The Baptist Church Covenant Might Need to Be Revised

Does the Bible teach to abstain from strong drink?

From childhood, I recall the routine of reading The Baptist Church Covenant each first Sunday before taking Holy Communion. point in a missionary Baptist Church. I memorized parts of it after saying the words every first Sunday for decades. You can read it in full at this link.

This agreement is said to be biblically inspired. There is one line that is not: "to abstain from the sale of, and use of, intoxicating drinks as a beverage."

How many people have quoted this Baptist Church mantra without really thinking about what they were saying? I am not a social drinker, but I drink a few times a year for special occasions. Not long ago, I realized I was lying by saying the covenant and knowing I might take a drink.

Ephesians 5:18 reads: And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; The issue seems to be overindulgence and drunkenness. Scriptures say nothing about not selling or drinking strong beverages, but some preachers have interpreted it to say so.

John the Baptist and Samson did not drink and the Levitical Priests were told to abstain. Jesus turned water into wine, although some say it was grape juice.

However, Psalms 104:14-15 says wine gladdens the heart, and Proverbs 17:28 tells us a merry heart works like medicine. Grape juice does not make the heart merry.

Are we lying to God and the church?

The church covenant mentions many things we can strive to perfect, like walking in Christian love and not backbiting. The statement of abstaining from selling and drinking strong drinks causes a dilemma because it's not in scripture.

Every first Sunday of a month in Baptist Churches people read these words from the back of Baptist hymnals then go home to drink or work in a store where alcoholic beverages are sold.

I don't know why J. Newton Brown wrote these words in 1853. Perhaps his interpretation of scripture is that you should not drink, but that's not accurate. Is saying this covenant when you know that you drink, lying?

For 170 years, Baptists have confessed these words while many of them drink and some to excess. Is this lying to yourself and God? If we slip up and don't maintain family devotions or gossip, these are character issues within human nature that we all need to work on.

Should the covenant be reviewed?

It's easy to get caught up in a moment, say the wrong thing, or become so busy we don't make time for devotions. Going to the store and purchasing liquor is a willful choice that takes time, effort, and money. This is a willful choice.

Deuteronomy 14:26 states that the children of Israel should drink strong drink although some theologians say this is the wrong interpretation. In I Timothy 5:23, Paul admonishes Timothy to stop drinking only water and drink a little wine for his stomach's sake.

Some say Bible wine was diluted, but does watered-down wine make the heart merry or have a medicinal purpose? People are going to drink, and that's a fact. Some of those who don't will hold to the view that the Bible forbids drinking-period. Some drinkers will overindulge, which is dangerous because others may be injured if you drink and drive.

This article is not about whether you drink or not, but addresses the reading of the Covenant when you know you will later drink. The issue is quoting the Baptist Church Covenant, knowing you will continue drinking. Perhaps it's time to revisit this mantra and amend it rather than have people confessing what they know they are not living.

Please note: This article is not to encourage drinking but to glean an understanding of what scripture says based on the covenant.