When I visit states outside of Utah, people pretty regularly ask me three questions: do I go skiing a lot? Have I taken a second wife yet? And does Utah have a lot of coffee shops?
For much of the United States, Utah-based Mormonism feels like an alien culture filled with oddities. What people hear about it trends to focus on the more eccentric parts of the faith. Among the most notable oddities—polygamy, ‘magic’ underwear, and a strange aversion to coffee. (For the record, I snowboard; my wife really doesn’t appreciate the second question; and Utah has a firmly entrenched network of soda shops—though coffee culture gains ground daily)
For many Americans, giving up coffee seems an unthinkable and unnecessary restriction. But for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it’s far more significant. Coffee might just ruin their eternity.
Wait, what? Isn’t that a bit of an overstatement? There’s no way that’s accurate. It’s true, no white-shirted missionaries would ever say this in their presentation of the Restored Gospel. But I maintain that if we strip away the pretense, coffee could keep a Latter-day Saint from entering into celestial glory.
Many bearded, coffee-loving Christians heartily disagree—not only about coffee’s relationship to celestial glory, but about dietary restrictions in general. In fact, I’d argue that Mormonism’s restriction of coffee, tea, and alcohol shows that the Salt Lake-based faith is actually being led by false teachers.
What is the “Word of Wisdom”?
Latter-day Saints are told to keep a set of dietary restrictions laid out by LDS apostles and prophets and summarized in the “Word of Wisdom”. The Word of Wisdom actually comes from a text in LDS scripture—Doctrine and Covenants 89.
It gives dietary guidelines “not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom.” (D&C 89:2). The guidelines: don’t drink wine (unless it’s for Sacrament, and made by Latter-day Saints). Don’t drink strong drinks or “hot” drinks. Stay away from tobacco. Only eat meat sparingly.
Initially, the Word of Wisdom was just that—a word of wisdom. Not a strict commandment. That is, until 1921 when 7th LDS president Heber J. Grant made keeping the Word of Wisdom a prerequisite for entrance into LDS temples. Since that time, faithful Latter-day Saints have been completely restricted from ever drinking alcohol, coffee, and even tea. What was once a matter of wisdom has become a divine commandment.
And because Latter-day Saints must perform temple works in order to be exalted in the celestial kingdom, and entrance to the temple requires Word-of-Wisdom adherence, these dietary restrictions have functionally become prerequisites for eternal life.
Want to have eternal life? Go to the temple. Want to go to the temple? Amongst other things, stay away from coffee.
Christians have no such restrictions; not because we’re a lawless bunch, but because of what Jesus did.
Jesus Declared All Foods Clean
Under the Law of Moses, God commanded His people to abstain from eating certain foods that were deemed “unclean”. These laws were given “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean…” (Leviticus 11:47). All Israelites were to abstain from eating foods such as rabbits, shellfish, and pork—as an illustration of their separateness from the surrounding pagan nations, and their need for holiness.
But Jesus changed everything. He taught that it isn’t what we eat or drink that makes us unclean, but rather what comes out of our heart, “‘…Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ‘Are you so dull?’ he asked. ‘Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.’ (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)” (Mark 7:14-19).
After the resurrection of Jesus, the Old Covenant was replaced by a new and better covenant (Hebrews 8:6, 13). These dietary restrictions were fulfilled in the complete separateness and righteousness of Jesus.
Though firmly in the inaugural ages of the New Covenant, the early Christians in Acts still struggled with the prior Old Covenant restrictions. To set matters straight, God sent Peter to preach to the Gentiles. Right before meeting with Cornelius’s household, Peter was given a vision: “Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean’” (Acts 10:13-15).
Because of Jesus, all food has been made “clean” by God. After that time, the dietary restrictions of Moses’ day were one of those things that were “becoming obsolete” and “ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).
The Role of Conscience
While Christians are now free to eat anything, I readily acknowledge that some people may choose not to. There are a great number of Christians who abstain from alcohol or who hate coffee. Freedom to do something means just that—freedom. Someone could drink coffee if they wanted. Or not. They’re free in Christ to do either.
In some cases, because of a personal, conscience conviction, Christians might abstain from certain foods or drinks. But a personal conviction is different from a legalistic demand. As Paul writes, “One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him” (Romans 14:2–3).
He makes clear: these self-imposed restrictions are personal convictions. Colossians likewise says, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day” (Colossians 2:16).
Because of the freedom believers have in Christ, no Christian is bound to any extra-biblical restrictions on what we eat or drink. We may eat or abstain in accordance with our convictions.
Conscience vs. Commandment
That’s not to say there aren’t any restrictions at all. A person could certainly commit the sin of drunkenness by indulging in too much alcohol or even gluttony by eating too much food. These things are sins, that’s why they’re forbidden. Yet the moderate consumption of such things is permitted—and sometimes even encouraged!
“[God gives] wine to gladden the heart of man” (Psalm 104:15).
“No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Timothy 5:23).
There is nothing inherently sinful about coffee, tea, or alcohol—God has given these things as good gifts to be enjoyed in moderation. What’s more, adding these restrictions exposes Mormonism’s leaders as false teachers.
A Mark of False Teachers
We should expect that false teachers will try to convince us to renounce certain foods, because we’re warned that’s exactly what they’ll do!
Some false teachers will “…forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:1–5).
False teachers create new commandments that God never gave, and then demand that we obey them. This is what Mormonism’s apostles and prophets do when they forbid certain drinks. They go beyond extra-biblical commandments to distort the Gospel by their invented restrictions. In fact, prior to 2009, the LDS manual Gospel Principles said that keeping the Word of Wisdom is a prerequisite for exaltation. By requiring that the Word of Wisdom be obeyed in order to enter the temple, LDS leaders are essentially gatekeeping God’s Kingdom by their own invented commandments.
It’s critical that we understand this: our freedom to eat and drink has no bearing on our worthiness, because none of us are worthy to begin with. Only by trusting in Jesus for eternal life can we receive Jesus’ worthiness, and on the basis of His obedience gain entrance into God’s kingdom.
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).