Henry Ruggs is 24 years old. He was born in Montgomery, AL and signed with the Alabama Crimson Tide to be a receiver. He played some as a freshman, but he hit his stride as a sophomore, with 741 receiving yards, averaging 16.1 yards per catch and 11 TD. As a junior, he had 746 yards, averaging 18.7 yards per catch with 7 TDs.

After his junior year, Ruggs signed with the LA Raiders with a 4-year contract, with a $9, 684,820 signing bonus and $16,671,626 guaranteed salary. His annual average salary would have been $4,167,907.

I say “would have been” because Henry Ruggs is in jail. He will spend 3-10 years in jail for vehicular manslaughter. Tina Tintor was a 23-year old who was traveling in her car with her dog; they were going home from a dog park when Henry Ruggs with a blood alcohol content of .161 at the time of the crash. Ruggs was driving an estimated 150 mph!

I think we all can agree that God’s definition of drunkenness is not determined by man’s laws and how many drinks it takes to raise your blood alcohol content. We are not interested in Michigan’s laws. We are interested in living a holy and righteous life that honors Jesus Christ.

What does the Bible say? It has often been said that the Bible only condemns drunkenness – such as in Galatians 5:21. While it is true that the Bible condemns drunkenness, that statement comes close to committing a logical fallacy called “oversimplification.” In other words, there is more to consider relative to the use of modern alcoholic drinks than just “the Bible condemns drunkenness.” Let me share with you some things…

BIBLICAL “WINE” IS NOT MODERN “WINE:”

Distillation of alcohol was invented by the Arabs in the 8th century in order to strengthen the alcoholic content of drinks and to strengthen the impact it would have over the minds of drinkers. Distilled alcohol was not available in Bible times.

According to Biblical scholars, the strongest alcoholic beverage available in biblical times was natural wine with a content of 11-12%, before it was diluted. That is equivalent to about 5 ounces of wine. But that was before it was diluted.

But even at that ancient wine – the 5 ounces of wine – was normally diluted by respectable people. Even pagans believed that drinking such straight wine was barbaric. Usually, people who were cultured would dilute their 5 ounces of natural wine with 3 parts water to 1 part wine.

NADAB AND ABIHU – Leviticus 10:1-3, 8-11:

We do not know if Nadab and Abihu’s sin was motivated by “WUI” – worshipping under the influence. But clearly God intended to set a precedent that worship should not be guided by the influence of alcohol.

As Christians, we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom. 12:1-2), which argues that we need to keep our minds under strict control at all times.

Under the Law of Moses (Deut. 21:20-21), Henry Ruggs would not have lived long enough to kill someone driving under the influence. His parents would have had him stoned to death after the first or second bout of intoxication.

THE WARNING OF THE WISE MAN:

Proverbs 23:29-35. Solomon is clearly warning his son about the danger of – not just drunkenness – but of wine itself.

THE NEW TESTAMENT WARNS OF THE SAME IMPACT:

2 Timothy 1:7; Acts 26:25; 1 Cor. 15:34; 1 Thessalonians, 5:6, 8. The word “sober” means “clear thinking” but it came to be used for “non-intoxication” because the influence of alcohol on one’s thinking makes you not “sober.” The connection between sobriety and “clear thinking” is specifically made in 1 Peter 1:13.

If drinking alcohol hinders our prayers (1 Peter 4:7), as alcohol hindered Nadab and Abihu, we need to stay away from it.

I do not know what Henry Ruggs is spiritually. But every single person who puts an alcoholic drink to their mouth effectively asks this question: “Is this drink going to make me sin against God? Well, I’m going to take my chances because I like the possibility of what it will do to me.” That shows that our highest desire is not to please God, but to please self.

Two more points I wish to make…

Someone always introduces alcoholic beverages to someone else. Sin does not happen in a vacuum. Jesus raises the level of expectation for His disciples in Luke 17:2. If someone leads another person to sin against God, then that person deserves destruction, Jesus says. That’s harsh and Jesus doesn’t take lightly the influence that we have on other people.

And one more point… in 1 Peter 4:3, Peter writes that Christians no longer live like Gentiles and they have left that lifestyle. Notice that Peter distinguishes “drunkenness” from “drinking parties.” Peter says that Christians do not participate in “drinking parties.” You don’t go to drinking parties and you don’t sponsor drinking parties!

Avoid alcoholic drinks and drugs which make you ill-prepared for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Paul Holland