Dear loving friends in Jesus,
I thank God who inspires many of us to
share on the topic of DRUNKENNESS through His Holy Spirit. From the
discussions going on it is clearly understood that drunkenness is a big sin.
Those who support moderate drinking also explained the various bad aspects
of drunkenness very well. Many of us know moderation will lead to
addiction. There is no positive justification about this. The person who
knows all the negative aspects of drinking, but personally supports
/justifies it. I strongly believe these are the tactics of Satan to deviate
the holy minds and hearts. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places. (Eph 6:12)
Dear friends, Aren't we following a fifth
gospel-- The gospel made by each of us according to our conveniences, taste
and life style. We avoid the scriptures, which are causing us inconvenience.
We avoid certain areas cleverly because that is entirely different from our
social custom and status. We are proclaiming this fifth gospel to the
world. This is the biggest obstacle in our Christian Life. This is the
reason millions are still away from salvation. Please keep in mind, we have
a lot of differences in various fields (culture, language, education etc
etc) but we have only one Bible.
I would like to share my views on certain relevant
areas of the ongoing discussions. A family Domestic Church (11 Vatican
Council) becomes reality through the holy sacrament of Marriage. The
assimilation of three personalities, God, man and woman. A great joy for
heaven and earth. They are drunk, but not with wine. They stagger, but not
with intoxicating drink (Is 29:9) In my personal opinion whoever serves the
liquor on that day has the moral responsibility for the families suffering
around the world through drinks. Then it is better for the church to
announce to stop the intercessory prayers against drunkenness. If we can use
drinks in places of celebration what is the difference between church and
hotels/bars/clubs. Only Mr.Lukas shared his opinions, but he has not
mentioned the reasons. In my e-mail on drunkenness, I wanted to highlight
two things
1) Priests and leaders teaching drunkenness is not a sin and part of
culture--- almost everybody responded. No one came up with any comments on
culture and its relevance to Christianity.
2) Is it advisable to conduct programs and functions serving liquor within
the church premises? Please share your views.
We are talking about 'ATTITUDE'. In many families drunkenness
is a part of life and their families are struggling ---this is part of
attitude? Many people whom I know, most of them from Philippines has one
partner in their native place and one in the work place, is it attitude? In
USA & UK parents send children to school with condoms for safety
purposehealth caution. This is part of attitude? Teachers give
contraceptive pills to girls in order to avoid child pregnancy, part of
attitude? Everyone knows homosexuality is very common and acceptable in many
catholic countries, again part of attitude. I am not trying to assert that
we are better than others. I only want to highlight the evils very alive in
the world. Yes we are living in a world where sin has become a part of life,
a way of life. In the Bible we can see, Jesus is alike to mankind in
everything except sin. No compromise on sin in any case whatsoever. We are
called to that perfection.
We believe the Apostolic Church is holy and perfect. This
is our teaching. Also we are teaching the church should form the conscience
of the world. If so we have to find answers for the following
a) There are millions of drunkards ruining their body and soul.
b) There are people living in poverty / facing financial problems due to
drunkenness.
c) There are untold suffering in families, leading women even to the point
of suicide due to their spouse's drunkenness
d) There are children born with psychological problems because of
drunkenness
e) There are cases of daughters being abused by their own dads through
drunkenness
f) There are youth indulging in immoralities due to drunkenness
g) There are lot of political killing due to drunkenness
h) There are so many girls remaining unmarried because of their parents
drunkenness
i) Needless to say, many people suffering from several diseases due to
drunkenness
j) There are lot of rape cases due to drunkenness
k) There are sexual problems among partners due to drunkenness
l) There are liquor tragedies thousands have died
m) There are priests & leaders addicted to drinks disfiguring the face of
the church
n) There are church programs serving liquors church again fails to witness
The list can go on and on. Please tell me do we have no moral
responsibility about the realities mentioned above
Another point of discussion. Obedience &
'Criticism'--this is almost always misquoted in the spiritual world. Please
do not misunderstand the true response of people regarding the issues being
discussed. In the gospel of St.Luke the angel came to Mary to inform the
good news. Mary responded positively, she didnt think the words from
angels. I am not knowing the man "How is it possible? " Then the angel
explained and convinced her. Mary said Thy will be done We are always
quoting second reaction of Mary. The first reaction of Mary is also very
essential for our spiritual growth.
Dear friends we are in a spiritual war. We can fight
against evils without compromise. After the several decades our beloved Pope
apologized to the generations only by the grace of Holy Spirit. We can hope
and pray that the church will proclaim DRUNKENNESS is a grievous sin with
no exception to moderate drinking.
Jose Kuriakose -- Bahrain
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