2 Perspectives on Beer & Bible Study
Last night my department went out for a happy hour after work to send off one of our own to a new job in California. He’ll be sorely missed, but we celebrated his time with us joyously.
At one point in the evening, a guy who used to work with us stopped by and joined our tables, sitting near me. This is a guy who is a professed atheist, and more than that, one of those who is especially antagonistic about Christians. I know that a lot of his antagonistic opinions stem from a misunderstanding of true Christianity. He has seen it on TV, frequently portrayed by the media as including all the crazy cults and extremists. And he’s formed opinions. He and I have had discussions in the past on the subject of what I believe and practice versus what you see on TV, but it didn’t seem to have a significant impact on his perspective.
Shortly after he sat down, one of my friends stood up and said, “Okay, I’m heading out.” Another guy looked up and queried, “Bible study?” “Yep.” As we were all wishing him well on his way to Bible study, the guy sitting near me began laughing hysterically. “Did he just say he’s going to Bible study?? That’s something I never thought I’d hear - someone in a bar saying they were going to Bible study!” And he laughed some more and I quelled my impulse to engage him on the subject, because I was a bit upset at his reaction and it wouldn’t have come out right at the time.
His perspective was - this is irony, hypocrisy! A guy who calls himself a Christian is sitting here in a bar, having a beer - that’s the first hypocrisy number one, because I thought Christians weren’t allowed to drink. And the second hypocrisy would be that you had a beer and now you’re going to study the Bible?! Isn’t that sacrilegious? Oh, those silly Christians - they are totally clueless and never make any sense. **Now, these were probably not his exact thoughts, but I’m sure the sentiment was pretty similar to what I just wrote.
I had a different perspective on the situation. I was so glad to see someone being so honest and open about their Christianity in public. Yes, he went to the bar - to celebrate a close friend who is moving away. Yes, he did have a drink or two, but did not get drunk. And he left when it was time for Bible study, clearly showing what his priority for the evening was. He could have blown it off and kept drinking, but chose God over alcohol. He didn’t slink away either - he was okay talking about it out loud and acting as if this was a normal thing - because it is. I see nothing wrong with Christians doing these two things in the same evening. Yes, after a certain amount of drinking, it would indeed be different. But that was not the case last evening.
When we get upset over something like this, it not only encourages non-Christians to act in a similar manner, it shows that there really is a merit system we’re keeping track of just below the surface still. We still haven’t truly understood God’s grace. There is NOTHING we can do to make God love us any less than He does. So why do we get all bent out of shape over things like this? I don’t think we should. I was blessed last night by my friend’s actions. I am proud of his character and priorities that were on public display. In Colossians 1:5-6, Paul says that the gospel is bearing fruit all over the world, just as it has been doing in the Colossians since the day they truly understood God’s grace. The gospel isn’t able to bear fruit until we truly understand what it means to live in God’s grace. Grace is what my atheist friend failed to see, and it’s my fault and it’s Christianity’s fault for not effectively showing him that that’s what we’re about. Not keeping track of sins.
