And isn't alcohol part of the problem here in Missoula? Won't you be causing people to stumble? What are you guys thinking?!?!"
These are good questions, and they deserve thoughtful answers. Let's see if we can shed some light on our reasoning...
1. First and foremost: Jesus. You see, we could ask him these same questions too. After all, Jesus made wine (and it was the good stuff). He was never afraid to engage his culture 'outside of church' - he goes to weddings, he loves parties, he hangs out with 'sinners.' And it made folks nervous in his day, too (especially religious ones).
It just seems so risky. Wouldn't it be safer simply to avoid it altogether?
Perhaps. Yet as Christ's followers, we need to be very slow to condemn or avoid what Jesus didn't, lest we take traditions of men and make them out to be commandments of God (cf. Mark 7:7). After all, that's precisely what most of us - Christians and non-Christians alike - hate about churches. So if Jesus didn't anathematize alcohol, neither should we.
2. This leads to a second point: brokenness. It's very easy to look at alcohol as the problem, to think that simply getting rid of it (or avoiding it) will fix things.
But Jesus views things differently - he insists that the root of sin lies in what's behind our external behavior; that it actually flows from the dark desires that lurk within our hearts (cf. Mark 7:15-23). In other words, for Jesus, there's a much bigger problem than what-we-do-with-alcohol - it's the why-we-do-it. It's about that hole in our heart, that we're trying to fill. It's about the pain in our lives, that we're trying to drown.
If we think we're solving those problems simply by saying, "Don't drink!" we're kidding ourselves. And we might actually be distracting others from the real issues. Mere avoidance never gets us to the heart of the problem. Listen to Martin Luther:
Do you suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused? Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women? The sun, the moon, and the stars have been worshiped. Shall we then pluck them out of the sky?He's not saying brokenness doesn't matter. He's saying we don't actually solve the real problem simply by banning things that broken people use and abuse. As a church, we need to be careful not to oversimplify brokenness.
3. The same is true for redemption. Jesus claims to be able to do something about our deepest cravings. Whether it's lust for sex or lust for drink, Jesus claims he can quench our thirsts and transform our desires. So while alcohol may be part of the problem, we think it can also be part of the solution.
Put simply, the church ought to be the place that most visibly manifests Gospel renovation.
As we embrace Christ and grow in our understanding of his gracious acceptance of us (even if we struggle with drink!), we should also start to be freed from fear of drink (what it might do to us), freed from fear of our reputations (what others might think of us if we drink), freed from our need to use drink (to drown our woes or be someone we are not).
The church ought to be the place that illustrates the greatest of liberty without lapsing into excess. A high calling to be sure. But should we settle for anything less?
4. And then there's integrity. Many of us enjoy a glass of beer or wine from time to time, and we think it's important that we are never afraid to be publicly who we are in private.
Here at All Souls, we see these things as gifts from God, to be enjoyed in community with gratitude and gratefulness. Why wouldn't we want to share that with our friends here in Missoula?
5. But what about the church?!? After all, we're supposed to be in the business of saving souls, not selling beer, right?
And that's true. (Actually, we'd prefer to say that God's the one who saves souls, not us, but for the sake of the argument, we'll go with it for now. The point is that the church of Christ is not really here to be in the business of "being in business." Selling stuff. Making money. We agree with that.)
That's why we're not trying to be a brewery - we'd rather partner with someone that's already in that line of work, and knows how to do it really well. Like Big Sky Brewing Co.
That's also why we're not trying to make money on this thing - the whole point is to generate revenue for someone else so they can use it to make this community better. Like Imagine Missoula.
You see, what we're really trying to do here is be about Jesus' business. And the very real question for any church (and for any Christian) is simply this: What IS Jesus' business? Is it just "saving souls"? Is he only interested in those who follow him? Or does he have a bigger agenda - like justice for the oppressed, mercy for the poor, putting the whole world right?
If Jesus calls his followers to get on board with his agenda - to be agents of change working for the shalom of our cities and the needs of our neighbors - then we think it makes an awful lot of sense to do this kind of thing.
After all, a non-profit like Imagine Missoula (and a beer like All Souls Ale!) make it possible for all sorts of people to get in on redemption - working to renew Missoula! - even if they don't share our convictions about Jesus. And we think that's a pretty cool proposition.
So we don't ask them to give money to our church - we simply invite them to enjoy a really great beer and help support a really great cause, all at the same time. And we think most people in our community will think that's a pretty good idea!
