Distinctiveness, Service, and Vodka

When you're at a Russian dinner party you've got to learn to sip your vodka slowly and drink lots of water. A certain American general didn't understand this, and had his wife not been on the trip with him, the other officers would have had to babysit him all night to make sure we was up and ready for a 7:30 appointment the next morning. Psalm 104:15 says that God makes wine "that gladdens the heart of man." There are very few things (if any) in this world that are intrinsically bad. Evil is a distortion of good. God has given us many wonderful things, notably sex, drugs, and alcohol. In their proper context (marriage, medicine, and moderation) they serve as reminders of God's wonderful provision. Otherwise they become the objects of the unhealthy desires that war against our souls and from which 1 Peter exhorts us to abstain. But to be "in the world but not of it" is not fundamentally about finding that middle path--though when we understand what Christian distinctiveness is really about we will naturally walk it. The Christian journey is quite simply to follow Jesus. And though as his disciples found, his parables are sometimes hard to understand, he declared his central mission with absolute clarity: "the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mt. 20:28) Jesus came to serve. He came to serve not because serving others is the way to get them to serve you but regardless of whether or not they reciprocate. Jesus calls us to be the "slave of all." Slaves expect nothing in return. Plato says "how can anyone be happy as long as he is a slave?" Jesus asks how anyone can be happy unless he is the slave of everyone else. (cf. Mt. 20:27) Nowhere does being Christian go more against the grain of our culture--nowhere does Christian teaching more fundamentally challenge the principles on which this world operates than with this radical call to service. And it is in this light that we can properly understand where our American general stumbled. After 4 quick shots of Russian vodka the general had placed himself in the position to BE SERVED. (Fortunately for the other officers his wife was there to help!) Rather than putting himself in the position TO SERVE. In Ephesians 5:18 the writer tells us "Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery." Why? because as he says in the verses immediately preceding we are to "make the most of every opportunity." The general missed his opportunity to build relationships and serve his Russian counterparts because of his irresponsible behavior. Yet to refuse vodka altogether would likely have been construed as a refusal of hospitality--also not exactly making the most of the opportunity. (American officers who adhere to strict abstinence are sometimes stationed somewhere other than Russia precisely for this reason.) Christian distinctiveness is to be characterized by our radical call to service--making the most of every opportunity to serve. So when at a Russian dinner party sip your vodka slowly and drink lots of water.