Would Jesus Play Beer Pong?

Is it a sin to drink alcohol?  Or smoke cigarettes?  What about sugar?  These are the questions we pondered at the Bible study/Cross Fit class I took at Austin Stone on Sunday.  (How cool is it to combine the Bible with a workout?)

Anyway, my background is Irish Catholic, so Ima say it’s all right to drink alcohol.  A younger looking person in the group was quick to point out that Jesus turned water into wine.  But there were also a few people in the group who never had a single drink in their life.  Apparently Southern Baptists are very opposed to alcohol consumption, but pretty much everyone in the class was in agreement that the Bible makes a strong case that drinking is allowed but drunkenness is not.

The woman at my table, Hillary, said it best I think, “It’s permissible, but not beneficial.”

My favorite argument of the night was about smoking.  One person (he looked college age) said it was a sin to want to live forever and since everyone is going to die of something, it’s ok to smoke cigarettes.  That was some seriously impressive Logic Twister skills, in my opinion.  The overall group consensus was that there is a lot of evidence pointing to smoking destroying your health and second hand smoke harming others, so smoking is not really being a good steward of your body.

But what about sugar?  And fruit?  They are all natural but bad for us, right?  Here’s where moderation comes in.  Is a little bit of sugar bad?  No.  Is a pound of sugar a day good?  No way!  Self control is key.  Chris, the instructor, said to ask yourself before you take a bite, “Why am I eating this?”  It’s a simple question, and if the answer is anything beyond basic natural hunger you should reconsider if eating is what you really want to do in the first place.

They mentioned two books that were interesting to read:  “What Did Jesus Eat?” and “Every Body Matters.”  Shawn, the personal trainer leading the workout, mentioned that Jesus ate to fill himself not to excess, walked a lot and fasted occasionally, further illustrating the need for self control.

So, would Jesus play Beer Pong?  I’m going to say, probably not.  But He might have a glass of wine with dinner.  And what I took away from the class is to really slow down and consider what you are putting into your body before you do it.  I’ll try to focus on self control with my eating this week.

Lisa

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