Is it all right for Christians to drink alcohol? Answer to this question varies. These days, it seems that many think social drinking is all right if it is under control. Some do not feel comfortable treating drinking as sin. They think having social drinking contributes in relationship and friendship building. Therefore, on advertisement for alcohol, they use female to emphasize friendship and good company. However, alcohol is not such a simple matter. Especially for Korean people, the effect of alcohol is very serious.
Based on the data by OECD, Korea is number 2 in the world in alcohol consumption. In Korea, 7 billion bottles of beer and spirit are consumed per year. Since Korean population is 40 million and assume that about 30 million are drinking age, it shows that 230 bottles of alcohol were consumed per person on yearly basis. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the whole country is alcoholic. They also spent more than $100 million to import foreign liquor. Most of the expenses for meeting with pricy liquor are paid by corporations and not individuals. That means a big chunk of company fund which should have been used for research and development, is actually spent for entertainment and alcohol. If the whole nation is trapped in liquor and pleasure seeking, the percentage of these consumption of the “proudly high” KoreanGNP is quite staggering.
There is more. Frequently, alcohol is connected to prostitution, drug, and gang violence. Because of this, many women and young students are sacrificed even as we speak. Also, alcohol is at the bottom of all crimes. Most violence, murder, or rape rarely happens without alcohol. In addition, many lose their lives because of drunk driving. If we drink alcohol, we are participating in indirect support of all the evil promoted by alcohol related organizations and businesses.
Besides, we cannot ignore the influence of alcohol in individuals. Because of the addictive nature of alcohol, it hinders normal family life and social life of victims. Also, people turn to alcohol when they experience frustration or failure to escape reality. Ultimately, alcohol gives drinkers the feeling of failure and destroys their lives by promoting inability to cope with crisis.
For the most people, alcohol is not the issue of such evil but rather ‘social and friendly mean’. However, as we consider the grave evil alcohol entails, it is no longer the issue of whether it is right for Christians to drink alcohol. We should approach this issue as responsible citizens to stand up against the evil of alcohol and preserve the nation against liquor. Christians should be committed to change the current Korean culture of alcohol saturation.
In our congregation, we have many college students from Korea on a short term study, and workers and medical professionals from Korea in short term assignments. It is my strong desire that during their stay in Houston, they will develop the habit of giving up alcohol and experience that building friendship and enjoying good company can be done without alcohol. Furthermore, they can be a good seed to positively influence Korean culture when they return.
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