Under the Influence

By Ken Laue

It was "o'dark-hundred hours" on Monday morning. Bus drivers were pre-tripping their buses and diesel engines were rumbling to life as I walked across the school bus yard to my office.

When I entered the building, the dispatcher waved me over to his window.

"John* checked in. He reeks of alcohol." I groaned inside. What a way to start a new week.

Having to fire employees was one of the more unpleasant aspects of my job that school year as a safety and training manager.

"Okay, send him back. I'll have to do an alcohol meter test on him."

John came back, making all kinds of excuses.

"I'm sorry. I have no choice. Dispatch said you smell like alcohol."

"You know they're lyin'. He's got it in for me."

"Okay, take a deep breath and blow into the straw. Hard. Until it beeps."

John refused.

"You know refusal is automatic termination, according to Human Resources."

Finally he blew. And he turned out over the limit. I drove him to an authorized lab for an official test.

On the way he pleaded for his job. He had a family. He had been a good employee. All true.

When the lab confirmed his alcohol content, I had no choice but to write his letter of termination.

He had only scant problems in his file, but the School District considered it an unpardonable sin for any employee to show up for work with alcohol in his system.

The study materials for the district's commercial driver’s license and school bus driver training contain tables that explain what percentage of blood alcohol a given number of drinks will produce for a person of a given weight over a given time. And while the legal limit is noted for commercial drivers at .04%. it is also noted that one can be somewhat impaired even below this limit.

In the church world, I have Christian friends and relatives who believe in Jesus, but they do drink.

They may have a glass or two of wine with dinner or after work on a Friday night "for the stomach's sake," (which would imply they are treating gastric ailments as Timothy did in the New Testament).

They think it’s strange that I choose not to indulge at all.

How is it that nobody raises an eyebrow toward a very liberal school district’s zero-tolerance policy towards alcohol, yet fellow Christians think my personal zero-tolerance policy to preserve my Christian witness is strange?

As a Christian, the Bible instructs me to not be drunk with wine, but instead to be filled with God's Spirit. It would seem that the two types of intoxication (wine vs. filled with God's Spirit) are mutually exclusive.

Like oil and water, which won't mix in a jar, for example.

So one problem for me if I'm going to be a Christian who drinks – whether a glass or two over dinner, or a few beers with the boys while watching the game – is this: at what point do I find myself under the influence of alcohol?

Is it just that one beer that's enough to mean I'm no longer under the influence of the Spirit but under the influence of alcohol instead? Or is it two beers? Or three?

Or is it as soon as I lift the container to my lips that the Holy Spirit is grieved?

Well, I'm the first one at the Grand Canyon yelling at the kids to stay away from the edge, and that's how I prefer to treat my walk with Christ.

Pastor Fred Rubi of The Door Christian Fellowship in Tucson, Arizona, says that sipping saints are a negative witness, or a discouragement, to people with addiction problems. These people are looking at the church as a place of hope, he says, and only a position of abstinence puts the Christian in a strong position to help them.

While the church world will continue to argue about whether it is okay for Christians to drink, it comes down to doing your own pleasure or guarding your effect on other people, Pastor Rubi explains.

People are watching you and me to see if there really is anything to this Christianity stuff, and whether what we have can help them with their problems.

One thing I do have to point out is that I had been intoxicated with alcohol (and pot) before I was saved, and I have felt the presence of God's Spirit since I've been saved. While both experiences have their pleasure, the second one far and above eclipses the pleasure of the first.

We're talking not even in the same league. Why would I want the cheap knock-off if I can have a true Rolex?

I'm not saying that Christians who drink wine with dinner aren't saved, or even that they aren't good Christians.

If you're a Christian who believes alcoholic drinks are okay in moderation, I'm not here to fight with you. But when you question why I don't indulge, I want to give you an intelligent answer.

It really comes down to this: am I under the influence?

The Bible says being drunk with wine is the antithesis to being filled with the Holy Spirit. Is being only a little under the influence okay, while being a lot under the influence is bad?

That's like asking, is ten miles over the limit okay (a heck of a lot of motorists must think so) but twenty over is criminal?

If I'm under the influence of something, I want to be able to tell you it's the Holy Spirit of God.

* (not his real name)