I'm occasionally (but not frequently, darn it!) asked, "Well how can you be a bartender if you're a Christian?"

Especially as one involved in any type of ministry (and I am), it's a fair, and relevant question. But since I am one (or both, really), of course I'm going to argue affirmatively. But trust me - the person who's asking this is probably asking (and often answering) from a knee-jerk type of reaction, while I've had YEARS to study and pray, to hear from God, and to walk this out.

Over a decade ago, I quit bartending shortly after I became a Christian, yet here I am doing it again, and I know it's because God has placed me here. Suspend your presumptions for just a little while, and prepare to see exactly how - theologically speaking - God can and does call and use people in the least likely places. I'll gladly pose and answer your most obvious questions and objections to a Christian bartending however, if you want to sit back and hear from someone who's put a little more time into this question than you probably have. And by the way, I won't be arguing "liberty" at all.

Rather than start with the theological argument(s) though, I'm going to first deal with the practicum of bartending (which I've found often settles the issue before even getting theological about it, for many of my Christian friends).

PRACTICUM
1) What makes a good bartender?     and
2) A bartender's role in a community

1) What makes a good bartender?
Generally speaking, many Christians naturally wouldn't know the truest answer to this question. Some might be surprised to know that restaurants and places that serve alcohol aren't necessarily looking for the things you might first guess though. Employers AREN'T looking right off for "Who makes the best drinks?" or "Who's the funnest, most partying person we know?" The latter would be a liability in many places of employment in fact, while the former can be taught and learned...  No, there are other qualities an employer would usually look for first, before making someone a bartender - on the rare occasion that they have the luxury of choosing from quality candidates anyway.  And before I even start, the key here, is CHARACTER...

Firstly, as a bartender, I have a cash drawer. At my place of employment (and many restaurants), the bartender is the only employee (outside of management) who has such easy access to the restaurant's cash flow...

As a Christian concerned with the original question, wouldn't you WANT the owner's answer to the second question to be, "Oh, a Christian, naturally." It's too bad that Christians are not considered trustworthy anymore simply by virtue of their faith, but at least individuals (Christian or non) can eventually earn a reputation for integrity in their environment.

As far as personal integrity and bartending... very recently a server I worked with had an ethical breach in his home life (infidelity, and much deception to his wife and girlfriend, who didn't know about each other). My manager immediately stopped scheduling him as the back-up bartender anymore, as a direct result of finding out the details. He didn't fire him of course (kept him as a waiter), but this says A LOT when you think about it - that "the wise manager" knows that someone who lives (and lies) like that outside of work, is not trustworthy enough to bartend

So... while certain mechanical (drink-mixing) or even people skills can be learned over time by anyone with an aptitude, KNOW that to get - and especially to keep - a bartending job, employers are looking FIRSTLY for the most honest and trustworthy people they can find.   Still think "being a good Christian" disqualifies someone from bartending? I'd argue that in the category of first priority, the one which employers are mainly interested in above all else, it makes exemplary Christians the most suited to bartend - at least it should anyway!!!

I realize of course that honesty and integrity are expected (or at least valued) in almost any position. My point however is that they are not exactly the norm amongst bartender candidates. Like politicians perhaps, to have a truly trustworthy Christian in the field is a very rare exception. This is precisely because most people assume these arenas are simply too "corrupt" for Christians to inhabit, and to especially be able to remain "Christian" in. Therefore, these fields (which are white for harvest btw ;) are generally left without a representative of God's love or any witness for Christ, while other "safer, respectable" professions are nearly over-populated with them. Restaurants, bars, etc, have generally been deprived of any Christians who genuinely like - or can at least stand - being around people who are drinking since... well, since a certain wedding in Cana almost 2000 years ago.

Think about that!  Y'see, no matter how wrong you might initially think it is, there's just no getting around the fact that Jesus served wine (great stuff too!) to a crowd that had been drinking for days. (They weren't driving though...) You're not really going to argue "Well..... it was kinda his first miracle, so he really didn't know what he was doing..." ARE YOU? 

If so, the other way to argue that is that Jesus BEGAN his public ministry by serving alcohol to people who were already drunk!!!! He initially drew attention to God.... by being the guy who kept the party going! The story of Jesus providing alcohol to drunks at a party is STILL being told today! It's a part of the gospels which the Holy Spirit saw fit NOT TO CENSOR!!!

For SOME, the same COULD be true today, as well. True, Jesus didn't make a career out of it, but He was absolutely led by the Spirit to do what he did (do you really wanna argue that point?), and you simply cannot argue that nobody today could ever be led the same way. After all, the same conditions exist today - there's drunk people everywhere who need a miracle, and they need someone who speaks for God in their midst.

So..... to answer the question "Can a Christian be a bartender?" you really need to go no further than to ask WWJD? In this case, you actually have chapter and verse to go on, and can pose the question as "What DID Jesus Do?"

2) The Bartender's role in a community

Well, when I wasn't a Christian 15 years ago but was at my first bartending job, I really blew this one. I regularly let my community down. Many people (especially Christians) might assume that a Christian shouldn't bartend because, "Well, isn't the main thrust of your job to get people drunk?" And that's a fair assumption, and charge, but what the Lord has shown me is that it's just the opposite!

Simply because of the nature of sin, and the lack of self-control amongst even many Christians, people are going to get drunk - with you or without you! If you're thinking Matthew 17:1 here, I'm the one through whom the offense is STOPPED btw, NOT "through whom it comes." One main thrust of my job is to actually STOP people from getting drunk - at least SO drunk that they pose a danger to people other than themselves.

That means cutting people off.

And believe me, cutting off people who want to continue drinking (and are more than ready to argue about it) is one of the most difficult things any server or bartender ever has to do, but it's an occasional necessity of the position.

Everyone wants to be liked... everyone wants to be spoken of as "cool..." but by cutting someone off, you immediately lose all likeability with most people. They will curse you to your face, and many will try to intimidate you.  It takes a type of strength and resolve that just doesn't come naturally to most people (especially when you consider that hospitality industry employees are "people-pleasers" by nature, or they can't last).

Because of this, I honestly have to rely on the Lord to give me the strength to exceed my human nature and natural personality, just to remain firm and to say "No..."  when someone's had too much to drink. It's honestly supernatural at times - but in order to fulfill why God has placed me where I am in my city, I have to die (not quite daily) to the desire to be liked, and actually let someone remain demonstrably mad at me, rather than keep serving them alcohol to the point that they may hurt someone on the road. Like I said, my job is to keep people from getting drunk, not to get them drunk. In situation after situation, the Lord has shown me that a responsible bartender's true function is to be the "control agent" in a society - to be the Holy Spirit in fact, for people who are not obeying Him - in order to save lives, both of the drinker and others on the road. In one sense, the bartender's role in society is to say, "Yes, as a matter of fact I am my brother's keeper."

So who better to assign the task - Cain, or Abel?

Other than having the ummmmm, uhhhhh, intestinal fortitude... okay balls.... to look a rich, ANGRY drinker with some strange sense of "entitlement" in the eye and say "NO MORE... NOT ON MY WATCH..." however, what does everyone who works, work for?

That's right, money! And THIS is why the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Restaurant people rely almost solely on tips for their income, and it's the rare person indeed who will still tip you after you've cut them off. So many times before I was a Christian, I'd find myself in a situation where I knew good and well that a person (or group) had had way too much too drink, yet they were still ordering more. But every time, I'd also think to myself, "Man, if I cut this guy off now, it's gonna cost me $20..." Or even $50!!!

EVERY NIGHT in EVERY TOWN in America, this situation is occurring OVER and OVER! And in all too great a percentage of the time, people are getting OVER-SERVED because the server wants that $20-$50.

Whether from a legal or Christian standpoint though, practicing not serving minors is one of the more important functions of a bartender - and one of the most tempting to fudge on, as well. Most people would honestly not have a moral dilemma serving someone over 18, but 21's the law these days, and there are many valid - albeit nerdy - reasons for enforcing this law. While people have more of a "Tom Cruise" image of bartending, your responsibilities to the community and your employer just as often put you in the position of having to be the mud-stick "Miss Ratchet" school-marm, enforcing the rules when everyone else just wants to have fun. However, alcohol consumption often results in a person having fun at others' expense, and this is where the bartender's unappreciated mettle gets tested.

For example, before I finally accepted a full-time position bartending again (because I didn't think a Christian could be doing it) I allowed my restaurant to schedule me on Friday and Saturday nights "as long as bartender wasn't really my job title," because the manager wanted someone with my experience back there on the busiest nights. During this time I helped train a new guy for several months, who'd never bartended before. Once a pretty woman around 25 years old came to us from the lobby and asked us for two beers. I politely asked her for two IDs. She sighed, and went back to the lobby to get... HER DAD'S ID for me! Now what kind of nerd is going to put a pretty lady through that? But really, I saw it as an opportunity to train the other guy. He immediately punched me in the shoulder and said "You stickler - I'd have never thought of asking that." I said, "Kirk, that's how 21 year-old boys get high school girls drunk and pregnant. They walk into the bar, show their ID, and walk out with 2 beers. Then they get a table and the waiter thinks "...well surely the bar carded them already - I'm not going to piss them off by doing it again..." and the girl gets wasted." Much to my delight, a month or so later when I wasn't bartending (and Kirk didn't even know I was there), I saw him likewise ask a "college boy" for 2 IDs, and couldn't help but smile, knowing I'd seen God's purposes accomplished in my placement. Kirk had followed my example, and time showed that he made this his practice - which was great, because Kirk was the full-time bartender by then. (So by the way I walked up and talked to him for awhile after that first example, and while I wasn't really hanging out to see, college boy never returned. I actually thought then, "My work here is done..." But God had different plans, as it turned out.)

I said I wasn't going to argue "Christian Liberty" to make my points here, and now perhaps you see it's just the opposite. You actually have to become a legalist, in the strictest senses of the word, to uphold the law when people are flashing money at you to bend the rules for them. Guys will pay you BIG MONEY to serve their underage girlfriends, and it REALLY HELPS knowing that you are going to give an account to God for every minute of your life, when confronted with this decision! People assume you must be "cool" (or that you're some backslidden pagan ;) or you wouldn't be a bartender... However, the true inside world of bartending is a plethora of opposites from what people usually assume - in fact, you have to be a real - well I can't say it here, but you have to be one much of the time in order to be a godly bartender! You have to be un-cool when everyone is telling you "Oh come on man, be cool." But people will often still try to argue or tip you extra to serve a minor (especially female ones), and once again, it takes more moral resolve than I ever had as a non-Christian to remain unspotted in that area now. Got daughters? If so you can thank me later I guess, but ask yourself: Do you really want someone who is ruled by coolness (ie, the pride of life), and the love of money, making these decisions in your town? Or are you beginning to think that maybe you'd like to see a few more truly Christian bartenders watching over them, when they're out in places you can't be?

I like to tease some of my Christian friends who are parents sometimes in fact... "Now Mr. and Mrs. Smith, we all know your kids are *angels* and certainly aren't going to be getting in any trouble riding around tonight, but let's think about this a minute... With your kids on the road as well, who do you want behind the bars in this city when Mr. Drunkenslobben is asking for another? Do you want someone who's main concern at work is how much money they're going to make tonight? Or do you perhaps want someone who has even a little Holy Spirit operating on the job? Who might actually hear from God about cutting someone off, even if they seem to be okay - as long as they're just sitting on a barstool anyway? After all, it's your kids out there riding around from 10pm - 2am... And it's your 17 and 19-year old daughters being asked out by the older boys with the IDs... Who do you want making the calls behind the bar the night she walks in? The local party animals, or the local youth pastors? Or when your angels are driving home after midnight from the picture show, and there's 200 people leaving the bars at the same time?

"It's your kids going out this weekend, and it's your call. So let's get real here, and put the rubber to the road. It's your kids' lives that are on the line. So you tell me - Can a Christian be a bartender...?"

You'd better hope so.
 

Even if you disagree, God has kids going out this weekend too, and I think that's at least part of why He has me where I am.

DID YOU KNOW KOSHER SALT IS REQUIRED TO MAKE A MARGARITA CORRECTLY...?
So to close "practicum" ... After theft, I'd say that serving minors is the #2 most frequent reason bartenders lose their jobs. So in the real world, it takes honesty and integrity (not stealing), and a penchant for obeying the law (not serving minors or accepting bribes) to make a good bartender. Add to that the subtle role of "watchman" for the community, and then tell me you honestly think that only non-Christians should be bartending - cos after all, that's what you're arguing if you say that Christians can't. I'm going to argue that bartending is actually a field tailor made for Christians to inhabit.

Okay, let's just never-mind the whole divine appointments thing, or the hypothetical opportunity to reach out to hurting people when they're down (opposed to the church's more typical "Go ye into all the non-smoking sections of the world, and preach the gospel..." attitude; see also Matthew 9:12 about "them that are whole..."). The real fact here is that a bartender who honors God in his profession creates a ripple-effect of maintaining moral and legal standards within his restaurant "oikos" that benefits the community tremendously, and ultimately saves lives. Just try to imagine what the drunk-driving rate, the teen pregnancy rate, and the STD rate might be, if every bartender in your town both feared and wanted to honor God in what he does.

Regardless of what you might think initially if confronted with the idea of a Christian bartending, in practice the potential to be the salt of the earth truly is there. Yes, the opportunity for much sin and backsliding is there also, but remember, God's all about risk - there were two trees in the garden! Many Christian advisors would rather remove the potential to fall from people's lives, just to be safest. Often, this is the best counsel for certain people (especially "the weak"), but it's just not a cut-and-dried place to rest on doctrinally, either. It's not Kosher! God's way is always to test us in small situations, then if faithful, to put us in positions to glorify Him and benefit His people - so long as we've learned to rely on Him for the victory.

"David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion,
and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee." 1 Samuel 17:37

In my own strength, I would certainly succumb to the pressures and temptations that my job is rife with. But for the called, God is delighted to put us in situations where we would fail, if not for His presence. God's pattern is to make us have to choose Him in tough situations, but most often, the church's pattern is to remove the tough situation - and I think many, many Christians live neutered, boring lives of little growth as a result. They don't see God move, because they won't allow themselves to need to see Him move. Rather, they live lives who's daily routine can be handled in their own strength, thank you very much, because the church almost always advises ALL Christians to make decisions as if they are still newborn babes - to take the paths of least resistance, and least risk. As a result, far too many Christians are some of the most worthless, un-salty people on the face of the earth. They remain forever stirred, but never shaken.

So yeh, like most of us at work, I have my good days and bad days... I've made some bonehead, un-Christlike moves, no doubt. But more often, I choose to serve God, when the opposite path would be so much easier. As a result, I know I'm a better vessel in the Master's hands as well, more fit for nobler purposes one day, because I'm in a position of being refined in the fire of the real world all the time. And in the big picture, I know my community is a better, safer place when I've done my job well, as surely as I know God is the author of the decision to have me there.

For the few rare people who actually allow me to entertain them this long with this line of reasoning, I like to conclude this portion by saying... "If the modern church really understood the actual role of a bartender in society, instead of shunning the idea of Christian bartenders, they'd pay us as missionaries and keep us in constant prayer. And instead of sending our best and brightest off to another town for seminary, we'd be sending them to a local bartending school!"

THEOLOGY
Oh come on, with that warm-up do you really want me to get theological on you?

Well let's make it quick then... The major points are always seem to revolve around

"The example you set," "Causing someone to stumble" and/or
"If my brother is offended..."

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See my related article on "Christians & Tipping"

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