{"id":47178,"date":"2016-02-22T22:07:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T04:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=47178"},"modified":"2024-12-13T18:09:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T00:09:54","slug":"leaving-the-pit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/leaving-the-pit\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving the Pit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Wilson Adams<\/p>\n

It was the most compelling argument I’ve ever heard against social drinking…<\/p>\n

A young man in his 30s stood in front of the Leaving the Pit Conference in Indianapolis on Saturday and told his story. His alcohol use began in high school and intensified in college. He hid it well. He was drinking heavily even though he was actively involved in church activities. “Knowledge was not my problem; connecting my heart to my head was my problem.”<\/p>\n

He shrugged off his first DUI. As he sat in a jail cell following his second DUI, he looked around at other prisoners a decade his senior and asked, “Is this where I want to be in ten years?” It was decision time.<\/p>\n

Today, he is ten years sober, married, and a father. As he told his powerful story, the silence was deafening. And then he said…<\/p>\n

“I go to an AA meeting where people confess their struggles and where it is acknowledged openly that we cannot place ourselves in any situation where we could be tempted to drink — and then … I sit in a Bible class and hear a brother in Christ make a comment that he doesn’t see anything wrong with social drinking, and I just shake my head …”<\/p>\n

Sadly, alcohol is the leading drug of choice for many. Please make no mistake: it is a drug — albeit bottled. Its force is powerful, addictive, and life-changing. And someone dares encourage its recreational use?<\/p>\n

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yes, I am.<\/p>\n

P.S. Want to know more about Leaving The Pit monthly conferences? Visit\u00a0Leaving the Pit Behind.<\/a>\u00a0Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and\u00a0<\/em>sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 5:4-8).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Wilson Adams It was the most compelling argument I’ve ever heard against social drinking… A young man in his 30s stood in front of the Leaving the Pit Conference in Indianapolis on Saturday and told his story. His alcohol use began in high school and intensified in college. He hid it well. He was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[387,371],"class_list":["post-47178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-addiction","tag-alcohol"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35544,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-handle-a-husband-with-a-drinking-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":47178,"position":0},"title":"How do I handle a husband with a drinking problem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am a member of the Lord's church, as well as my husband. We have been married for about five years with a couple of kids. When we first move to where we currently live, we both attended church; fast forward a year later, he started hanging out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-didnt-lot-turn-down-his-daughters-advances\/","url_meta":{"origin":47178,"position":1},"title":"Why didn’t Lot turn down his daughters’ advances?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Lot in Genesis 19,\u00a0get drunk, have sex with his daughters, and get them pregnant? I\u00a0wondered what was the purpose?\u00a0Couldn't he have just\u00a0said no to his daughters? Answer: A major problem with all drugs, including alcohol, is that they impair a person's judgment. Things that normally would be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25182,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/social-drinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":47178,"position":2},"title":"Social Drinking (Spears)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears We live in a world where social drinking is accepted by over two-thirds of our entire population.\u00a0 That segment also accepts just about any other kind of drinking.\u00a0 But social drinking has been elevated a few steps above ordinary honkey-tonk or bar room drinking.\u00a0 No matter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/social-drinking-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":94695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/alcohol-is-a-thief\/","url_meta":{"origin":47178,"position":3},"title":"Alcohol Is a Thief","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod M. Jacobs We might not think about alcohol in terms of \"a thief,\" but I would suggest that it is. Solomon said long ago, \"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise\" (Proverbs 20:1). Notice how absolute these words are.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-help-my-brother-save-his-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":47178,"position":4},"title":"How can I help my brother save his marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, My brother and his wife are having problems in their marriage. I don't know what else to do or tell them, and talking to my brother can sometimes feel like talking to a child. My brother is nearly 30, and his wife is about the same age. They\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45297,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-slipping-into-sin-but-i-know-i-need-to-return-to-the-father\/","url_meta":{"origin":47178,"position":5},"title":"I’m slipping into sin, but I know I need to return to the Father","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been struggling horribly the past two years, going deeper into my desires and sins, going away from God and His purposes for me. I used to be \"on fire\" and always reading the Bible and spending time with God. But honestly, I gave up seeking. I gave up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}