Let me start by saying that I am not and never have been a smoker. Recently I really began to ponder why smokers are so often looked down upon by the church as if they were committing some grave sin. I found that there is one primary bit of scripture that Christians use to condemn smoking, drinking, tattoos, and other things that could potentially harm the body. This bit of scripture is 1 Corinthians 6:19 and it states: "Or do you not know that you body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?..." Unfortunately, if you consider the entire context of the scripture instead of that single verse you will see that this seems to be speaking against sexual immorality in particular. It bothers me greatly to hear people so often quoting bits of scripture and leaving out all that goes with it.
Matthew 15:11 states that: "it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Matthew 15:17-18 says: "17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." Matthew 15:19-20 says: "19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” Mark 7:15 states: "There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”
Besides the verses above there are a couple of others but for the sake of time I will assume that you get the point and move on. All of these verses talk about how what you take into your body is not sinful, it's what comes from your heart that can be sinful. These verses are talking about food in particular, it seems, but they are still relevant to whether or not tobacco or smoking should be considered a sin. One reason we are told that it is sinful is because it could, but may not necessarily, cause harm to your body. Well, Matthew 15:20 states that eating with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. How could this be? We know the the Bible is perfect and does not contain contradictions so how could 1 Corinthians 6:19 talk about the importance of the Holy Spirit's temple, our bodies, while Matthew 15:20 says it's perfectly fine to eat with dirty hands that could be covered in deadly bacteria and other things that could potentially kill or seriously harm the person eating?
The same could be asked of the rest of the verses that I listed. All foods were declared to be clean and we were told that we could take them in to our bodies without committing sin. Well, we know that certain foods like pork and beef could be harmful to our health so why don't these things defile us? Drinking alcohol (taking it in to your body) is not sinful but becoming drunk (what comes out of you as a result of drinking too much) is indeed sinful. Another thing that I find interesting is the fact that incense was so commonly burned in the Bible (in the temples, at alters, etc.), often at God's command. Frankincense, an ingredient in incense that was commonly used in the Bible, produces smoke. According to a 2008 study done by Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, frankincense smoke is a psychoactive drug that relieves depression and anxiety. Many smokers will tell you that tobacco smoke relieves stress and nervousness in particular. So why would God have people burn incense that releases smoke that causes psychoactive reactions?
I have concluded that, considering the context of the verses above, the actual act of smoking is not what's sinful. What's sinful is what could, and probably will, result from smoking cigarettes: addiction and the possibility of damaging your witness. I also find that pipe smoking and perhaps cigar smoking are less likely to cause addiction and the greater negative health effects of cigarette smoking. This is typically true in the average pipe/cigar smoker who chooses to smoke occasionally as opposed to often as cigarette smokers do. Also consider that pipe and cigar tobacco does not usually contain all of the additives, preservatives, and chemicals found in cigarettes, and that pipe/cigar smokers typically do not inhale the smoke. Pipe/cigar smokers smoke as a sort of hobby whereas cigarette smokers smoke because they become addicted and end up feeling as if they must smoke.
I certainly do not advocate smoking and my hope is that you will not see this post as some kind of advertisement but that you will realize what I am trying to do. It simply bothers me when we, Christians, are told that something is wrong or sinful when we do not look at the whole picture. So personally I do not believe that the act of smoking is sinful. I also think that you are much less likely to sin if you are smoking the occasional pipe or cigar than you would be if you were smoking cigarettes. So what do you folks think?
