"When I Was 17 I Drank Some Very Good Beer..."

That title's from a song that Homer sings one time on the Simpsons. I have heard a wide variety of opinions recently about the issue of Christians drinking alcohol. I'm not entirely sure where I stand on every aspect of this issue, so I thought I would start by noting how different Christians I know or have known have approached the issue. As a disclaimer, I am not judging any of these approaches. I just want to list off the some of the approaches that I've seen.

I was just reading Aleah's latest post about camping with friends after her high school prom and she mentioned that another group of campers got kicked out of the camp site for drinking and smoking. Friends at her camp site were drinking, though she did not participate.

I know three Christian guys that are permitted and/or encouraged to drink by their families before and/or after the age of 19. I know some people that do not mind sharing in one or two drinks with friends, either in a bar or elsewhere. I know some that offer to be designated drivers so their their friends will not drive under the influence, as Natalie has done. I have had some Christian friends that were fairly heavily into the bar scene, sometimes/often becoming drunk.

I have some friends that used to drink and no longer do so because they were 'scared straight,' like Natalie was. I have some friends that will neither drink nor hang out with friends when they are drinking.

Myself, the only drink I remember taking was for a champagne toast for the 25th wedding anniversary for mes grandparents. I had classmates back in high school that offered to take me out drinking when I hit 19. I agreed to go the bar with them but not to drink alcohol, but of course we never did since they were mostly just mocking me. Generally speaking I try not hang out with friends if they are drinking, but I have done so on occasion when a friend had a drink with a meal. Most of my friends do not drink so it's not an issue. Much of my extended family members drink at family gatherings, so that's been fairly normal for me while growing up. Besides all of that, I've had some experience with alcoholics and it grieves me to see how it effects families.

So that's a sample of the wide array of ways that Christians approach the issue of drinking. There are actually a few more, since I haven't mentioned those that are passionately against drinking alcohol and whatnot.

My main question for this post is not whether it is a sin to drink alcohol or not. I'm not going to condemn Jesus for drinking wine, after all. My question is whether it's useful to hang out with friends that drink alcohol if you're a Christian. What's the point? Is it effective in building or maintaining friendships? Does it help our witness to the world about God? Does it enhance our Christian reputation amongst non-Christians?

To be clear, I've heard arguments both for and against the ideas of a) hanging out with non-Christians as they drink but not participating and b) acting as a designated driver once friends are drunk. There are numerous reasons both for and against such practices. These days, though, I'm becoming more practical about such "theological" issues.

In short, show me it works in real life. Don't tell me it could help us witness to non-Christians, show me examples in which someone gave their heart to God and pointed back to hanging out in the bar as a key time for them. Show me how someone was impressed enough with a Christian acting as a designated driver that they asked meaningful questions about Christianity that led to some change in their life. Show me how hanging out in a bar was more effective than hanging out in someone's house watching a hockey game, or an non-drinking alternative like that.

On a practical level, I have a hard time accepting that an evening in the bar or at a drinking party with friends is useful to God or to ourselves in any way. I've heard a lot of people say that they do it, but I have yet to hear tangible results of people becoming Christians. As I said, I'm not entirely sure where I stand on this issue, but I'm not going to accept the supposed benefits of 'drinking ministry' without evidence to back it up. (As a disclaimer, I am not insisting that the number of people converted is the only way to assess this issue. Yes, people may be impacted in ways that are revealed years later. However, zero conversions is equally fanciful as evidence.)

Besides that, I have only one other example of someone that tried to use drinking as a way to evangelise. My parents have lived in South Korea teaching English for the past few years. If you think drinking in Canada or the United States is socially important, wait until you get there. Generally speaking, the men tend to hang out a lot together, separate from the women. In doing so, they tend to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. It is normally expected that everyone in a group has at least one drink, even if it's just a business dinner.

My dad sometimes chose to have a single alcoholic drink when hanging out with Korea friends or co-workers. Just one drink, but he hopeed that it would enough to show he was their friend and that he didn't judge them. My dad even preached a sermon at my church during his first vacation back in Canada and he included this practice as an example of practical evangelism-by-friendship.

As it happened, just before he came back for that vacation he had a party with Korea co-workers as they wished him well on his trip and said goodbye. (I think he and my mom were transferring to another school after his vacation was over.) With all of the toasts being offered, my dad agreed to have a second glass of alcohol. As soon as he ordered a second glass, his Korea boss from his school immediately got excited and started repeating some Korean phrase. My dad wasn't really sure what he was saying, but he definitely got a good reaction out of him.

On the plane ride back to Canada, my dad was sitting beside another man who happened to teach English in Korea as well. During the course of the conversation my dad related the above experience and the other teacher explained what had happened. Koreans have a saying that is roughly translated as "Two drinks, friend!" This is the phrase that my dad's boss was excitedly repeating. After a full year with these co-workers and friends, my dad accidentally stumbled across a social barier that changed how his friendship was viewed by the other Koreans. He had become a real friend, by virtue of being comfortable enough to drink two drinks with them. Hence the reason that he included that story in his guest sermon at our church during his vacation.

An interesting thing happened to my dad in his next year in South Korea. Armed with this new knowledge of that two drinks represents friendship, he proceeded to test this new approach when he visited his second school and met new Korean people there. (I assume that he didn't drink regularly, nor drank often nor in large quantities.) He eventually came to the conclusion that, regardless of the two-drink line, he simply wasn't finding opportunities to speak to others about Christ. In fact, he found more such opportunities in the normal conversations he had with his students while teaching them English.

A Summary
Many Christians that I know approach the issue of drinking and/or accompanying friends that are drinking in many different ways. I've heard the reasons, both for and against different areas. I want to know what you all have found in terms of real-life results. As I mentioned above, Natalie has come to some conclusions in her own life. Help me re-examine how I approach these issues myself. Thank you.