Fasting is the Antidote to Indulgence. Ephesians 5:18.

Aristotle spoke of “the Golden Mean,” a balance between extremes.  He exalted courage, for example, considering it the midpoint between fear and recklessness.  He might look for a balance between spending nothing and spending too much, or between consuming entertainment and doing something creative yourself. Trouble is, for centuries Christians have taken Greek ideas and assumed they were Biblical.  Is balance Biblical?

Yes. But Aristotle’s ideas are skewed by perceptions (how do you define terms? What is a lot of this or a little of that?). 

Scriptural balance is this: God calls us to work six days, but to stop all work on day seven.  God calls us to our prayer closet alone, but also to fellowship, to “assembling together” in community. God calls us to defend the faith but to love the faithless.  God calls us to holiness but to grace in the face of failure.

One difficult subject is alcohol.  Jesus’s first recorded miracle was turning water to wine–and His last act with His disciples was eating bread and wine at the Last Supper: you cannot argue alcohol consumption is Biblically wrong in every circumstance. But we know drinking causes incredible problems—destroying lives, families, societies.  Those who indulge must find a Biblical balance.

What is the counterpoint to indulgence? Fasting.  The Bible speaks of fasting throughout both the Old and New Testaments.  Jesus did not say “IF you fast,” but “WHEN you fast….”  Jesus ASSUMED His followers would fast.

“When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious … you are fasting…” Matthew 6:16-18.

How many Christians who embrace the “freedom to drink” are enthusiastic about fasting?  Regular fasting in pursuit of true worship promises benefits greater than anything imparted by alcohol.  How are we to handle alcohol (and all fleshly appetites) wisely? Control it with a life of regular fasting. 

Christians who drink should be the leaders when it comes to fasting. 

If you embrace the grace that allows you to drink, do you also embrace the self-denial imparted by a life of fasting?  Regular fasting, whether for one meal, one day, or more than one day, is the spiritual discipline we need to ensure we handle alcohol wisely. If you drink often, fast often. Fasting moderates appetites, ensuring we will “Be not drunk on spirits, but filled with the Holy Spirit” Ephesians 5:18.

ΑΩ

P.S. Drinking is a nuanced issue with plenty of gray areas and room for reasonable minds to disagree. Remember the history of Prohibition in the United States: many churches and denominations took rigid positions on one side or the other–and those positions tend to persist a century after Prohibition was repealed. My conclusion is: Jesus drank wine and miraculously provided it to others. Who am I to say it is wrong? Yet dozens of Bible passages warn of the ill effects of drinking. We must do as Paul says, “let each man have his own conviction” (Romans 14:5) and “judge not” (Matthew 7:1).