Sabbath 20/11/27/120 B
Dear Friends,
It was brought to our attention recently that we were accused of forcing people to drink alcohol.
It is important that we understand the Church’s position on alcohol and provide an answer to the accusers of the brethren that would level false accusations at us.
It is true that we demand that every baptised person in the Church must take of the body and blood of Jesus Christ at the Lord’s Supper. That ceremony occurs annually on the 14th day of Abib, which is the preparation day at the beginning of the Feast of the Passover and Unleavened Bread.
Thus, each one of us must take approximately a half-ounce or so of red wine each year. No exceptions are made for alcoholics. If an alcoholic is unable to control himself or herself to the extent they cannot partake of the Lord’s Supper they are not ready for baptism, nor are they fit for the Church and the Kingdom of God. We all take of one bottle and from one unleavened loaf. That is why individual wafers are not made or permitted with us. There is one body. However, we do allow individual glasses for hygiene reasons, even though wine is a form of antiseptic.
That is the position and doctrine of the Church. Christ said: “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no part in me.” That doctrine is not negotiable.
It is correct that we have reformed alcoholics in the Church who have greeted this challenge with trepidation. For an alcoholic, even a small amount of alcohol sets up a craving that encourages them to drink more. This is usually a genetic disorder that is obtained through the mitochondrial DNA of the mother. In other words, you inherit alcoholism from your mother’s DNA. In each case the Holy Spirit ensures that each person faithfully performing the Passover is not affected. We have never had a relapse of an alcoholic from the faithful observance of the Passover.
That is the only time a person is required to drink alcohol in the CCG. It is a requirement of God through Christ. The partaking of grape juice at the Passover is not acceptable, and the teachings of people such as the Adventists are false. These errors and the true Bible doctrines are all detailed in the paper Wine in the Bible (No. 188).
We have noted that this aspect is attacked by the demons, who try to insert the practice of taking grape juice into the Lord’s Supper. They thereby seek to negate the basic commands of the Lord’s Supper and remove the adherent from the body of Christ. Anyone trying to introduce this doctrine into the Church is to be suspended.
Our position on alcohol generally is this. The Bible not only commands the Lord’s Supper, it permits the taking of wine and strong drink at the feasts and Sabbaths of the Lord. We are commanded to eat the fat and drink the sweet at the feasts of the Lord. This means we can eat the fattened beasts and drink the sweet wines of the harvests given to us by God.
Now some of us are diabetics and some of us cannot take much alcohol. However, we enjoy the feasts and we look forward to them all season. Those of us who are prevented from taking much alcohol or any at all are not to be self-righteous about it or to discourage those who can enjoy a glass of wine.
We enjoy taking a glass of wine with the brethren and although I, and some of the ministry, only have one or two, we do not begrudge the ones who can have more from doing so. At the feast we may enjoy slightly more but that is our right and privilege under God’s laws. The medical authorities now know and have proven that a little red wine is good for the heart and prolongs life.
No person in the Churches of God is to encourage an alcoholic to commence drinking and your behaviour is not to cause your brother to fall.
Social functions are not to cause people to criticise us. However, by now each of you will know that there exists in some of our societies a spirit of self-righteousness such that the Church is accused if it drinks or allows drink at all. This unscriptural and unbalanced view is most often seen from the churches in the USA. Sometimes it emerges from people in the Scandinavian societies that do not grow wines but rather ferment beers and spirits.
To suggest to a Frenchman, an Italian, a Greek, or an Israeli for example, that wine is evil and forbidden by the Bible would be met by derision. And rightly, they would regard the person as uneducated or uninformed. They might also regard them perhaps as unbalanced. The Australians even have a special word for such a person and that word is “Wowser”. Any one who looks down on, or tries to tell others that beer especially, but any alcoholic beverage is sinful or bad is termed a “Wowser”. In Australian society, a wowser is not a good thing to be. Although, the unbalanced views of the US cults are entering the Australian society, and with them comes this aberrant view.
As we progress towards the coming of the Messiah in these last days, the world is becoming more unbalanced and accusative. Do not give people cause to accuse us but do not be concerned with them either. Have nothing to do with the accusers of the brethren and look after one another. Love each other as God and Christ love us.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
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