Placing tempation before the weak

[LCMS_No_More]

I live as a roommate and friend with a person who has issues with alcohol. He tends to lose control and drink too much most of the time he does drink, but sometimes he remains in control. I would say that he is alcoholic, but he has yet to really come to that realization.

Anyway, a co-worker gave me two bottles of wine as a gift and I don’t drink all that much. He asked me tonight for a glass of my wine and I relunctantly said he can have ONE glass and poured it for him. He was satisfied with that and went to bed a little after drinking it. He didn’t get drunk or even buzzed.

I’m not sure if this constitutes willfully placing tempation before the weak. Since he’s an alcoholic, am I placing temptation before the weak by simply having it? Am I making it worse (becoming an accessory) by pouring him the glass? Or am I just being scrupulous?

 

[love4mary]

A similar situation happened to me just like this. I offered a glass of wine to a friend of mine, ( at the time I did not realize she had a drinking problem), She spent the night at my home and when I awoke in the morning, there was not a drop of wine left,she emptied 3 bottles of wine after I turned in for the night.

If you know that your friend has a drinking problem, then DON’T give him not even a single drink, and if you dont drink, then don’t even have any in your home.

 

[wcknight]

My understanding of a true alcholholic is that IF they take one drink, they will always take another until they are drunk. It would be very rare for an alchohlic to take one drink and stop.

Their body chemistry will not let them stop.

Granted, your friend may not have actually reached that point yet, and it could be that he may never actually become a full blown alchoholic. Some folks can drink fairly heavily and never get drunk. And some may only get drunk once in a while.

A real alchoholic gets drunk almost all the time if not 100% of the time. But if your friend has a drinking problem even if he is not an alchoholic, you should not encourage him by having the booze around.

 

[puzzleannie]

well as one who has more experience with alcoholics than any one person should endure in a lifetime, my guess would be this person is an alcoholic, and the persons who live with him must learn to accept that fact, and the fact that alcohol cannot play any part in their communal life. That puts an unfair burden on the other residents of the household, but it is true. Giving a drink to an alcoholic is never a kindness, and always a temptation and virtual guarantee he will start drinking again.

Obviously you did not know that and acted with good intentions. If you this person is going to continue as part of your household, whether or not he is in AA, Al-Anon for friends and relatives of alcoholics is your lifeline and a great source for answers to questions such as your OP.

alcoholism contains a strong physical component that right now cannot be addressed by any medical intervention except total avoidance of alchohol. That does not even address the psychological or spiritual dimensions of the disease.

 

[love4mary]

wcknight,I must disagree with you on one point. I was married for 14 years to an alcoholic, there were times when, depending on his mood at the time, could drink just ONE beer and call it quits for the day. Other days, he would drink till he passed out. And also a no,they dont always get drunk 100% of the time when drinking.

Still though, if you even suspect that someone might have a drinking problem, you owe it to that person and anyone else who may come in contact with him (some who drink get violent–as my husband did) to not encourage drinking by having it around. He could be a real “sweetheart” 99% of the time, but its that 1% where he could get into his car and kill someone or attack another for no reason, again, this is a world I lived in.

Ask yourself one question,are you willing to take the risk of allowing alcohol near this person knowing what MIGHT happen? Are we our brothers keeper?

 

[Divine_mercy]

Are we our brothers keeper?

I completely agree

If you even think their “May” be a problem, you need to try to help, if that mean not keeping alcohol in the house that is what you should do.

Divine_Mercy
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Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15)