How partying might make you more like Jesus

Written By Don Jaques

Note: coinciding with the release of “7 Steps Toward a More Beautiful Story of Faith”, this is the seventh and final post expanding on those steps. Subscribe and receive this free resource.

Step 7: Remember Jesus had a reputation as a glutton and a wine-bibber who partied with the wrong people. Be more like Jesus.   

Welcome to Step 7 of the “Seven Steps Toward a More Beautiful Life of Faith”! The first six sounded more serious, I’ll admit, but even though this last step was written with a wink, this one has helped me in multiple surprising ways in the last few years.

Jesus was a partier? You’re probably wondering where I get off saying Jesus had a reputation as such. Well it comes from a little passage found in Luke 7. In this part of Luke’s telling of the Good News, Jesus tells the crowd how great of a man his predecessor John the Baptist was (Luke 7:24-28). Then he goes on to share this little nugget.

John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ (Luke 7:33-34 NIV)

It seems Jesus is a bit tired of the haters. In effect, he says to them, “Look - what do you want? John lived out in the wilderness by himself eating bugs and dressing in animal skins. You thought he was crazy or even demon possessed. Now here I am, in my right mind, and enjoying time with all different kinds of people. I talk with them and laugh with them and yes I eat the food they serve and drink the drinks they serve. And you judge me as a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of people in the wrong crowd.”

The religious Jews would NEVER be caught with “tax collectors and sinners”. To be with those sorts could make them ritually impure and unable to do their acts of worship at the temple. It was as if the sins of those people could infect a good religious person simply by association.

But Jesus, as he does so often in the gospels, breaks through social and religious barriers because of his love for people that were excluded by the good religious people.. He becomes the embodiment of what the Christmas angel announced:  “Good news of great joy for all the people!”

It seems clear from reading the gospels that Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, actually liked people who lived outside the circles drawn by the religious leaders. He enjoyed eating and drinking with the people who would never show up to the synagogue because they would have been shamed if they did. And those people on the outside of the “Jewish men only” parts of the temple? He just kept including them.

“A glutton and a wine bibber.” That’s how Jesus’ critics described him. What does this suggest about Jesus’ eating and drinking habits? Well, when was the last time you called someone with a runner’s body a glutton? Isn’t it possible Jesus enjoyed food - maybe a little too much at times - and just might even have had a few extra pounds around his waist? 

And when was the last time you called someone a wine bibber who was a teetotaler? Well you probably have never used the term wine bibber but I looked it up and the Greek word for that literally means “one who drinks wine” and the derisive meaning attached to it was one who REALLY LIKES drinking wine. In other words, “a wino” as one Bible dictionary says.

I don’t mean to say I think Jesus really was a wino. I’m sure Jesus knew when enough was enough, and he didn’t need a few drinks to make it through the night. But I think it’s rather obvious that when he was at a party, and there were drinks offered, he did not consider it sinful to imbibe. (Footnote: In John chapter 4, when Jesus turns water into wine, He turns it into fine wine. He seems to know the difference.) 

I like to picture Jesus in these settings where he is hanging out with tax collectors and “pre-eminently sinful people” (as the Greek word for “sinners” implies). Rather than being the sort of person who goes to a party to shame people for laughing at the off-color jokes and raising his eyebrows when people ate or drank a little much, I see Jesus being the life of the party. The impression I get when I read the gospels is that he was loved by ordinary people everywhere. The only ones who despised him were those with political or religious power.

Why is this important and how have these ideas helped me on my way to a more beautiful story of faith? First, it’s helped me loosen up and be much less “judgy” about people who like to have a good time at a party. Although for some people eating too much or drinking alcohol become problems requiring strict limits, it does not seem to me the necessarily “Christian” thing as a rule. And “less judgy” is a good thing in relationships isn’t it?

Another way this is bearing good fruit in my life is it helps me remember that any type of person I might have a tendency to exclude from my mental list of “God’s in-crowd” is exactly the type of person Jesus would hang out with. They might look, believe and act very differently than me, but they are beautiful and made in the image of God. Just like me. 

So if I want to be more like Jesus, I’ll spend less time wondering what I can and can’t do at a dinner party, and more time enjoying good food and drink and conversation with people who have been excluded by the good manners of religion. That’s a more beautiful story of faith that I’m so glad Jesus modeled for all of us.

Don Jaques
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