TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3972, 29 April 1930, Page 10

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Published by arrangement with the United Temperance Reform Council. 1

SHOULD A CHRISTIAN DRINK? Summary of an Address by the Rev. Henry Carter. An earnest Christian is on a quest for the will of Christ, as he discerns it. The' will of Christ becomes his rule or law in daily life. What is the will of Christ for the, Christian to-day on the question of beverage alcohol? Should he use it in moderation or should he abstain ? Neither prejudice or common custom should determine the reply. A Christian must make" his reckoning with truth. Truth’ may endorse custom or challenge it, but truth" must be the overlord of custom. THE TRUTH ABOUT STRONG DRINK Our fathers knew that strong drink caused sorrow, made people quarrelsome,” reckless, brutal. Under its influence men fought, sometimes killed, neglected home,* were careless about their children, unreliable as workers, and often drifted into, pauperism. They knew that drink ruined* innumerable lives. Here and there they; organised total abstinence societies and sought to lead men into sobriety. We know to-day or may know why alcohol causes such degradation of life. Science has discovered facts, and these’ are available. Alcohol is a drug with poison action. Alcohol attacks the brain? A man under the influence of drink stag-; gers in mind before he staggers in limb, undermining the powers of self-control.’ Judgment is shaken, reason fails to govern action, the will fails to control the emotions. The drinker thinks he is more shrewd, is speaking more ably, and making a deep impression on his hearers.” The explanation is that alcohol is a cotic, it stupefies, deludes: “ Wine is a. mocker.”

We say that a man is drunk when he reels on his feet, but the man was the worse for drink long before this. He was drunk in the realm of self-control, judgement and fine distinctions between right and wrong—drunk in the highest part of his nature. THE TRUTH ABOUT LIFE.

This has an effect on character. When alcohol strikes the seat of government it degrades, it lowers in grade the quality of man’s being and action. He is worth less morally when alcohol holds the reins”. “ Those in contact with the person so affected have for the time being to deal with an altered individual whose mimj lacks temporarily its moral factor of judgment and conspicuous element of self: control.”

This is a fact of immense importance to Christian discipleship which highest demands on personality. A man must be clear and clean in his mind and spirit. He must dedicate his body in its fullness of power and resource. Drink lowers the value in man of mind and spirit with which God commumes. In a word, drink despoils the best we have tq offer God for the ministries of the King? dom.

Defenders of the drinking habit still quote “ Let your moderation be known unto all men.” as though the quotation had any bearing on drink. St. Paul was speaking of a state of mind and not a habit or action. The revised version translates. “ Let your forbearance be known unto all men.” As to the worej “ temperance ” in the list of virtues, St, Paul means “self-control.” Science dis? closes alcohol to be the enemy of “ self? control.” Surely the verdict against alco? hoi is convincing. The Christian is subject to the law “ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy? self.” Attitude of mind and personal habits are to conform to that obligation, Therefore “ let no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way or an occasion for falling.” What of the children of the nation? It is the children who pay the family drink bill. Then read “it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” What of the nation, its moral quality, its responsibility to mankind in this tinparalleled age? Who can measure the loss to a nation through the prevalence of alcohol, the dwarfing of the mental and moral stature. _ Every citizen who, because of alcoholic indulgence, thinks on a low plane, is content with low purposes, or contributes no sustained social service, lessens actually and positively his nation’s power to serve God, his fellow-man, and the present age. THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT.

Shall we answer the call of the flesh or the command of the Spirit? The plea for the use of intoxicants is a plea on behalf of the flesh. Strong drink ministers to the senses. It is gratification of appetite and bodily desire. Alcohol does not quicken thought. Alcohol confuses the powers of mind. Alcohol does not incite to spiritual quest. It deadens the yearnings of the soul, unleashes carnal passion, and again arid again has betrayed man’s soul. What excuse can a Christian man give for drinking habit knowing the scientific indictment of beverage alcohol? Self-control, idealism, and social obligation are elements involved in the triumph of the spiritual nature, and these surely impel to abstinence.

We do not follow Jesus when we seek in the customs of another age and clime sanctions for an indulgence in appetite. We only truly follow Him when His attitude to other’s needs is the accepted guide to bur duty. As Paul did when he wrote, that the right course was to abstain from wine if wine were a stumbling block to a brother. This was his reply to the assertion that a man has a right to drink to excess. The highest right is the right to forego a right for the other’s gain. Deeper still was Jesus’ teaching concerning life and its quality. Self-centred desires were not to rule in the hearts of His followers. The sincere follower would deny himself and take up his cross day by day. Should, then, a Christian, knowing the scientific indictment of alcohol, and realising the extent of the evil of drink, its spiritual, social, and moral effects, be a total abstainer? The issue is narrowed on the one hand to the plea, appetite—“ I like it,” on the other hand, to the Cross with its appeal to sacrifice for the highest good. Can appetite withstand the highest appeal? Is it not clear that the Christian way is sacrifice, ungrudging sacrifice for His sake and that of His children.—The Pat’•mt. •