by Robert Harkrider
Synopsis: Whatever the habit may be (whether illegal narcotics, liquor, tobacco, or any other misused thing), if it destroys the body or becomes one's master, it damns the soul.
When I was a young teenager in the 1950s, smoking was so prevalent that the story was told as a humorous account of two children pretending to smoke. When they were asked what they were doing, they replied, "Playing church. We just finished Bible class, and now we are smoking before going back inside for the sermon."
In those days, many brethren smoked, and numerous arguments prevailed over its biblical justification. In fact, one Sunday, my sermon was titled, "Have I Become Your Enemy Because I Tell You the Truth?" (Gal. 4:16). Unbeknown to me, a heated argument over smoking had occurred in the adult Bible class. My lesson made an elder so angry at me that I had to show him my printed outline to prove I was not attacking him and his tobacco habit.
What is so wrong about smoking? Fortunately, the answer to that question was settled beyond all arguments when the Public Health Smoking Act of 1970 required all cigarette packaging to contain the statement:
Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.
In addition to that warning on packages, the following was also published:
SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy. Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health. Smoking by Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, and Low Birth Weight. Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide.
Although the warnings from the Surgeon General were instrumental in significantly reducing the number of smokers of conventional cigarettes, substitutes were introduced, known as E-cigarettes and Vaping. Many people saw these as a safe alternative. The rising popularity of vaping has been dramatic, especially among teenagers.
"E-cigarettes," "vapes," "vape pens," "Juul," etc., all refer to the same class of products, with "E-cigarette" being the product itself, and the term "vaping" referring to its use. E-cigarettes are devices that heat a liquid via a battery into an aerosol that the user inhales. The liquid usually consists of nicotine with flavoring and other additives. Therefore, E-cigarettes are considered tobacco products because most of them contain nicotine, which comes from tobacco. "Vape" is a slang term for the vaporizer, and "vaping" refers to the process as tiny puffs or clouds of vapor are produced when using the devices.
Because E-cigarettes have been on the market for only a few years, we do not possess thousands upon thousands of pages of research about how vaping affects the body as we do with conventional smoking. However, reports are plentiful of severe lung illness experienced by people who have been vaping.
The U.S. has responded to proven health risks by enforcing various national restrictions on smoking. Consequently, the popularity of smoking has dramatically changed. Should a Christian consider additional reasons that would impact his decision to abstain from this habit? Since there are no specific warnings (or commands) that describe smoking tobacco or vaping as a sin, how can we know what to do based on God's word? Let us consider the following biblical principles:
Paul said, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Jesus affirmed, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment" (Mark 12:29-30).
We must not misuse for selfish lusts that which is God's. Whatever the habit may be, whether illegal narcotics, liquor, tobacco, or any other misused thing, if it destroys the body, it damns the soul (Gal. 5:19-21).
Paul exhorted Timothy, "Keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). Writing to the Thessalonians, he said, "Each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor" (1 Thess. 4:4).
If we should glorify God in our bodies, how can one engage in a habit that knowingly will defile and corrupt his body? Smoking is an expensive and offensive habit that should be put away!
The underlying sin of the habit of smoking tobacco, E-cigarettes, or even marijuana is their addictive nature. When the apostle Paul wrote about temptations involving one's body, he clearly affirmed the need for self-control: "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" (1 Cor. 6:12). The NASB translates the last phrase, "I will not be mastered by anything." Do you want to be a slave to tobacco? How sad it is to watch someone who tried to stop the habit but was overcome by its addiction. The struggle, some have learned only too late, is illustrated in a story that was told by the late gospel preacher, T.B. Larimore:
A gentleman on horseback saw a hawk of the finest and largest species flit, like a flash of lightning, from the heavens to the earth, and almost as quickly and rapidly flit away to the heavens again, having been within a few feet of him when it touched the earth. Scarcely a moment later, the hawk, high up in the heavens, began to flutter and otherwise show signs of distress; and a few moments later, it fell near the astonished horseman, who saw a weasel run rapidly from the lifeless bird. A careful examination of the hapless hawk revealed the secret of its distress and death. The active little animal had gnawed a hole under the wing of the bird, cut a large blood-vessel and thus destroyed the hawk that had caught the weasel to eat it.
It was easy enough for the hawk to catch the weasel; impossible for it to free itself from it. So also, it is easy to catch, contract, cultivate bad habits; but, having become their slaves, it may be practically impossible to free ourselves from them. We have probably all heard of the hero who caught the bear, then begged for help to turn him loose. May the Lord help us to turn our bad habits loose; and He will, if we help ourselves (Life, Letters, and Sermons of T. B. Larimore, 222-223).
Free yourself from any temptation to be enslaved with tobacco and all other addictive and destructive substances. Join with the apostle Paul who described victory in life by being "temperate (i.e., under control) in all things."
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Cor. 9:24-27).
