"I have concluded that Jesus is much more concerned about who we are than what we do."
- Mike Hale, Brewer & Owner of Hales Ales Brewery and Pub, Seattle, Washington (and a very orthodox and outspoken Christian)
Your biblically informed thoughts?
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Wow, tough question. I have wrestled with vocation quite a bit, having had to switch vocations many times in my adult life. Before I answer the direct question, I must say there's a huge tension between considering everything loss for the sake of Christ and still devoting my energies to my vocation "as unto the Lord." No matter how well I'm doing my job, I always have much more joy in evangelizing and discipling than in anything else I've ever done.
As for the pub, I could see ways in which I might hypothetically own such an establishment. However, I think to have a clear conscience I would probably have to have some sort of strict limit on how much alcohol one could be served in one sitting, so as not to be leading people into the sin of drunkenness. That practice, of course, could lead to a not-very-successful pub.
I am going to break the rules of blogging and ask a few other questions - would you own a buffet restaurant? would you own a retail store that sold radar detectors? would you own a video rental store? would you own a gas station that sold lottery tickets?
Good questions. As I said, I've wrestled (seemingly unsuccessfully) with this type of question a lot. Would I personally own a lot of these places (including the pub)? Probably not. Would I condemn another believer for doing so? That's a tough proposition. You make an excellent point about the buffet restaurant.
I'm also not oblivious to the fact that when I was driving taxi, many of my fares were going to and from bars. So I wasn't just taking them home (as a public service for safety purposes) but also taking them to the bars. I struggled with it then. I also found, though, that such people were more willing than ever to engage in conversations that I could turn towards evangelism than when they were perfectly sober. What's the answer? I don't know.
I dare say I would. Alcohol in itself is a wonderful thing. It has many great uses from medicine to socializing with friends. Like anything else it can be abused. Besides that there has been some great evangelism in pubs. We're commanded to go where they are, so why not set up a place where they want to go. Ultimately, if I owned a pub I would view it in this way: It's a business. It's a place where you meet people and can begin friendships. (everybody is at least willing to talk to the owner, and often are driven to for some reason or another) It's a place where people are typically more than willing to talk about anything. I might change the atmosphere a little bit as far as some of the music goes and a few other minor things, but I don't see anything wrong with owning a pub. Ultimately, people are responsible for their own actions (to include over-eating, over-consumption of alcohol, language, accepting or rejecting Christ, etc...)
"I have concluded that Jesus is much more concerned about who we are than what we do." 
4 comments:
Wow, tough question. I have wrestled with vocation quite a bit, having had to switch vocations many times in my adult life. Before I answer the direct question, I must say there's a huge tension between considering everything loss for the sake of Christ and still devoting my energies to my vocation "as unto the Lord." No matter how well I'm doing my job, I always have much more joy in evangelizing and discipling than in anything else I've ever done.
As for the pub, I could see ways in which I might hypothetically own such an establishment. However, I think to have a clear conscience I would probably have to have some sort of strict limit on how much alcohol one could be served in one sitting, so as not to be leading people into the sin of drunkenness. That practice, of course, could lead to a not-very-successful pub.
I am going to break the rules of blogging and ask a few other questions - would you own a buffet restaurant? would you own a retail store that sold radar detectors? would you own a video rental store? would you own a gas station that sold lottery tickets?
Good questions. As I said, I've wrestled (seemingly unsuccessfully) with this type of question a lot. Would I personally own a lot of these places (including the pub)? Probably not. Would I condemn another believer for doing so? That's a tough proposition. You make an excellent point about the buffet restaurant.
I'm also not oblivious to the fact that when I was driving taxi, many of my fares were going to and from bars. So I wasn't just taking them home (as a public service for safety purposes) but also taking them to the bars. I struggled with it then. I also found, though, that such people were more willing than ever to engage in conversations that I could turn towards evangelism than when they were perfectly sober. What's the answer? I don't know.
I dare say I would. Alcohol in itself is a wonderful thing. It has many great uses from medicine to socializing with friends. Like anything else it can be abused. Besides that there has been some great evangelism in pubs. We're commanded to go where they are, so why not set up a place where they want to go. Ultimately, if I owned a pub I would view it in this way:
It's a business.
It's a place where you meet people and can begin friendships. (everybody is at least willing to talk to the owner, and often are driven to for some reason or another)
It's a place where people are typically more than willing to talk about anything.
I might change the atmosphere a little bit as far as some of the music goes and a few other minor things, but I don't see anything wrong with owning a pub.
Ultimately, people are responsible for their own actions (to include over-eating, over-consumption of alcohol, language, accepting or rejecting Christ, etc...)
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