Skip to content Answering Christian Alcohol Questions _ Tyler Gaulden Aug 3 · 36 min ...more
Answering Christian Alcohol Questions _ Tyler Gaulden
August 3, 2026 · 36 min
A pastor's careful teaching distinguishing biblical 'wine' from 'strong drink', historical context, and a call to seek truth over opinion.
Series Table Talks With Pastor Tyler Gaulden August 3, 2026 · 36 min · Table Talks With Pastor Tyler Gaulden
A pastor's careful teaching distinguishing biblical 'wine' from 'strong drink', historical context, and a call to seek truth over opinion. ...more Show the full description Show less A pastor's careful teaching distinguishing biblical 'wine' from 'strong drink', historical context, and a call to seek truth over opinion.
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Tyler's Personal Stance and Biblical Reasons Against Modern Alcohol 0:00 Alright. We've got some questions that we're gonna answer, hot button stuff. We're gonna be talking today about can a Christian drink alcohol. I promise you, some of you are not gonna like it. Some of you are gonna0:12 get help, and then some of you are gonna learn some things today. But before that we go into that, we'll get right into it in just a 2nd. I wanna say thank you to our joy partners. We have people every single month that0:23 support this ministry, whether it's our radio broadcast, our television broadcast, our YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, all of that is because of you and your faithful support. If you'd like to become a Joy0:34 partner every month, you can find the link down below. Also, we had a lot of you ask questions in the comments on the last video. We're gonna be making another video soon answering those. If you have0:46 some Bible questions, practical questions regarding the church spiritual things or just something you've always wanted somebody to answer, put that down below. We'll be happy to do that. Alright, Avery. We've got some0:57 more questions. Let's hit it. We do. So today, we're gonna be talking about alcohol1:03 and the, controversy of k. Of alcohol. I don't have nearly as many questions as I did last time. But talk to me about how does it work in the Bible when, you know, it talks about, you1:14 know, wine quite a bit in the Bible. Did Jesus ever drink wine?1:21 I'm gonna give you a very long answer with a very short synopsis. Okay? You have to start way back here, and this is where you've gotta start.1:33 Number 1, your opinion doesn't matter. My opinion, it doesn't matter. People that are gonna watch this, what's gonna happen is they go into1:45 a subject, especially alcohol, with a point to prove. Here's what I want. I want the truth. What is the truth? What is the1:56 right way and the wrong way? This is especially important when it comes to alcohol because if you come into it with a, preconceived notion, every piece of evidence is2:08 gonna point to that. Me and Troy were actually talking about this, this morning. When you're looking for a rat in the wood pile, you'll find a rat in every wood pile.2:20 When you have a preconceived notion or a a conclusion you wanna reach, I wanna prove how it's okay to drink. Then you're gonna find the reason. I'm gonna prove how it's not okay to drink. You're gonna find the reason.2:31 What does it actually mean? Okay. So to answer your question, according to the bible, in John chapter number 2, when Jesus is at the marriage at Cana, he turned the water2:43 into what? Wine. Okay. So the word wine, w I n e, is used in the bible. It's used in the old testament. It's used in the new testament. The question is not did he do that? I mean, we see that in the2:55 bible. What was that? Okay. So here's what you have to understand about words. Words mean3:07 different things during different time periods. In the bible, there are 2 different kinds of words used to describe what you and I would refer to as alcohol.3:20 In the bible, there is a phrase, a word called wine, and then there is a word called strong drink. K. In the bible, strong drink is always condemned.3:32 It's always wrong. It's always bad. Anyone that uses it is a fool. Anyone that uses it is always wrong. So these 2 things are always used. That phrase strong drink,3:44 but we find that word wine used a whole bunch. You you see Jesus in John 2 turn the water into wine. We see Paul commend to Timothy for3:56 his stomach. He says, take a little wine for the stomach's sake. So we do see this word wine used with Christians. We see it in the, the book of,4:09 1st Timothy chapter number 3 when it talks about the pastor, the bishop, and then the deacons. The pastors to have no wine, the bishop or the deacon, it says, is not to be 1 that uses much wine. So you see this4:21 used. So now we have to answer the question before people jump off a ledge, and accuse me or you or of anything. The question now is what is wine?4:32 Okay. The Greek word for wine is a Greek word, which is very different than strong drink. They're 2 different things. Now you can pull it up on your4:44 phone. You can get to Google. The AI will help you do this. Okay. In the Bible now I've got an entire message. I preach on the Christian and alcohol. Maybe you can link it in the video. Yeah.4:58 I go into so many more details about this. Okay. In the bible, wine was made was used a fermented drink.5:09 Alright? It was used to kill or to sanitize water, to kill the germs and water. And here's what they would do. They would be a mixture, and you can look right now online. You5:21 can Google this. And a lot of times, they would dilute it. The amount of water to the wine ratio, they would be for 100 parts. 55:33 percent of it would be water or it would be wine rather. So you've got a watered down, and it would be used, it it would kill off so much of the alcohol.5:45 So here's the deal. When someone would get drunk off of wine, can you imagine how much they had to drink? Yeah. You see what I'm saying?5:55 Yeah.5:55 Okay. So when the Bible talks about wine, it's talking about something that was massively massively watered down. Strong drink on the other hand, it6:07 was normally 2 to 1 ratio. Yeah. Okay. Fast forward to today. I know people think, what in the world? Okay. In our day, there is6:18 no wine, liquor, alcohol, mixed drink, anything that even comes close to that ratio of6:30 biblical wine. Our wine today, if you study the chemistry of it, is more akin to strong drink6:42 than it is to wine in the bible. Okay? So did Jesus drink wine? Did Paul tell Timothy to take wine? Okay. The word? Yes. Wine.6:54 But it's apples and oranges compared to what we have today. That's the answer to that question. Yeah. So let me ask you a question then. Okay. Based off of that,Spiritual Dangers, Accountability, and Healing from Addiction 7:06 based off of the chemistry of it, would you say it's okay to ingest wine today? Because even Paul said in the book of, Ephesians, be7:18 not drunk with wine. Okay? Now, I'm gonna tell you where I stand. I am what we would call a teetotaler. Teetotaler. I'm against it completely. Yeah. For me, for7:30 my family, for my church, I am against it. When I came to pastor, when I've pastored the church that I've pastored now, that was 1 of the questions. You know, what is your stand on alcohol? Now this is a hot7:41 button issue. But when you study the chemistry of it, when you study the the the the the makeup of it, you cannot compare what Sure. Was in the bible to what we have today.7:53 Yeah. Okay. So I am completely and totally against wine alcohol. And I'll give you the reasons why if you wanna know it a little bit, you can say that. So what do you think? If you just study the chemistry of it8:05 based off of what I said, not going into the in-depth, What would you say? I8:11 mean, I think it makes complete sense. My question I hear a lot of people argue this as well. It's like, what's the issue with okay. They understand that, but, like, from my understanding now, I've never consumed8:21 alcohol.8:22 I've I8:22 don't even think I've ever smelled it. So from my understanding, though, you can drink wine without getting drunk. Mhmm. So my question to you, and I know the answer, but for the viewer who may not, what is why8:34 would why is that not okay? Like, why is it not okay to, you know, go out to a fancy dinner and, you know, have a small little8:40 Correct. Glass of wine? Because in the Old Testament, when you study strong drink, the chemistry of it, that is akin to the chemistry makeup of even our8:52 quote, unquote, weakest wines.8:54 Mhmm.8:54 The chemistry makeup is our wine today is more akin to strong drink in the bible. And in the bible, strong drink is always condemned. Not just9:06 drunkenness, strong drink being associated with strong drink simply because it was vile. It was known as something vile. Today, it's the same9:17 chemistry. That's why I'm completely against it. Now the chemistry the other reason if somebody asked me why don't I drink? And again, I go into it in the sermon. We make and link it again.9:30 I have a couple of reasons why I am absolutely against alcohol. My main a couple of reasons. My 2 main reasons are, number 1, I9:42 do not want biblically, I don't want to be associated with anything that makes my brother or my sister stumble. Yeah. I'm a pastor. I lead a church. I have people that come into9:53 the flock, that have a background of drunkenness, have a background of all these things. I don't even wanna be remotely close to anything10:05 that would make them stumble. Yeah. You know, to see me do I it's not worth it. I like Coca Cola too much. You know? Coffee is fine. That's that's a biblical reason. Number 2,10:18 the main reason that I do not have anything to do with it is because of the appearance of evil. The apostle Paul made the statement 1st Thessalonians 5,10:30 abstain from all appearance of evil. And here's the question that I ask anybody. Viewers, comment down below. I I will have this argument with anybody. I don't10:42 wanna have the biblical argument because people have too many presuppositions. Here's my question. Paul told us to abstain from the appearance of evil. All appearance, not just any, all appearance.10:54 If you can name 1 good thing about alcohol, then I'll say, okay. It's not evil. Everything that alcohol is associated with today, it's11:05 evil. It comes from an evil background. What people do being ingested and then filled and drunk with all that stuff, it's wicked. I have 011:17 tolerance for that stuff. There is nothing good. Nothing. If I had a beer or a bottle of wine or a glass of wine on here, people watch this. Not 1 of them11:29 would watch it and immediately think a good thought. Yeah. They would immediately their mind would immediately go to an evil place. That's the nature of the bottle. It's wicked as11:41 the devil. Yeah. Filthy, vile, wretched, and I have no tolerance for that. K. Take take the comparison. If I had a Coca Cola can right here. Now there'd be some people that say, I can't believe you're drinking11:53 Coke, but the vast majority of people would not go True. In a bad direction. True. Alcohol, that's why I abstained from the appearance. Now the 3rd reason is more as the leader of my home. An old time preacher that said12:04 this to me 1 time, and I want you to put this in your heart. You put this in your heart, people that watch this. What I do in moderation, my children will do in excess.12:17 I don't wanna be the 1 to expose my children to that. Yeah. I don't know what my kids will do. I don't know the vices and the problems my children will have.12:29 My kids could walk that path. Yeah. My kids could go down drugs. They it's possible. I pray. I operate. I do everything I can to keep them from that. They could. Yours can, mine can, all of12:40 them. But I don't want them to go down that because of me. Yeah. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's what I'd say. Those are my main reason. Again, I go into a bunch, but those are my main reasons.12:51 Yeah. So my next question would be so, this is kind of a twofold question. So, the 1st 1 would be so many people say I've heard when people talk about alcohol and13:03 everything, they talk about it opens you up to spirits and evil spirits. Good. Possession is not the right word, but you kinda understand that.13:10 Influence. Yeah. Influence. So that's actually a good little thought, and I don't know that I have studied that out completely, but I see where they're coming from. I'm gonna tell you why. In the old testament, strong13:20 drink, when you see that, was often associated with idol worship. Okay? It was used in the temples, of pagan gods. You see some of them in the old testament, Molech,13:32 Dagon. Some of those gods, strong drink, drunkenness, liquor, wine, overcoming your senses, drugs, alcohol, all of that. It was associated with idol worship.13:43 So I would I would be very apt to believe that line of thinking. That drunkenness would open you up to things that you don't wanna open yourself up to13:55 in the spirit world. Now I'm a Baptist. I've been a Baptist since I was saved, but I'll tell you where we Baptist have missed it. We don't really look into that spirit world a lot.Practical Steps to Overcome Addiction 14:07 Now, again, it can be a rabbit hole that you can go down, but I do think that we 1 reason why addiction is so strong, and I believe this until the day I die,14:19 1 reason why addiction is so hard to beat we have people week after week on TikTok and on Facebook. They comment. They message us, trying to beat those addictions.14:31 Yeah.14:31 1 reason is not just the chemical dependency. There is a real spiritual bondage that comes from that. I believe that 1000 percent. Yeah. I'm not14:43 sure exactly what they said. I'd be apt to walk that path with them, though.14:48 Yeah. I've never understood it just from a standpoint of it opens you up. It's it's a slippery slope.14:53 Mhmm.14:53 You're you're really opening up yourself for the possibility of, becoming addicted to it.15:00 Yeah. And I've never understood that. Why in the world now I again, you can probably take this line of thinking with a lot of different things maybe. Why in the world would you15:11 open yourself up to something that has destroyed so many? You know what I'm saying?15:18 Yeah.15:18 And that's not the case. Again, you may could take that line of thing with a lot of things, but that's not the normal end for most people Yeah. On other things. Alcohol15:31 rarely rarely I I mean, most lot not most. I don't wanna paint with a broad brush. It usually ends with some sort of dependence. Yeah. Usually15:43 ends with some sort of issue. Yeah. And I just I'm not going down that path. Why would I open myself up to something that is probably gonna I just it's foolishness. I I don't understand it. And, again, that's15:55 that is a hill I die on because I don't understand it. Now I did not come from that background. My father did not. My mama did not. We don't have that in our16:07 background. My, some of my family, you know, has dealt with some of the alcoholism, kind of, far off in the family tree, and I've seen nothing but bad at a distance. Yeah. Now16:18 pastoring, I have seen things, you know, wives, they've got children, their husbands are alcoholics or vice versa. Husbands, their wives are it doesn't I don't I don't16:30 understand. I it's not it's not worth it. Yeah. It is not worth it.16:34 Do Do you think people this is a a left field question. Do you think people that,16:39 Avery, can we stop? Yes. You're you are full of left field. This guy right here, he is the king of left field questions, but somehow, they always lead to something fantastic.16:51 Yes. So that's why I let you ask them.16:52 Exactly. I don't know that I have any right field questions.16:54 I don't think you do. No.16:56 When people are drunk and I and whether that's from circumstances of, you know, I don't think any man I know no man is innocent, but some people get into drinking from severe, you17:08 know, severe losses or severe. Do you think people you know, some a lot of people abuse alcohol and from that can have the abuse in the household can take place.17:20 Mhmm.17:20 Do you think that that person who is drunk and, you know, out of their mind is held fully accountable Mhmm. For anything that they do?17:31 I'll answer that question firmly but compassionately. Yes. You absolutely. You do not you are not excused. I'm17:43 not excused. People are not excused simply because they're not fully in the right mind because of a decision they made. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. This is not a not a not a case of, you17:55 know, someone sadly with an Alzheimer's, and they, their their mind is not there, but they didn't choose the Alzheimer's. And they say something or they, you know, hit somebody. It's it's a different ballgame.18:06 Someone that's drunk but chose to drink Mhmm. They made the choice. Now, again, I they're alcohol, but they chose to drink. Yeah. And, yes, they're fully, yeah, they're fully held responsible. They18:18 should be, as should I or should you. Yeah. But it's just sad. I think for me as a pastor, you know, to see people that are so hurt,18:32 people that are watching, they listen to the preaching, and they're so hurt and broken and sad from something in the past that they just18:44 have to cover it and they have to mask it. Well, they feel so dependent on that, and they're not they're not trusting fully in Christ to fall. It's heartbreaking. Yeah. They're they're responsible just like I'm18:55 responsible, but it's sad to me. Yeah. And teenagers and kids, 20, 21, 22 years old, come from broken homes, and19:08 they come from situations where they've been abused, kids that have been hurt, and they just perpetuate the cycle. It's sad to me. And listen. If there are19:20 people that are listening right now, people that are broken, there is hope in Christ, and there's healing in Christ. Christ does not take19:31 away what happened. That's the sadness of living in a broken world.19:37 Mhmm.19:38 Christ doesn't take away what happened, but Christ does bring healing. Yeah. Christ does bring purpose. He brings what I call the Joseph moment. I'll write something19:50 on that. The Joseph moment is you did go through the pit. You did end up being betrayed at Potiphar's house. You did end up in the prison because of someone else. But what the devil meant for20:02 evil, God can turn it for good. And what others meant to bring you down through Christ can put you in the palace of God's purpose.20:12 Yeah.20:13 And I would say that those people that are watching right now through counseling, through prayer, through healing, through time, through mentorship,20:25 through being in church, staying faithful to the house of God, being under the care of a pastor. God can bring healing through the spirit of the living God. He can heal people, and I'm20:37 I'm believing in that. And that's 1 reason why I hope I can answer these questions, and we can talk about this. And people not feel that judgment. They can get truth Yeah. But not feel that judgment. Yeah.20:49 So that that would be my little spiel on that. 1 thing I've heard to talk about that20:53 a lot of people have talked about now, with how easily accessible everything is in the addiction world, whether that's drugs, pornography, you know, alcohol. I heard 1 guy talk aboutSexual Sin vs. Alcohol, Helping Friends in Struggle 21:05 you gotta stop trusting yourself to get out of it. Absolutely. You've gotta make it impossible for yourself, whether that's getting rid of your credit card. You know? Mhmm. You've gotta to get out of it because it's so21:15 hard to get out of it otherwise.21:18 1000 percent agree, whether it's alcohol, pornography. I you've heard me preach this before. If the phone if your phone is your source of21:30 temptation for pornography, you need to chunk it and get a flip phone. I I have dealt with guys before pastoring. Again, I'm not a counselor. I don't pretend to be a21:42 counselor. But I have told guys before that are tempted with alcohol, that may mean you're used to driving a certain way home. And when you were battling that addiction, you always stopped21:54 at this store and got alcohol, beer, or whatever. It may mean you've gotta drive 15 minutes around.21:59 Yeah. That's good.22:00 You're absolutely 1000 percent correct. The ease of accessibility may mean there has to be a level of of22:12 discipline and determination to stay away from that sickness. So that that that open door rather.22:19 Exactly.22:20 Because what happens is and, again, I'm not a doctor. I I if I knew a doctor that could give us this very quickly today, and we didn't just set these microphones up, we'd probably get them. But there's this chemical22:30 thing with this dependence. And what happens is you're riding down a road and something triggers, and it sets this thing off within us. And absolutely. Yeah. You you may have to22:42 change where you live. Yeah. You may have to throw a computer out, a cell phone out, and you may have to change where you go eat. But you do what you've got to do not to let the chains of22:54 sin wrap back around you.22:56 Is it really worth doing those things to get out of it?23:01 Me me answering, yeah. But ask the guy that's lost everything if he's not willing to do whatever it takes. Yeah. Ask the woman whose marriage fell apart because of her struggle and her23:13 battle and her addiction if it wasn't worth doing whatever she if she could, if he could, if those kids could. Ask the man who got drunk and got in a vehicle23:25 and killed a family who's sitting in prison right now if he would not go back and do everything it would take to change. So, absolutely, it's worth whatever.23:36 How do you see that on their side of the equation, though? I know it's easy to see that. Passionately.23:43 I don't I I would never sit here in the chair of judgment saying, I don't know why you don't do this. Just do it. I don't know why you don't do it. It's do it now. It's easy. I sit here23:55 in the chair of council Yeah. As a pastor, as a brother, as a friend, somebody that is not gonna excuse away the the the the problem, but is gonna have compassion. And I'm gonna24:06 sit here, and I'm gonna say, do it. Yeah. It's gonna be hard.24:11 It's gonna be tough,24:11 but you gotta do it.24:12 I'm saying more so from the person who's maybe watching and trying to give up alcohol actively, and they're like, man, you know, it's it's not that big of a deal. I'm not changing how I drive. I'm not throwing my phone24:21 away. How do they see how did them how did they see Yeah. That it's worth it before they get to the other side?24:30 An old man told me 1 time, payday is not always on Friday. What does that mean? Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it's not gonna happen. You that person24:42 is gonna have to look at it not from experience, but from the mistakes of others, and you are gonna have to no. I I I24:54 can't convince that person. You can't convince that person. The person that has that attitude and that mindset, well, it's not that bad. It hasn't happened. Unfortunately, I'm afraid25:06 that they're gonna have to learn the hard way. I just I don't want them to. I pray that it doesn't. I pray that it's a I pray that it is nothing as huge. So that's my thought. So I'm25:16 gonna ask you. So you referenced earlier, 1st Timothy 3 8 where it's talking about the qualifications of a deacon, and also talks about the pastor. So, I know we defined what strong drink was and what wine was.25:28 Mhmm. Likewise, must deacons 1st Timothy 3 8. Likewise, must the deacons be grave. Not double tongue, not given too much wine.25:36 Mhmm.25:37 So, obviously, you said there still was some sort of an alcohol content in the Mhmm. In the wine if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. So the reason not much wine was so they didn't get drunk. So if that's the case, why was25:49 the pastor not allowed to drink any alcohol?25:50 It had to do with the appearance of evil. I I I I don't know the answer to that fully. My theory, again, you've got to remember the the level of alcohol that would have been in any wine wine biblically26:03 was for sanitation reason to sanitize it, to kill any contaminants. But it would have still, again, just like anything we drink today, coffee, you can get hopped up on26:14 caffeine. Coca Cola, you can get, hopped up on the sugar. I think for the pastor, to answer your question specifically, I think it had to do with the fact that it was the moderation26:26 thing. It was the man that was so fully dedicated to the work of the church that he was so focused on that. He abstained from any amount,26:39 any appearance, any, any, blemish Yeah. On his record at all. Yeah. And I think that it goes more less to the alcohol thing,26:51 more to the the level of the office of the pastor. That's what I believe.26:55 That's good. So my last question here, and this is gonna be a curve ball. You're gonna have to walk walk with me here for a 2nd because if we're not careful, I feel like we're gonna get off the wrong exit. It's okay. If27:06 I start pulling off, show me.27:08 Yes. So I don't I'm very I'm I'm paraphrasing here. But so there are, you know, different addictions, but I feel like the 2 main ones are, you know, some sort of abuse of27:20 a substance, whether that's alcohol or drugs. So you have that. I'm gonna kinda group those together.27:24 K.27:25 And then you have, sexual sin.27:27 K.27:27 I feel like those are 2 would you concur that those are probably the 2 main addictions? I27:30 would say substance and sexual sin to some degree, but I think that all of those fall into the lust of the flesh. Yeah. Okay. But, yes, I'm with you.27:40 Okay. So, there's the verse that talks about, you know, we're not only not to do those things, but, and I'm I'm completely forgetting where it's at, but it talks about fleeing from sexual immorality from from sin. Why,27:53 you know, we're from there, we're not solely supposed to just resist it, but to flee completely get it. Why does it not talk about that with other addictions such as alcohol? Why are we not supposed to but you28:02 recommended that earlier fleeing, getting away from Right. Reminders of it. But why does the Bible28:07 So, actually, Paul deals with that, the power and the the the the end result of sexual sin. He deals with28:19 that in 1st Corinthians 6 7. And what he says is those those sins of morality, sexual sins, fornication, He said that28:31 those are actually sins against the body. There is something about sexual sin that does physical,28:43 emotional, spiritual damage to a person. And so he says, it is so vital that you stay away from that. We as a28:54 person do not have the ability in our sin nature to run from that. You have to flee from that. It's it's almost as if the sexual sin and I29:06 don't know that I would call it addiction. I I think that those are 2 I think that's apples and oranges.29:11 Okay.29:11 My my opinion. Yeah. The what you're specifically talking about is sexual sin that comes from the temptation. Now I think pornography and those things like that could29:23 be linked, but I don't think that specifically. Okay. Paul's talking about sexual immorality. He said that is a sin against the body. So the reason he29:35 doesn't say flee those other things is because those are those are kinda 2 he's talking about 2 different things there. I do think that the29:47 phrase in 1st Thessalonians that I talked about a while ago, 1st Thessalonians 5 of stain from all appearance of I think that has the idea of shun, push away, reject, get out of your presence.29:59 But, no, it doesn't have probably the exact, you know, exit off that the run from flee from does.Show more In this video 0:00 Tyler's Personal Stance and Biblical Reasons Against Modern Alcohol7:00 Spiritual Dangers, Accountability, and Healing from Addiction14:00 Practical Steps to Overcome Addiction21:00 Sexual Sin vs. Alcohol, Helping Friends in Struggle30:00 Conclusion: Hope and PrayerComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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