(RNS) Picture, if you will, a husband and wife in the back of a taxi, rumbling through the streets of an African city at night, frantically searching pocket and purse for a mint to cover the trace of wine on their breaths.

It’s a pretty silly scenario, but that’s exactly what my husband and I found ourselves doing one night not long ago, returning to the home of our hosts, a thoroughly lovely and loving pastor and his wife.

We were trying not to offend. We are what some might call “believing Christians,” and so, of course, were our hosts. But they are teetotalers — and we are not.

I don’t think either one of us believed our hosts would judge us or question the authenticity of our faith were they to smell a whiff of chardonnay on us. They are, after all, grace-filled people. For us, the mints were a gesture of respect, if perhaps an ill-conceived one.

The consumption of alcohol is one of those sticky wickets that can get some people of faith, particularly my people — evangelical Christians — pretty riled up. The Bible is clear that drunkenness is a no-no, but on the imbibing of fermented drink, it is ambivalent at best.

There are verses that compare the consumption of wine to a fool’s folly. Proverbs 20:1 calls wine a “mocker” and beer a “brawler.” There are also verses that praise the Creator for the fruit of the vine (and they’re not referring to Welch’s Grape Juice), and wine is often used as a metaphor for God’s blessings.

Although nothing was articulated explicitly, it was clear that no alcohol was kept at our generous hosts’ house, and none was consumed on the premises.

We totally get that. Where the pastor and his wife live — particularly in their Pentecostal circles — Christians do not drink alcohol. Period.

They are not alone. According to a 2006 global survey of Pentecostals by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, an average of 86 percent of Pentecostals in Kenya and Nigeria said alcoholic consumption was “never justified.”

That Pew study went on to report that, “in most countries, drinking alcoholic beverages is viewed as less acceptable than getting a divorce. In fact, in seven countries, majorities say drinking alcohol can never be justified. And in every country except the U.S., at least half of Pentecostals share this view.”

Last week, in its monthly (unscientific) survey, the National Association of Evangelicals asked Christian leaders if they drink “socially.” To my surprise, 40 percent admitted they did. (Sixty percent said they did not.)

I was shocked the number of admitted drinkers was as high as 40 percent. Many of the evangelical and Pentecostal pastors I know would not drink socially, if only to avoid “the appearance of sin” or presenting a “stumbling block” to those who struggle with addiction or a family history of alcohol abuse.

Of the evangelical leaders who said they did partake socially, many added caveats such as “in moderation,” “never in excess,” or “on special occasions.” Others explained that out of sensitivity to those who might be offended, they only drink with those who share similar views on alcohol consumption.

That last sentiment was the impetus for our mint hunt.

Still, it still left me feeling a bit spiritually torn. Our hosts are teetotalers, we are not. All of us love Jesus — the same Jesus who, in his first miracle, turned cisterns of water in to copious amounts of good wine to keep the party rolling for a group of already well-lubricated wedding guests.

That same Pew survey found that in South Africa, where culture has been shaped by the influence of Dutch settlers and their Reformed Christian sensibilities, only 56 percent of Pentecostals said that drinking alcohol was “never justified.”

Jim West, author of the fascinating examination of the history of alcohol and the church, “Drinking with Calvin and Luther,” dedicates his work to “the hearty heirs of the Reformation,” such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli, fathers of Reformed theology.

“The Reformers not only restored justification by faith alone, but did so while enjoying God’s creation gifts,” West writes. “They exalted wine as a gift of God, but they also censured winos and whiners.”

“Enjoying God’s creation gifts.” I’ll drink to that.

(Cathleen Falsani is the author of “Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace” and the new book, “The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers.”)