If sitting in church doesn't make one a Christian, then sitting in a night club doesn't make one a sinner. The logic is the same.
However, sowing one's wild oats all week then going to church and praying for crop failure is quite hypocritical as well.
I used to go to a couple bars in order to sing Karaoke. It was much fun. Yes, I had a drink or two, but never enough to disorient myself or lose self-control. (Self-control is another issue, but separate.)
So Baps have always condemned alcohol as a beverage. It is (was, anyway) part of the "Church Covenant" (see
https://www.southernmbc.org/bgm/f/docs/BaptistChurchCovenant.html , it used to be installed in the inside cover of the Broadman Hymnal). Smoking was never mentioned in the "Church Covenant". Odd. Although many of the beginning SoBaps were Southern farmers and raised tobacco. But I digress...
Once in a while I was invited out to a 'Sport's Bar'. I don't like them. They (in Southern California, anyway) are loaded with televisions on all the walls, showing various sporting activities. The volume is off on all of them. There is usually rock and roll music blaring loud enough to drown out any television sound anyway. On top of that, all the patrons are screaming at each other to carry on a conversation. I don't like them.
On the other hand, I don't like being in the rather shabby - and casually cleaned - smaller taverns, either. Usually they're rather clannish and populated by people who have had one or two many already and the smell is - uh - unpleasant. So I don't hang out there, either.
I can't find 'my' karaoke around here. All the places around me featuring karaoke cater to younger people. Can't find a Sinatra tune in the listings. No point in that, either.
So I don't go to many bars. There are a couple local 'bar and grill' places that have good food when I'm in the mood.
As mentioned, evil company can be distracting from Christianity. So one should be careful about 'associations'. And make acquaintances of solid Christians as friends, not just those one greets once a week.
