Why it’s important to teach your kids about the dangers of alcohol.

Mom, what’s wrong with having a social drink?” asked my teenage daughter.
“Nothing,” I replied. That took her by surprise.
“Then why is The Salvation Army against drinking?” she challenged.
If you’re a Salvationist with teenagers, this conversation probably sounds familiar. Today’s children are faced daily with television shows and movies that depict people, including teenagers, drinking, smoking and experimenting sexually. How do we answer our children in a permissive world? Even Jesus drank wine with sinners, so we can rule out “Because the Bible says” as an answer.

Before we respond, we need to know what our own belief on the issue is. Some Salvationists seem to have ideas that don’t line up with longstanding Army policy. When discussing this recently with a group of senior soldiers, one of them casually remarked, “I guess I’ll have to step down from songsters since I enjoy the occasional glass of wine with my meals.” To say I was stunned would be an understatement.

To be fair, there is nothing biblical against having a glass of wine. However, there are warnings against becoming drunk. Ephesians 5:18 says, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

There are many other such passages, but our children need more than a series of endless Bible verses quoted to them. They need real answers. Here is the rest of my conversation with my daughter:

“Why do you think The Salvation Army is against drinking?” I asked.
“Well, soldiers can’t drink,” she stated.
“No, that’s not quite true. Soldiers choose not to drink-there’s a difference.”
“So I can have a drink?” she asked.
“Yes, when you’re 19 and old enough to know what you’re doing. But if you choose to be a soldier, then you are choosing not to drink. And considering what alcohol has done to my family, I would hope you make that decision.”
“But Mom, there are soldiers in the corps that drink,” she said accusingly.
“Well,” I asked, “what do you think of those people?”
“I guess they’re hypocrites.”
“That’s right,” I affirmed. “What should they do?”
“They should either stop drinking or stop being a soldier,” she answered.
My daughter knew the answer to her own question. She had been listening. She had also been watching.

Our children pay more attention than we think. Even the younger ones observe what we’re doing and talk about it among themselves. Recently my two little boys were watching the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie with some of their friends (children of Salvationists). The scene involved the pirates preparing to throw some kegs of rum into the bottom of the ship. Suddenly my son, Evan, remarked, “Rum isn’t good to drink, you know.”

“Yeah,” said one of his friends. “Our family doesn’t drink rum. They like Smirnoff better.” Again, I was shocked.

What will your children tell their friends about what goes on in your house? If you don’t have any children, what kind of example are you setting for the young people at your corps? It’s not a matter of whether drinking is OK. It’s a matter of personal integrity. Are we being honest with ourselves and with the family of God?

For me, it’s a personal issue. I grew up embarrassed by a father who staggered home drunk each night, so I’ve seen what alcohol can do to a family. For that reason, I refuse to give money to people who own distilleries. They’re already getting rich at the expense of hundreds of thousands of people whose lives are being ruined by alcohol every day.

Alcoholism is also one of the reasons The Salvation Army exists-to help people with addictions get their lives back through Jesus Christ. For a Salvationist, drinking-even the occasional glass of wine-is nothing short of hypocrisy.

Facts
· About three quarters of Canadians drink alcohol, including 83 percent of all teenagers
· 13 is the average age teenagers start drinking
· More than 400,000 Canadians admit to being dependent on alcohol
· Alcohol is the most abused drug in Canada
· You can die from consuming too much alcohol
Resources
• Alcoholism: The Facts (Donald W. Goodwin, Oxford University Press, 2000)
• www.madd.ca/english/research/real_facts.pdf
• www.12steptreatmentcentres.com/Articles/Article_72.asp
• Kathie’s Blogs
• www.sheeptalesandkneedlesoup.blogspot.com
• www.peanutbutter-jellysandwiches.blogspot.com/

by Major Kathie Chiu
Corps Officer and Executive Director of The Caring Place Ministries, Mountain View Community Church, Maple Ridge, B.C.

Reprinted from Salvationist, November 2007