BEER AND FAITH

That should be the name of a band. Or maybe a clothing line. Trust me it's no worse than True Religion. I mean, seriously. I can imagine the people that were 1/3 Zoolander, 1/3 Bruno, 1/3 marketing executive that came up with THAT brand name. I can just see them with their tight white leather pants, their pink muscle tees, and their cheetah-print scarves, sitting around a board room, all clapping as they whisper-shout "True Religion" around the conference table to each other with glee. Wow, I'm digressing.

Anyway, so back to beer and faith. It sounds like a weird combo- but it's not. At all. Martin Luther, who I think has affected most of our lives rather significantly, said "God does not forbid you to drink…he permits you to drink wine and beer: he does not make a law of it. But do not make a pig of yourself; remain a human being. If you are a human being, then keep your human self-control.” My favorite perspective on beer is from Benjamin Franklin, who pontificated, "beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." (For the record, I think sending His only begotten Son to die for our sins is better proof of the Almighty's "love" for us, but I see where Ben was going with this.) Some of the most religious groups prior to the onset of the 20th century regularly imbibed a brew or two. In fact, in parts of the world the water was so contaminated (and literally toxic) that beer, over history, saved lives.

I'm not sure when beer became the enemy. I think it was in post-prohibition, protestant-bent, middle-America that we began to look down our noses at beer-drinkers. We clothed ourselves in the very thin cloak of moral elitism and we felt so bad about all the sin in our lives and our inability to reconcile it that we started looking for anyone/anywhere/anything else to make ourselves feel better about our own corroded ids. And beer became the bad guy.

Don't get me wrong. Too much beer is definitely a bad thing. So is too much sugar. Or too much caffeine. Or too much anything, except love and Christ (which are really synonymous, so I'm being redundant.)

But, there's nothing wrong with a beer or two. I promise you there will be no eternal implications (unless it's a Natty Light.) So, I invite all of you out to the only church I've ever known that has its own bar, the Tavern Church.

Mark your calendars. The last Sunday of each month at 7:30pm. Invite a friend.

The 1st service is next Sunday, January 31. Our teacher is Dr. Steve Bezner. You can read some of his very wise, insightful perspective at citizenbezner.com - see you then...