As the faithful men entrusted with decision-making authority, the authority to delegate responsibilities, and the spiritual counseling of the congregation in which they serve (Heb.13:7,17; 1 Pet. 5:3-4; Acts 20:17,28; 1 Thess. 5:12-13, 14-15), elders must be qualified men who by their study and teaching of God’s Word and by their own exemplary behavior have demonstrated to their congregation their dependable leadership skills. Most of the qualifications imposed upon these men by Paul in his letters to Timothy (1 Tim. 3:1-7) and Titus (Tit. 1:5-9) are required of all faithful Christians but they are required to a degree worthy of imitation from men who are appointed to be the bishops of a congregation.

One of those qualifications is that a bishop must be one who is “not given to wine” (1 Tim. 3:3a; Tit. 1:7e). The KJV, NKJV and AMP render me paroinon as “not given to wine.” The ESV has “not a drunkard.” The NASB: “not addicted to wine.” The NIV: “not given to drunkenness.” These translations all beg the question, “How does this qualification require exemplary behavior from those men who are appointed as elders since all Christians are prohibited from being drunkards and/or given to (addicted to) wine (1 Cor. 5:11; 6:10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:18; Mt. 24:49; Lk. 12:45; Acts 2:15; 1 Thess. 5:7)? To answer this, we need to understand the meaning of drunkenness in the New Testament.

What is Drunkenness?

Everyone acknowledges that drunkenness is a sin. Galatians 5:21 lists it as a work of the flesh that will exclude those guilty of it from entering the kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 5:18 counsels all Christians not to be “drunk with wine wherein is excess.”

But the question is: Just exactly when does a person become drunk? Moderationists argue that drunkenness is a line which one crosses from one drink to the next. In other words, before a certain drink (the number varies with the promoter of this idea) one is not drunk; but after having consumed one drink too many he is drunk. Pinning down just which drink that is, however, is very tricky. Actually, it takes a religious-commonsense-social-drinker to make this argument. Sadly, that person is often a member of the churches of Christ.

I make this observation because out in the world people who care nothing about God or the Bible or the church or righteousness know that drunkenness is a process. The state repeatedly defines drunkenness in this way in its statutes: California’s DUI laws prohibit all motorists from driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or higher. When I first started driving in Texas over 50 years ago only if one “blew” .10% (BAC) or more on a breathalyzer test would he or she be issued a DUI ticket. In California commercial drivers can be issued a ticket for a BAC of .04% or higher. And CA has a “zero tolerance” policy making it illegal for young drivers under the legal drinking age (21) to get behind the wheel with a BAC of .01% or higher. In California for repeat DUI offenders the limit is .01%. The limit for airline pilots was once .05% BAC but now it also is .04% BAC with no drinks allowed in the previous eight hours before flying.

Why do these BAC rates reflect increasing restriction? Two reasons: 1) increasing traffic; increasing responsibilities; increasing clouding of judgment; decreasing capabilities and control; and 2) drunkenness is a process. Drunkenness is a process which begins when one begins to consume ethyl alcohol.

Not surprisingly, the Word of God agrees with this assessment. In Scripture there are two words used to describe being drunk. The first is methyo which signifies “to be drunk with wine.” The verb is used of being intoxicated or the state or condition of intoxication. In Matthew 24:49 the evil servant “begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards.” In Acts 2:15 Peter says, “These are not drunk as you suppose.” First Thessalonians 5:7 says, “those who get drunk are drunk (methyo).”

The second word for “to be drunk” is methysko which means “to make drunk or to grow drunk“ (BDAG 625). W.E. Vine observes that this word is an inceptive verb “marking the process or the state expressed in methysko” (Vol. 1 p. 341). This inceptive verb is used three times in the New Testament. In Luke 12:45 the evil servant begins “to eat and drink and be drunk.” In Ephesians 5:18 Christians are told, “be not drunk with wine.” And in 1 Thessalonians 5:7 Paul says, “Those who get drunk (methyo) are drunk (methysko).” Note both words are used in 1 Thessalonians 5:7. Those who become or grow drunk, are drunk.

In other words, both science and the state as well as the Bible recognize that drunkenness is a process which begins when a person first begins to consume ethyl alcohol. Drunkenness is condemned in Scripture. Being drunk will keep a person from entering the kingdom of heaven (Gal. 5:19-21) and this process begins with a person’s first drink. So, there is no acceptable level of moderate or social/recreational drinking for any Christian.

How Does an Elder Display this Qualification “Not Given to Wine” in an Exemplary Manner?

This phrase is composed of the Greek me which is a particle of negation and means “not” (Perschbacher, 275) and paroinon which means “pertaining to wine, given to wine, prone to intemperance; drunken; hence quarrelsome, insolent, overbearing (1 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7)” (Perschbacher, 314). Cleon Rogers adds, “one who sits long at his wine…” (492). It should be noted that secondarily this word also precludes the violent brawling that often results from one tarrying too long at his wine. Quarrelsome, overbearing behavior is associated with the lowered inhibitions resulting from brooding too long over one’s wine.

An elder should be known for his sobriety. He should not be one who hangs around with people who drink intoxicating beverages. He should never be identified as one who attends drinking parties or visits bars or liquor stores. Homer Kent homes in on the exemplary behavior that sets the elder apart from his fellow believers when he points out that the literal translation of me paroinon is “not beside wine.” The original idea was one who sits long beside his wine. Then it came to mean one who becomes quarrelsome after drinking. The first meaning includes the second. The overseer is not to be a wine drinker (132). But more than that he is not to be one that even visits places where the main stock in trade is alcoholic drinks—bars, liquor stores, lounges, night clubs, drinking parties and the like. Furthermore, the leader should never behave as one who has tarried too long at his wine. Literally, the elder should not even be around or close to those who are drinking liquor, let alone be drinking any at all with such people. Hiebert quotes Ernest Gordon, “translating it literally as ‘not present at wine,’ says it means that the bishop must not be in drinking places or parties” (Titus, 33).

What is the Difference Between “Not Given to Wine” and “Not Given to Much Wine”?

Distinguishing the qualification of the elder “not given to wine” from that of the deacon “not given to much wine” points up the most important facet of the elder’s qualification. 1 Timothy 3:8c says the deacon must not “be given to much wine.” The English rendering comes from four Greek words. The first is me which is the same particle of negation used in 1 Timothy 3:3 in reference to the elder’s qualifications. It means “not” (Perschbacher AGL,314). The second word is oino which is the dative “to wine” (291). The third word is pollo for “much” (338). The fourth is prosechontas which means “being given” (352). The phrase turns on the word prosechontas which, according to Thayer, is to be “addicted to” (546). No one is addicted to a little bit of wine. The addict always wants more and more of whatever he is addicted to. We have already established that Christians are not to drink alcoholic beverages at all, much less be addicted to them. Heibert quotes David Lipscomb, “The use of strong drink is entirely incompatible with a highly developed Christian character” (1 Timothy, 69). What, then, is the significance of pollo (“much”)? The point seems to be that the deacon in his work might occasionally need to be around those who are drinking alcohol in order to administer the work of a deacon. One might need to rescue some wayward Christian from a bar or study with someone prone to drink a little. The deacon would need to perform this service with thoughtful care to maintain his good reputation. Hiebert observes, “‘Not given’ means not only not paying attention to, but also not giving assent to…” (1 Timothy, 69). On the other hand, the elder of a congregation should not even be in the presence of alcoholic beverages at all under any circumstance so as not to lessen his authority or give anyone a handle to use as leverage against his counsel and teaching.

An elder must not drink wine or any kind of alcoholic beverage at all. Furthermore, he should not even be in the presence of alcohol. The deacon must not drink alcohol either, but the nature of his service may require him to occasionally be in the presence of those who do consume alcohol.

Article by: Alan Bonifay | alanbonifay@gmail.com

Bibliography

BDAG (Danker, Frederick William et al). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature; Third Edition (BDAG). Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Hiebert, D. Edmond. First Timothy. Chicago: Moody Press, 1957.

Hiebert, D. Edmond. Titus and Philemon. Chicago: Moody Press, 1957.

Kent, Homer A. The Pastorals. Chicago: Moody Press, 1958.

Perschbacher, Wesley J. The New Analytical Greek Lexicon. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrikson Publishers, Inc., 1990.

Rogers Cleon L. Jr. and Cleon L. Rogers III. The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998.

Thayer, Joseph Henry. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969.

Vine, W. E. An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming Revell Company, 1966.