Don’t Drink the Water

A friend of mine that is associated with a Christian high school recounted a story to me involving a particular teacher in a Bible class. I will give you half the story now and half at the end. The teacher was discussing the drinking of wine in Biblical times. Students asked why wine is so frequently mentioned in the Bible, and some went as far as to ask why Jesus himself drank wine. According to the teacher, the predominant reason that wine was consumed during these ages was the poisonous nature of ancient water in the Holy Land. I won’t insult your intelligence by explaining the composition of wine, nor will I comment on the falsehood of the statement. Instead I’d like to examine exactly why this statement was made in the first place.

Most Christians today feel an incredible need to defend the Bible. This is not inherently an unhealthy thing, as the non-Christian world has been making quite a few attacks over the past few decades. I think it is perfectly acceptable, if not responsible, to defend the scriptures of your chosen faith to those who question you about it. The problem exists when we begin to defend our scriptures when we do not possess the knowledge to properly form a statement.

The teacher, much like many Christians today, felt the need to defend the sanctity of the scriptures that were in question. The problem was that the teacher did not know what to say. This eventually led to the statement about poisonous water. I would like to suggest two things that could have radically changed the outcome of the discussion.

The first way for the teacher to have avoided this situation was to properly study the Bible. We all know that alcohol is a volatile subject within Christian circles. That should be a tip off that the topic might come up frequently, especially in a Bible class. Learning the newest and catchiest versions of presenting the Gospel is a fine thing to study, but let us not forget that we as Christians are not simply called to witness, but also to disciple. Diligent and fervent study of issues pertaining to the world around you is never a waste.

The second possible way out of the situation was simply to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” It is better for us, as Christians, to admit that we do not know every single piece of data covered in the sixty-six books of the Bible than to attempt to answer without knowing. Giving an answer when you don’t know does several detrimental things. It gives a false, and possibly damaging, impression to the questioner. It makes you, and Christianity by proxy, look ignorant if the person finds out your answer is wrong through personal study. And it also might destroy any chance of future conversion for that person. Of course, if you take my first piece of advice and study, you will find yourself needing to use the second much less.

With Christianity growing less popular, more pressure is put on each individual Christian to respond with something other than ”I don’t know.” This should provoke you to get off your spiritual couch and do some studying. But remember, saying you don’t know is infinitely better than spinning a story out of nothing. The teacher in my story probably had the best intentions of defending the scripture. The second half of the story is the sad part. The student told my friend that he would never believe anything that teacher said about the Bible ever again. I leave you with one of my favorite verses.

2 Timothy 2:15- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.