Sunday, December 20, 2009
Temperance Movement
(II Peter 1:6-8)
Yesterday, we considered the importance of incorporating both virtue and knowledge to our faith. In addition to these graces, Peter urges several additional ornaments to our faith. Along with virtue and knowledge, Peter urged us to add temperance to our faith.
The word “temperance” reminds faithful fundamentalists of our Biblical opposition to consuming alcohol as a beverage. The Temperance Movement of the early 20th Century helped to usher in the years of Prohibition. Unfortunately, money interests overrode the godly anti-booze sentiments and prohibition all but died in America. Today, our society is awash with booze; and we’re paying for it with the lives of young Americans.
Temperance, in the Biblical sense, means “self control.” So Peter encourages Christians to add self control to their faith. His injunction includes more than just alcoholic beverages. The Bible commands us to be “temperate in all things” (I Cor. 9:25). Nothing, therefore, should exercise control over the life of the believer. Everything should be held in balance, with nothing dominating, nothing in excess. Believers should never be brought under the power of anything (I Cor. 6:12).
Temperance, you see, involves the nitty-gritty habits of life. To be temperate in all things means no aspect of my life is out of control or out of balance. Everything, from my eating habits (ouch!) to my entertainment and computer use should be temperate. The test of temperance: Do I control it, or does it control me?
