Alcohol: Is it a sin or not?

Roman, you have touched on a very interesting point and one that has not been covered. At one point during this thread, I was going to bring it up and I'm not quite sure why I didn't. I guess old age (36) is creeping up on me.

But to me, the consumption of the alcohol is not as dangerous as the example we set. And your friend is a perfect example of that. If I'm out in the middle of the desert, on the verge of dehydration, there's no water in sight, and I have a beer, I don't think God will condemn me for drinking that beer to stay alive. Otherwise, we would be committing a sin everytime we took a dose of NyQuil when we catch a cold. NyQuil is better than 25% alcohol and stronger than many of the drinks you buy at a bar.

Where the danger in drinking a beer comes in is what people see of us. If I have 1 beer and my neighbor sees it, he's liable to go out and become a drunk. He's liable to get the idea "Well, Preacher's a good Christian and he had a beer, so it's OK for me to go out and have all I want." The real danger is the precedent we set. My neighbor may not have the will power or desire to stop after 1 beer like I might.

And before someone says it, Preacher is not saying it's OK to drink as long as you hide it very well. Afterall, God is always watching.