actually make it look like one and not just a picture of one. So I'll just use your tract instead. Genius!

Simple solution – become a Lutheran.

Well, Episcopalians drink. We have a saying, where three or four Episcopalians are gathered, there is a fifth. *grin*

Well, you can in Germany it's not a problem. But women, don't wear make-up in Germany because it's carnal! And there are scriptures to prove it!

I had a similar discussion in New Zealand with a Pastor over a glass of wine. My makeup made me a heathen.

It's amazing how our culture affects our revelation of the word of God.

Who cares? If the people you hang out with have a problem with you buying a bottle of rum, then they've got bigger issues. And if you feel like you've got to justify your purchase, then you've got bigger problems too. The Bible cautions us against being drunkards, not to stay out of liquor stores.

Carrie,

I'm sorry if I came off as angry. It was a joke. I was surprised by the post, yes. But I'm not an upset horse, I promise. No need to whoa me. And I love people too. Really.

@Elizabeth:

Thank you for being my supplier, but we now have our own stash, thanks to my mom.

wv: peine – pronounced "pee-in"; the experience I have when watching the youtube video "I love Jesus, but I drink a little"

I'm one of those who *can't* drink, whether I want to or not. I've found that when some Christians ask why I don't drink and I explain it's because I'm on Prozac, they judge me even more for my anti-depressants than they would have if I'd been drinking wine.

It's really sad how much time Christians spend judging each other.

I'm struck by the statement, "…certainly, getting drunk is a sin." Should Christian imbibers keep a breath-a-lyzer at the ready? How about the medicinal use for flushing kidney stones? Do we have to paraphrase the old Catholic admonition: You can sip it twice to clear the bore, but sip it thrice and you've sinned some more.

Reminds me of the time someone threw an unopened can of beer in our yard, in the mid 70s. My mom, the wife of a Church of Christ preacher, made that one can last for beer biscuits, beer bread, and maybe beer pancakes. It was like Elijah's oil, except it eventually ran out, and that was that. No way were my parents buying more beer, no matter how delicious beer bread was.

"I love Jesus but I drink a little". ~ Lady on Ellen

Seriously though, I guess it's a denominational thing against booze. Everyone at my church has some sort of alcoholic beverage at their house so it's no big deal for me to go into a liquor store and stock our pantry with some delicious drinks.

Thanks Jon, for giving me another question to ask as I search for a new church (due to a move, not a problem with my old one). Just after I read this, someone from a church we visited came by to visit us and ask if we had any questions about their church. The last question I remembered to ask because of this blog was "What position does your church take regarding alcohol consumption?"
We are in the "moderate drinking" category of Christians and I just realized that I don't want to go to a church where drinking a beer every once in a while is considered a sin worthy of hell.

In _My Utmost For His Highest_ devotional today, O.C. takes on judging and has this to say: "the Holy Ghost is the only One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard, vindictive, and cruel and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person." These thoughts are based on Matthew 8:1, which you could casually call out next time someone says that you are going to hell for buying rum or beer or wine for cooking. Thanks Ossy and thanks Jon!

Do people really still type addresses directly into the address bar anymore?

I've been burned one too many times by fat fingering a web address only yo find myself in the seedy part of the interwebs.

Now I rely on Google to sort out which website I meant to visit. Everything goes into to the search engine.

If I "let go and let Google", does that imply that I think Google is more powerful than God?

wv: reinge – In the south, a tool for holding, twisting or turning

Hey Bocephus, pass me that there crescent reinge.

Oh, man. I can't read the comments, because alcohol is always such a hot button here. That said, this is definitely only a hot button issue for a very small segment of Christianity – I'm a mainline Protestant, and no one at my church would care if they saw me buying alcohol, whether it was to cook with or drink.

Besides Jon Acuff, Hucklebuck is my new fave!! Love the Harry Potter tract!

I for one am thrilled when I see another church goer in the ABC liquor store. It's like a new kind of bond is created. "S'up?" followed by raised eyebrows and shared knowing glances.

Wait, Christians don't drink rum or other hard liquors? I think someone might want to come explain that in church this Sunday then.

Here is the socially acceptable way to buy rum for cakes: You pick up a bottle at the supermarket or the liquor store and you pay for it. "Socially unacceptable" would mean you didn't pay for it. Unless you're defining "socially acceptable" as "my-society-that-consists-of-me-and-those-exactly-like-me-in-every-way-and-keeping-society-as-a-whole-on-the-outside-in-every-way."

The post was funny, but these comments are unbelievable. I sure hope many people here never venture into the real world (you know, the one that has non-Christians in it), because, frankly, people think Christians are bizarre enough already.

The funniest (or the saddest) are the people insisting they would never walk into a liquor store because of the bad "witness" they would create from doing so. So I guess making sure the world knows that Christians are scared of normal life is a great witness, huh?

I feel really sad for all of you (even you, Jon — sorry) who feel a need to obey random manmade, culture-dependent rules that never occurred to God, and that Jesus would never have followed.

No wonder so many of my non-believing friends think Christians are wacked. Thanks, everyone, for helping keep them away from Christ.

I just would like to mention the other side of the "I don't buy it because it may be a bad witness/cause others to stumble" position. In some cultures refusing to drink at all is equally a stumbling block. I'm not talking about the beer/babes/boogie culture aka university. Or being seen as "uncool" (I know there is a more cool term than that, but I'm old"). I'm talking about where hospitality and culture would make it very rude to be a total tea-totler.
I'm thinking of a specific example when I went to visit relatives in Northern Italy. I had a missionary friend with me who was a tea-totler and it was a definite issue for our hosts. They ran a vineyard and were offering us the best of their new wines. In their culture total abstinence from alcohol was unknown. So refusing without a medical reason (aka pregnancy) was seen as a rejection of hospitality. There was no problem with having just one glass on wine (which I did since I was counting calories at the time), but the outright refusal to take a glass made for awkwardness and hurt feelings.
So in sum: I would hope everyone knows themselves and their relationship with God and those in their lives better than outsiders (especially strangers on the internet), so if your conscience is leading you to abstain from alcohol in public lest you be a stumbling block, you must follow your conscience. But if you realize you would never be able to follow your conscience/the Spirit the other way, then I have to question whether it's a genuine issue of being Spirit led/conscience following or of adhering to an imposed legalism.

Move to England. Here you can buy all the rum you want in our Wal-Marts! But we do not escape the law of the universe that says here too you will run into someone from church in the queue for the checkout!

My FIL used to be a pastor's wife in a rather conservative denomination. One church member had a recipe for rum cake that she wanted to try to make herself. She told the church member that she couldn't go into the liquor store, in case someone saw and judged her. The next Sunday, while my MIL was playing the organ before the church service, the church lady walked up to the organ and plopped a jar full of rum on the lid in front of the whole church.

I just wanted to make an Irish Creme cake to contribute to my neighbor's St. Patrick's Day party. I can't believe how anxious I got walking into the liquor store…casting furtive glances to make sure nobody would see. I completely understand that what I was doing was not sinful…but why did it FEEL so wrong?! Such is life in a small town DEEP in the Bible Belt!

first, hucklebuck – great work, my only fear is that Kirk Cameron will stumble across it and decide to use it for real – after all, it is so clearly the way of the master to give such cleverly devised warnings to sinners.

second, I'm in Aus and for the most part buying booze isn't a huge deal here, in fact I handed over my cash for wine and beer more than once to the son of another local minister when he worked at the checkout at the local grog shop. Nowhere near as embarrasing as the time I walked up to his checkout in the supermarket he worked at before that (he was about 16) and tossed a packet of condoms onto his register before I looked up to see who was serving. He's all growed up now and he and I, and his dad have had a few chuckles about it since, but at the time…

As someone who grew up Catholic and married a former youth pastor for an independent Baptist church I can tell you they aren't the same.

Yes you fallow Christ making you a "Christian" but you have MANY dividing lines between how you get to heaven.

You don't have to agree with me but I stand by my statement.

what about if you are going to buy it to drink it?
maybe the person judging should have a drink too…may loosen em up a bit! haha

Ahhhh… This is why I love being a Christian of the Lutheran variey. We have no problems with consuming, purchasing, or cooking with alcohol… as long as it is done in moderation, of course!

i don't get the purpose of buying playboy sheets. seems highly unwise and thoughtless to me. like someone else said; aren't you just contributing directly to the porn industry?

One of the reasons I like SCL is because it is such an eye-opener about the diverse ways that people interpret & live the Christian faith. I knew the "alcohol: good or bad" debate would get a range of responses. I didn't know that some people don't believe that Catholics count as Christians. Huh, didn't see that one coming.

word verification: fabident
This is just crying out to be a new toothpaste brand. I'd buy it!

Easy–Just become Presbyterian. I once ran into my pastor at the liquor store.

I tell ya, there is nothing better than a rum and coke while playing a little black jack or texas holdem.

You're supposed to go to the liquor store. If you spot the pastor's wife an aisle over, beat her to the inevitabe "What brings you here?"

I'm laughing so hard. I thought these kind of things only happened to me. Awesome!

LOL!!! I've been in a liquor store once in my life and that was to buy some Jack Daniels for a hot toddy (truth, I promise!!). I'd had a nasty case of bronchitis and the meds weren't helping. This was my last resort. I asked the cashier how to make one and he told me, likely laughing his butt off at me fumbling and trying to cover myself.

Thankfully no one from my church was there or around. How bad would it be to catch the church pianist/secretary in a liquor store….

The church I attend on Sunday morning MEETS at a bar… My dad pointed out, that might at well have it there, as that's where the tithe's spent each Saturday night We generally refrain from imbibing until AFTER the service however. Is a bar higher or lower than a liquor store on the sin list? Just need to make sure attending church in a pub doesn't push me over the weekly sin quota…