Mark Driscoll on whether it's a sin to drink alcohol

Pastor Mark Driscoll said it's not a sin to drink alcohol even while he abstained from it until age 30 because of his family's history of alcohol abuse.

The founder of Trinity Church in Arizona discussed Monday on his video blog the different perspectives taken on alcohol consumption. Driscoll also touched on the history of alcohol in Europe, among the Reformers, the Puritans and the Church itself. He then weighed in on the three prominent perspectives taken on alcohol, namely prohibitionist, abstentionist and moderationist.

Among the three perspectives, the 45-year-old pastor criticized the prohibitionist position as the wrong one.

"That's a difficult position to hold, because throughout Scripture, God's people partake in alcohol consumption, sometimes in worship to God," argued Driscoll.

"I don't believe the prohibition position is a good one," he added.

The former pastor of Mars Hill Church then talked about the abstentionist position which he considered "a good one" for "at least some of the time." This position, he said, did not prohibit alcohol consumption but only encouraged people to stay away from alcohol because of its negative effects.

He claimed he himself had abstained from drinking alcohol for the first 30 years of his life out of fear that his family's history of alcoholism would rub off on him. His wife, he said, didn't share the same history so she had no problems in drinking.

"There are times that we give it up out of love and care for others," he said, agreeing with abstentionists.

He warned, however, that people should not force their opinion on others but rather follow what their conscience tells them. Driscoll said the same thing when he said that playing video games did not translate to sin as long as their conscience said so.

"If your conscience is bothering you, then you've got to pay attention to that," said the pastor in an earlier post.

The pastor admitted he only started drinking when he reached the age of 30 and felt God's approval for drinking "in moderation." The moderationist's view then is where Driscoll finds himself in.