“But what should I do now, Lord?” I asked aloud in Dutch. And suddenly I knew that I had to go ahead and drink that beer, that to turn it down would be to turn them down, that their kindness and hospitality ranked higher with God than one observance of a rule. Twenty minutes later, eyes watering from the powerful home-made brew, I once again shook twenty hands, laughed, wished them the speediest of all possible salvations, and went on my way. It took forty minutes of high-speed travel down the highway before the mud that had been trapped on the wheels of my little car stopped thumping the
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I don't think that it was wrong for Brother Andrew to drink the beer, but I do take issue with his reasoning. The Bible teaches clearly that drunkenness is wrong, but I do not find the case for total abstinence from alcohol in the Bible. Brother Andrew here appears to think differently as he refers to not drinking the beer as being 'observance of a rule', the question is whose rule. If Andrew believes that he should not drink because he believes that is what the Bible teaches, then while I would disagree with that, I would take far more issue with his willingness to compromise for the sake of hospitality and not hurting someone's feelings. This way of thinking opens the door for all kinds of error in the Church.
On the other hand, if the 'rule' referred to is simply a personal principle (such as being on a diet and not eating sugar), then I agree it would be right to put this 'rule' to one side for the sake of the people.
In modern eyes, the 'rule' of drink driving comes to mind, and of course to drink 'eye watering... powerful home-made brew' with no idea of the alcohol content and then immediately partake in '40 minutes of high-speed travel down the highway' (with mud on the wheels no less!) seems indefensible.
