Guinness uses "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" in "Empty Chair" commercial

[Shaynus]

The song was also used in the Jeff Bridges remake of True Grit in 2010. The song gained notoriety then.

Simply seeing the name of the hymn reminds me of a rather wonderful scene in The Human Comedy, made during WWII.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8wreRaV6xc

That said, the film, though powerful emotionally, unfortunately has a very weak spiritual message.

Yes the details are American. But, the feel is Irish not American. Except for the Budweiser Clydesdales beer wagon commercials, most American beer commercials have a rowdy\party down tone to them, even the ones for Heineken. In this one, the village pub in the “Quiet Man” could be substituted for the commercial’s American bar. And if was transported over the Irish Sea to St. Ives, Cornwall the soldier could just as easily be a Rifleman from the Rifles (the Green Jackets).

An elderly church member called me today in tears. She saw this commercial on TV and it made her cry to see such a wonderful hymn used in a commercial about alcohol. I say this as somebody who, on Jim’s taxonomy, would be at View B.

I strongly condemn drunkenness and strongly argue against drinking in general, because it is opposed to the holiness of God. I stop shorting of forbidding consumption of alcohol altogether, because I can’t find a way around Jn 2. I do strongly advise against it.

For people who came of age in the aftermath of the temperance movement, such as the elderly church member who called me today (she was born in 1928!), this commercial was very offensive.

her reaction is quite understandable.

[TylerR]

An elderly church member called me today in tears. She saw this commercial on TV and it made her cry to see such a wonderful hymn used in a commercial about alcohol.

SIP

For people who came of age in the aftermath of the temperance movement, such as the elderly church member who called me today (she was born in 1928!), this commercial was very offensive.

[Rob Fall]

SIP

Would that be a Freudian sip?

;^)

As someone who is on the exact opposite side of the fence on the issue of alcohol from David Brumbelow, I feel compelled to briefly interject. In the interactions that I’ve had with him, both in forum threads and in a private message exchange, he has been nothing but kind and gracious. Although he has not changed my mind on the issue of alcohol, he has been a witness and example to me of Godly speech while disagreeing.

“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” is one of those hymns (and I use the word very loosely) like “In the Garden” that evoke great sentimentality while being doctrinally shallow. I believe the beer has more body than the song.

It’s a Guinness; it’s just stout flavored water. The song and “beer” belong together.

Jim,

I’m admittedly a view A-B believer (God saved me and delivered me from being a drunk), but I believe your views are defective. I run into believers who do have drug/alcohol addictions and who choose deliberately to be in fellowships where drinking/drugs are not taken seriously. Whether they want to play in the band, or hang out with others they know, or appear respectable though they are living a double life, you can’t just say that there are no believers who aren’t self-centered enough to loudly “enjoy their liberty” no matter what you think. The trouble is that alcohol is one of the milder drugs. I know Christians (and you probably do, but they may not have revealed it to you) who have trouble with marijuana (after all, it’s natural, and its legal in some states), pills (they may start out as legally prescribed), and go on to meth, etc. They want to go to “the church that lets them drink”, which is how they advertise it to others.

I would say a couple things about alcohol use. First, as I take the KJV out of context “where is the blessing of which you speak?” What good is it to be buzzed other than as an anesthetic? If that is the case, why choose something so highly addictive to make your stand on? The truth is that I would rather enjoy the blessings of life with a clear head rather than drinking. I don’t think it’s any good as part of the “good life” either. Life can be plenty “intoxicating” without it. Second, there is such a spirit of permissiveness and rebellion in believers today that if you say it is a possibility, that’s good enough for them to take it to the nth degree. Third, there really are Christians who want to drink (or use whatever) who will find an interpretation that fits what they want to do.

I know this is a rant and I will kind of get slapped around for it, but I just don’t believe some of the participants in this discussion are serious about issues of alcohol and other stimulants and want to knock down arguments for the sake of libertarianism of some sort. Francis Schaeffer saw issues in his time where people who complained about “legalists” against certain “taboos” (his words, not mine) most often started from the point of view of wanting to do the thing that was taboo and then found an interpretation that fit it.

[Shaynus]

I know! Let’s all talk about it and maybe we’ll all change each others’ minds!

Haven’t we tried that already? Like, at least twice a year since SI was founded back in 2005?

;)

Seriously - I don’t see the problem here. If the people at Guiness want to use a hymn in an ad, I’d prefer that to something like Katy Perry’s “Firework” or anything by Lady Gaga. Unsaved people will use whatever they want or need - liberal theologians and Satanists can cite Scripture! - to do whatever it is they already intend to do.

#Sinnersgonnasin #dontbeshocked #getagrip

Os Guinness is a very engaging speaking, IMO. I like listening to him. I once heard him tell a story about being out to lunch with a couple of executives from other brewing companies. When it came time to order drinks, the man from Busch ordered a Busch beer, and the one from Miller ordered a Miller beer. Guinness ordered a Coke. When asked why he didn’t order a Guinness, he replied that if these other guys with him didn’t drink real beer at lunch, then he wouldn’t either.

So there you have it … Other beers aren’t real beers anyway.

Jim and John E.,

Thanks very much.

But I will still try to convert you to my view against alcohol!

Bert Perry,

The Bible speaks often of the olive, yet, much like wine, it does not detail how they processed it. Yet both were raised, processed, and used extensively by Israel and the surrounding nations. This was true of other foods as well.

To those who say no one will change their minds from these discussions - Charles Haddon Spurgeon changed his mind on alcohol:

“I hope they will be full of spirit against evil spirits, stout against stout, and hale against ale.” -Charles H. Spurgeon, letter to temperance society, March 19, 1884.

http://gulfcoastpastor.blogspot.com/2010/04/charles-h-spurgeon-on-alcoh…

David R. Brumbelow

[Ron Bean]

“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” is one of those hymns (and I use the word very loosely) like “In the Garden” that evoke great sentimentality while being doctrinally shallow. I believe the beer has more body than the song.

It’s not doctrinally shallow in my opinion. It reminds me of the kind of doctrine the Psalms might contain. Sentiment based in truth, or a resolve to do something is just fine. “In the Garden” is sentiment based on something that doesn’t actually happen and mixes metaphors: going with Jesus in the Garden should mean sweating great drops of blood, not dew still on the roses for example. The Psalms are the standard of the kind of things we should be singing, and there’s lots of sentiment and metaphor. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms is a biblical metaphor.

Also note: there was some discussion above about where the commercial is supposed to take place. I’m pretty sure it’s not American, since the man’s uniform is not American by looking at the collar, backpack and camo pattern. Probably Irish.

With regards to Steve’s comment, though I’m obviously in a “different column” of Jim’s table, I respect the need to be circumspect about my liberties. I don’t go to most bars because the emphasis is on drinking to get drunk and, let’s be honest, obtaining opportunities for fornication. There are a lot of things I won’t drink (e.g. Bug LIght) because they are, in the words of their own commercials, optimized for “drinkability”—in other words the winning formula for Bug Light is the one where a bunch of guys drink the most, more or less. It means less hops, less flavor, and more problem drinkers. You may find a bottle of wine in my home, but not without knowing where to look.

For that matter, the same basic principles—rejection of “optimized for high consumption” and rejection of “marketing for fornication”—are reasons I tend to reject any number of products, from MacDonald’s to Abercrombie & Filth. And let’s be honest here; overconsumption of food kills a lot more people than does alcohol, and “dressing for fornication” also has a startling body count, as we can see from abortion statistics. Moreover, the evidence for this is, shall we say, readily visually apparent at most evangelical and fundamental churches.