The Watering Hole

Being a young adult pastor is a great job. I love helping young adults figure out God, faith, and church. I encounter many questions on a daily basis in regards to their spiritual formation. One of my favorite questions of late goes something like this, "The Bible says don't get drunk, but where is the line between having a few drinks and getting drunk?"

This line of questioning also fits nicely with, "How far can I go sexually?" The age old problem with God telling us to wait until marriage to have sex, and us wanting to push the limits right up to the brink of intercourse.

Most people who ask these questions, whether they realize it or not, are asking from a legalistic perspective. Perhaps unknowingly, they are asking for a list of rules, wanting a religion with God that is made up of laws. They are wanting a line drawn in the sand not to cross, or a boundary or fence put up for them to see where to go and not go.

The problem is simple, God doesn't put up fences or draw lines in the sand. Instead He builds watering holes.

Our lead pastor at Neighborhood Church of Redding, Bill Giovannetti illustrates this point. His illustration goes something like this...In Australia, cattle ranches are literally thousands of acres in size, and are impossible to fence. The cattle can roam anywhere they want, including outside the boundaries of their owners land. How do the ranchers keep the cattle within bounds? Simple, they put watering holes in the middle of their lands. The cattle know that the source of water is life to them and never wander too far away from the watering hole. The watering hole keeps the cattle within bounds, safe, and accounted for.

God's watering hole is Jesus Christ. The question is not how far can I wander before I sin, but how close can I stay to Jesus. So how does one keep from getting drunk? Here is a sobriety test for you: The moment you can't see Jesus while drinking, is the moment you probably went too far. When I say see Jesus, I merely mean the moment that you can no longer feel that your testimony is worthy of Christ. Christ drank, his disciples drank, and drinking is not sinful, but Christ never lost sight of His Father's will. He always had His mission in mind.

The next time you go to drink keep the mission of Christ in mind.

The following verse is the perfect scripture for what I have been writing about.

Galatians 5:16 says "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh."

How does one stay in bounds? Walk by the Spirit. The fruit of the flesh is getting drunk (Galatians 5:21). You can put that in the bank, 100% of the time it is true. If you are drunk, you are in the flesh, no if, ands, or buts. The fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) That fruit is the fruit of the watering hole, better put, that fruit is the fruit of keeping Jesus in view at all times.

Comments

[nathan edwardson]

what about wine coolers?

[Bill Giovannetti]

Great blog post, Todd. I love the application: when you can't see Jesus you've gone too far.
Good stuff.
Bill

[noah]

goooooooood stuff skodd tinner. good stuff.

[Janet]

Yeah walking by the spirit! The analogy with the watering hole is so good. I'll have to keep that one in mind when someone asks me those questions or I find myself wondering along those lines. :)

[pedro negro]

Todd this is amazing. I dont think that you could have said it any better. This is going to be a great tool for communication. Keep it up