Well according to Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary they dont.
“I can assure you of this: if you are associated with the use of beverage alcohol, I think I dare exaggerate not to say that 99% of all doors of ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention will be closed to you.”
- Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Now dont get me wrong. I highly respect Al Mohler and being a former Southern Baptist, I use to believe this. I have a ton of respect for the people and leadership for the Southern Baptist Church, so i am not addressing this to them as a whole. I just think its absolutly crazy to think that 99% of your ministry will be "closed to you" if you drink. Now this is a very....well interesting statement to make at the least. Its interesting because many of the fathers of the church, Calvin and Luther both drank beer and whine. C.S Lewis actually drank and smoked in bars and pubs in England as he witnessed to drunks there. Jesus made Wine and drank it with his disciples, and Paul actually instructed Timothy to drink wine. Now did all these men have 99% of there ministry "Closed" to them? I dare say not. Yes I agree that getting drunk with either Beer or Wine is a sin. Thats not a issue for me. Personally, I have seen what Beer can do to a family, my father being a great example of what can happen when you drink in excess. Beer and Alcohol have at times almost tearing my family apart. Other things tear apart our society, not only beer. But so does preventable obesity and people eating until they clog their arteries and have premature heart attacks and die and their families suffer. So does greed and gluttony cause people to suffer in other ways. So does unhealthy marriages that impact children who even grow up in pastors homes or children in homes where anger issues are a problem etc. Heck Alcoholism isn't anything new to this world, its been around even since Jesus walked the Earth. So the whole "causing your brother to stumble" argument (it is not how it was specifically used in the Bible with that verse), then Jesus Himself was causing brothers to stumble at the wedding He created more wine at. Is the argument more for protecting the "Conservative Christian" then an Alcoholic to stumble? This is really interesting.
I would be interested in how this statement would be played out in regards to Jesus, since He drank and even created wine (when there was also alcohol abuse happening in His time) and even the sacrament of the Lord's Supper/Communion was originally with wine as well. I am wondering about this especially if you are a Southern Baptist. If Jesus came to apply for a job as a Southern Baptist pastor, would He have 99% of the doors shut?
Drunks need the Gospel. If you are of age (21 in this country not 12 people) and you drink in moderation....I feel more then confident that your ministry will be done. Look at Calvin, Luther, Timothy, C.S Lewis and even Jesus....I think they did pretty well! I'm sorry Mr. Mohler I strongly disagree with you.
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