Is it wrong to buy sandwiches from a bar?

[Rachel]

Originally posted by Gina L:
I personally would do it. In fact, while you're there sit down and talk to some of the regulars about Christ. Used to do it myself.

Nobody ever asked me, they did assume I was going to the bar on more than one occasion. Had the pastor direct an entire sermon towards me. ROFL I still refused to say anything, because...nobody actually asked me.
So did it hurt my witness? Only among Christians. How funny is THAT?! It did wonders for the people who NEEDED to be reached, as it didn't leave me sitting in a church wondering why the unsaved were at bars and not in God's house, where we all supposably should sit and wait for them to come to us.
The Christians are the problem with this scenario, in far too many churches. You're wrong to go to where the sinners are. If you bring in an obvious alcoholic everyone shrinks away though.
But...if you bring in someone from the grocery store it's ok.
*sigh*
Order your sandwiches and keep your wife and daughter happy. While you're there, reach a few unsaved people and make God happy too.
No need to pray about the sandwiches or what you should do. When it comes to witnessing, we're already told what to do. GO. There's no STAY in GO.

I agree with you and gb.

 

[menageriekeeper]

Lu 7:33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Lu 7:34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

I say again, just who is it that gets to decide what constitutes an "appearance of evil"?

 

[gb93433]

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
MK,

how about letting the scripture decide. Proverbs 23:20 tells us be not among winebibbers

Jesus was accused of that too.

The scripture tells us to be separate from the world too. Does that mean we are commanded not to share our faith with them because we are to be separate from them?

 

[standingfirminChrist]

And I say again, The Word of God. Be not among winebibbers.

 

[gb93433]

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
And I say again, The Word of God. Be not among winebibbers.

Be among them is not the same as doing the same things as they do. At work I am around pagans all the time but I do not participate with them in some things they do. But I do eat with them and talk with them.

 

[RayMarshall19]

Originally posted by Friend of God:
I am not comfortable ordering food from a bar. Even though we are not ordering, or drinking liquor, I feel that it affects our Christian witness.
Rob

I think you have already answered your own question.

Romans 14:21-23: "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves. But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin."

I think the scripture above tells us that when we have doubts about whether an activity is right then it is wrong for us. You seem to have doubts, at least, about patronizing a bar so, according to this scripture, you should not.

But there is another scripture you might like to consider.

Colossians 2:16 "Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days"

From the post just above, it appears that GinaL was judged by her fellow Christians when she went to bars but she didn't let it bother her, which is in keeping with the scripture above. My advice is to make sure you are really worried about your witness and not about whether other Christians will judge you. That's their sin problem, not yours.

 

[menageriekeeper]

Well doggone! Ray posted my next scripture while I was off getting church clothes together. That's okay, it makes it easier for me to cut and paste.

If Christ could be accused of being a winebibber and he had no bar to go to, shouldn't we be very careful of making blanket statements about what does and doesn't constitute "evil appearances"?

As Ray posted above, Paul clarified this for us with this verse: Colossians 2:16 "Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days"

The OP didn't ask if it were okay to go to a bar and sit and drink alcohol till one was drunk. It asked if there was a real(true) problem with ordering carryout from a place that was primarily set up to serve alcohol but also served as the towns only diner.

There is a big difference between being seen publicly drunk(or even partially so, if you have that beer in your hand) and being seen picking up a white bag that obviously contains food.

 

[Terry_Herrington]

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
MK,

how about letting the scripture decide. Proverbs 23:20 tells us be not among winebibbers

Prov 31:6-7
6 Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish;
7 let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
(NIV)

 

[tinytim]

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
MK,

how about letting the scripture decide. Proverbs 23:20 tells us be not among winebibbers

Then I guess Jesus broke scripture.

As for the OP, I am with all the others that said follow your conscience.

BTW, "appearance" in the scripture quoted above does not mean "something that looks like", but rather "something that appears"

 

[Soulman]

Would you buy a sandwich from a 7-11? Would you buy food from a grocery store? Of course we all do. They sell as much alcohol as a bar or more. The only difference is that they serve it up at the bar and the stores make you take it home. I see nothing wrong with the way you purchase your food. If it is a problem for you then stop.

But all the talk of a christian ruining their testamony if seen going into a bar is hogwash. The hypocrites judging the christian just shopped for the week at a grocery store that sells alcohol.

Soulman

 

[gb93433]

Originally posted by Soulman:
The hypocrites judging the christian just shopped for the week at a grocery store that sells alcohol.

I am sure they support Muslims by the way they buy gas for their car.

I wonder if one of them have ever written the president about that issue.

Isn't the oil issue a part of war reparations in many countries.

 

[IveyLeaguer]

Originally posted by gb93433:
When is the last time anyone heard or preached a sermon on gossip?

Deserving of its own thread and in-depth discussion, IMO.

 

[Soulman]

Everything is so linked globally now that it is virtually impossible to conduct commerce and know where your money is going. A person would have to be an isolationist and live on his own farm and raise his own food. But what about the feed for the animals? Is some of that being converted into beer? What about the trucks that transported it? Where did they buy their gas?

Just live as honestly as you can and as the Lord leads. This old world is on it's way out!

Soulman

 

[Paul of Eugene]

Originally posted by Friend of God:
I know this may seem like a silly, trivial, question, but here goes.
The town that I live in does not have any restaurants, or fast food places. The only place to get sandwiches is at the local bar.
I don't drink, and have had alcohol abuse by a sister in the past.
My wife and daughter think it is okay to call and order take-out sandwiches from the bar, and take them home to eat.
I am not comfortable ordering food from a bar. Even though we are not ordering, or drinking liquor, I feel that it affects our Christian witness.
I would like your opinions about this. Am I being too sensitive, and reading something into this that isn't there, or what? Thanks.

Rob

If there is only the one place to order sandwiches, doesn't everybody in town know that?

Are there others who sometimes get sandwiches and no liquer? What is your gut feeling about them - do you mentally condemn them or give them the benefit of the doubt?

If you give them the benefit of the doubt, then you should give your wife, daughter and yourself the "benefit of the doubt" as well and just not worry about it.

 

[Aki]

first, many christians are so into testimony and offense that some actually incorrectly assume that new christians, or those who are not, can be easily offended.

it's quite an insult to others' intelligence and common sense.

just go to the bar and buy some food. if it looks bad for the moment, just keep on doing it until people realize that you are there solely for the food, and you must buy there otherwise you don't get to eat.

soon you will realize that the people around are really not that easily offended, as some christians easily assume without considering that maybe the people around them use their brains as well to try and understand the practicality of a christian's decision.

 

[gb93433]

Originally posted by Soulman:
But what about the feed for the animals? Is some of that being converted into beer? What about the trucks that transported it? Where did they buy their gas?

The stuff left over from beer etc. is often fed to animals.

Small world isn't it?

 

[RayMarshall19]

Originally posted by tinytim:

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
[qb]
BTW, "appearance" in the scripture quoted above does not mean "something that looks like", but rather "something that appears"

If you and the others are referring to I Thessalonians 5:22, both my NASB and my Greek dictionary say the word should be translated "form" not "appearance". It should be rendered "Abstain from every form of evil." I think this translation fits the context much better.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

I don't know about sandwiches, but I had a lovely cuppa tea and an amazing bowl of seafood chowder at a pub in County Mayo in the west of Ireland Friday.

Was my testimony tainted? As far as I know there are no Christians in the town of Cong (where the Quiet Man was filmed BTW)


Was I amongst "winebibbers?" We were the only ones in the pub, so I don't think so.

Did I partake of the Lord's Table this morning with a claen heart? Yes.

For this to be a standard it must be clear. Those who hold this conviction, to be consistant, should never buy anything from anyplace that sells alcoholic beverages. Otherwise I might not know if they bought alcohol or not.

BTW, I am an absolute teetoler. I have not had a drink of alcohol in thrity years.

 

[Mike McK]

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
The Bible says to refrain from all appearances of evil.

This is one of the most abused verses in all of scripture.

First of all, you're assuming that going into a bar is evil. It isn't.

Second, you're assuming that our behavior must be tailored to appease those who gossip and jumo to false conclusions. It shouldn't.

How can one justify going into a bar to buy a sandwich?

I justify it by saying that, since I had to go to the bar anyway to buy beer, I might as well pick up a sandwich.

People passing on the street see one go in and that can ruin the testimony whether one is buying alochol or not.

First of all, unless you wear a big sandwich board (no pun intended) saying, "I'm a Christian", people just casually passing by aren't going to know the difference.

Second, unsaved people don't think that going into a bar is a sin, anyway, so they don't care.

Third, if my witness is based on whether or not I do something that the Bible never says is wrong, or even hints is wrong, then I don't have much of a witness to begin with.

I played in bars for many years (and hope to again, one day, once I get my health issues straightened out) and, not only did it not "ruin my testimony", I actually led people to Christ in those bars.

I go to bars now to watch the Flyers, to play Quizzo or NTN trivia, to hear bands, or just to go hang out.

Not only does it not "ruin my testimony", it leads to a lot of great opportunities to share the Gospel and to make rewarding friendships.

In fifteen years, the only people who have ever accused me of "ruining my testimony" are anonymous strangers on the internet who don't know the first thing about my testimony.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Along the same line as the thread, is it wrong to go to a cookout when invited by co-workers when you know that everyone there but you will be drinking?

After all you will be amongst winebibbers and people might suspect you of drinking.

I am an IFB separatist. However, I am not an isolationist. I must put myself in situations where I can witness to the lost.