1 Timothy 3:8 , “Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;”
The Greek phrase is the same as the one found in 1 Timothy 3:8 which refers to the requirement for an elder. The only difference between the two is the addition of the word “much”. It appears to point to a lesser requirement in the case of a deacon compared to an elder. Could this be the right interpretation?
Albert Barnes says, “The word much is added here to what is said in the qualification of a bishop. It is not affirmed that it would be proper for the deacon, any more than the bishop, to indulge in the use of wine in small quantities, but it is affirmed that a man who is much given to the use of wine, ought not, on any consideration, to be a deacon. It may be remarked here, that this qualification was everywhere regarded as necessary for a minister of religion. Even the heathen priests, on entering a temple, did not drink wine.—Bloomfield. The use of wine, and of strong drinks of all kinds, was absolutely prohibited to the Jewish ministers of every rank, when they were about to engage in the service of God, Le 10:9 Why should it, then, be any more proper for a Christian minister to drink wine, than for a Jewish or a heathen priest! Shall a minister of the gospel be less holy than they? Shall he have a feebler sense of the purity of his vocation? Shall he be less careful lest he expose himself to the possibility of conducting the services of religion in an irreverent and silly manner? Shall he venture to approach the altar of God under the influence of intoxicating drinks, when a sense of propriety restrained the heathen priest, and a solemn statute of Jehovah restrained the Jewish priest from doing it?”
To follow-up on Barnes’ notes above, it does not make any sense to demand that the deacon be “grave” which to possess a serious mind and an exemplary conduct and then say that it is all right for a deacon to drink but not an elder. This may seem problematic if one understands the meaning of the word “wine” according to today’s context and usage. Wine is taken today for pleasure. The wine today has been carefully distilled and manufactured for this same pleasure. The wine of biblical times was used for pleasure by some but it was also used to purify the water for drinking. It must also be noted that the wine in those days was not manufactured; it was merely fermented grape juice with a very low alcohol content.
The Bible’s teaching to those who wish to drink for pleasure is found in Proverbs 31:6-7 , “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.” To those who are living a life without hope and are about to perish, they would drink and forget their sorrows. Such temporal relief numbs the mind and the soul for a moment until they come out of their drunken stupor; then their life of hopeless reality hits them in the face again and they turn to their alcohol again. But to priests and kings of which Christians are, they must refrain from drinking. The fact that we may stumble others when we indulge in this vice should be sufficient grounds for total abstinence. Sunday School teachers, and leaders of fellowship groups, Bible Study leaders, and all who lead in one way or another must practise total abstinence. This would definitely include parents and all who drink privately at home or away from the eyes of other believers. They may think that if no one sees them, then they are fine and will not cause any one to stumble. To gratify the flesh in this manner is to play with fire. They stumble others unknowingly and by then it would be too late.
The teaching here is that the ordinary believer in the congregation who drinks the water purified with the wine must not use this legitimate practice as a cloak for something sinister like his love for wine! There is no justification in the believer’s life for drinking and to all deacons and elders, total abstinence is the only witness and testimony that can stand under the search light of God’s Holy and perfect Word.