What’s primary is the benefit received by conscious, thankful believers in Christ. Marriage and sex, food and drink, God designed them, even after sin and the fall, “to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” The good that unbelievers, or unthankful believers, may seem to derive from caffeine’s proper use is secondary. God Made Caffeine for Christiansįirst Timothy 4:3 warns against those who would “require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” For now, the main point to observe is that God designed the goodness of this world not just for humans in general but specifically for believers. How should we think about caffeine use or avoidance in the pursuit of joy in God? Consider four principles anchored in God’s word. As with other powerful substances, whether naturally occurring in creation or stemming from human cultivation, God made us to search out the prudent, life-giving (rather than life-diminishing) use of his created world. The Scriptures do not mention caffeine, but they do give us all we need to observe, learn, and wisely decide how we, as Christians, can faithfully use (or abstain from) caffeine for the glory of Christ - namely, for our pursuit of Christ-exalting joy for ourselves and others. It doesn’t actually give us energy, but keeps our bodies from slowing down and getting tired. It’s like putting a block of wood under our body’s brake pedal. How does caffeine work? It is not a direct stimulant but indirect. Today some 90% of American adults consume caffeine on a daily basis. World’s Most Popular DrugĬaffeine is the most popular drug on earth, most often consumed through the most popular drinks on earth - coffee, tea, and sodas. The effects of caffeine typically last five to six hours. That’s about four cups of coffee (about 100 milligrams each), or eight cups of tea or caffeinated soda (about 50 milligrams each). What, then, is moderate, responsible use for the average adult? The USDA recommends less than 400 milligrams per day. It is certainly possible to abuse caffeine, but, as a natural stimulant, it is most commonly used not as an escape from reality, but as an effort to interact responsibly with reality. Most coffee drinkers hope to stay awake, do their jobs more reliably, and drive more safely. It is an empowering drug that enables you to be a more alert dad, or a more aware mother, or a more competent employee. Caffeine “sharpens the mind,” and as Murray Carpenter adds in his book-length study Caffeinated, the drug “does not just increase acuity it can also improve mood.” Unlike marijuana, caffeine (in moderate doses) makes us more awake to the world, rather than less. Scientists around the world have noted the effects of the drug - caffeine is a drug, and a powerful one. That doesn’t demand use, on the one hand, or abstention, on the other, but rather the much harder work of carefully experimenting, observing the effects, making wise judgments, learning proper use (or not), and exercising self-control. God means for his image-bearers to exercise dominion over his caffeinated world. One of God’s first instructions to our race is this: “I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth” (Genesis 1:29). Even Christians may be surprised to discover how extensively God caffeinated his created world. More than one hundred species of plant around the world, on four continents, contain caffeine. Unlike money, caffeine literally grows on trees - and not just a shrub or two.
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