Above Reproach: Not a Drunkard (1 Timothy 3:3)

We’ve been studying the qualifications for overseers. We’ve received six positive qualifications. Today we’ll consider the first of four negative ones.

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard. (1 Timothy 3:2-3a)

Paraoinos in the Greek. Para means of, with, or from. Oinos means wine. So literally, this means not of wine. Here’s how various translations render it:

• Not a drunkard (ESV)
• Not given to drunkenness (NIV)
• Not given to wine (KJV and NKJV)
• Not addicted to wine (NASB and HCSB)
• Not an excessive drinker (CSB)

We and those we are training to become overseers must be irreproachable in our relationship with wine and other potentially intoxicating drinks and substances. That’s not to say we must totally abstain from ever drinking alcohol, but we must not be excessive in our drinking to the point of drunkenness or addiction.

There is a positive biblical case to be made for receiving wine and other alcoholic drinks as good gifts from God, but that’s not what this verse is about. This verse is about the ignobility of drunkenness and, therefore, its inappropriateness for overseers.  

You may be a pastor who decided a long time ago never to touch alcohol. Or you may be one of the Spurgeonite pastors who hold drinking beer right up there with smoking cigars and growing beards as marks of Christian manliness. Either way, let’s read some other passages to build up our understanding of this qualification. I’ve arranged these passages under three headings:

1. More Wisdom, Less Wine
2. More Responsibility, Less Wine
3. More Spirit, Less Wine

More Wisdom, Less Wine

Several passages in the book of Proverbs teach us that wine and strong drink can make a fool out of you and beat you up.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. (Proverbs 20:1)

As you continue reading in the book of Proverbs, you see that drunkenness is associated with other vices, such as self-indulgence, gluttony, and slothfulness—all of which will make you unproductive and poor.

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;
he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. (Proverbs 21:17)

Hear my son, and be wise,
and direct your heart in the way.
Be not among drunkards
or among gluttonous eaters of meat,
for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and slumber will clothe them with rags. (Proverbs 23:19-21)

This one gets me. I don’t struggle with drunkenness, but I do struggle with gluttony. I used to have wine with a good meal or beer after mowing the lawn on a hot day. But one day I tried a sip of a harder liquor and really liked it. In fact, I liked it so much it scared me. So I decided to just not drink at all anymore. I can’t remember the last time I had even a sip of alcohol. Abstinence has been easy. I’m never tempted to drink, much less get drunk. I am, however, tempted to eat for comfort and to eat way too much, to the point of feeling sluggish and not wanting to work. This passage indicates that all of this is part of the same picture of self-indulgence and folly.

Let’s be wise and stay away from drinking too much as well as eating too much and indulging too much in general. We don’t want to end up like this portrait of a drunkard:

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
Those who tarry long over wine;
those who go to try mixed wine.

Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
In the end it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.

Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart will utter perverse things.
You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink.” (Proverbs 23:29-35)

More Responsibility, Less Wine

As your level of responsibility increases, your intake of wine should decrease. For example, Kings ought not to drink at all because their thinking and decision-making affect so many people.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine,
or for rulers to take strong drink,
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. (Proverbs 31:4-5)

This same idea holds for deacons (1 Timothy 3:8), older people who wish to influence younger people (Titus 2:3), and, as our verse for today states, overseers. Paul told Titus the same thing.

For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain. (Titus 1:7)

More Spirit, Less Wine

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. (Ephesians 5:18-19)

You don’t need wine to generate a convivial atmosphere with people. The Holy Spirit is sufficient for this. Filling yourself with wine leads to this great Bible word, “debauchery,” which here means something like unrestrained, wasteful, ruinous living. In contrast, filling yourself with the Holy Spirit leads to worshipful comradery with your fellow Christians.

So, there you have it. We and those we are training to become overseers must be irreproachably noble in our relationship to wine and other potentially intoxicating drinks and substances.

This doesn’t mean we have to walk around in a somber state of self-serious sobriety. We should be so filled with Holy Spirit that we are more effusive than a drunkard would be—only with worshipful song rather than wasteful nonsense.

You may choose to drink wine or beer in moderation, but remember your high calling and high level of responsibility for others. Your role requires the wisdom and clear mindedness.

See you next week.