“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.”
(1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
(1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
After I accepted Christ at age 20, I struggled with smoking for a few years after. Is smoking wrong? You know the Bible doesn’t say that smoking is wrong, it does tell us in 1 Corinthians 6:19, that we are the “temple” of the Holy Spirit, but it doesn’t say that we can’t smoke or use tobacco. To go a little farther I was listening to Rick & Bubba the other day & Rick made a statement that the Bible doesn’t say that Drinking is wrong it says that drunkenness is. He went on to say that for some, who are of age, when they drink if they do not come to the point of drunkenness then they are not breaking the worldly law & are not Biblically wrong. But if they go into drunkenness, they are breaking both.
Back to my smoking story, I struggled with smoking after I accepted Christ, wondering if it was okay for me or was I in conflict with God. I felt convicted & did read the verses above, but as a new Christian, I remembered seeing one thing that made me really confused…I remember some deacons that I looked up to & thought of as men of God, that while I was growing up, they would be standing out front of the church smoking. Now I’m not saying that this wasn’t something that they were struggling with or that they weren’t right with God, that’s something that I couldn’t know…I’m not God. But the image was burned into my mind & made me, in my struggle, again, very confused.
I did stop smoking, but I started using tobacco in other forms, like dipping & chewing. This is where the verses 23 & 24 of 1 Corinthians really came to play a huge part in my life. I dipped & chewed for about three years after I quite smoking. During that time I helped teach the Royal Ambassadors at our church, that is the 1st thru 6th grade boys, it’s kind of a Christian Boy Scouts, where we taught missions. We would have class for about 30 minutes & then allow them to go outside & play for the last 30. While I was out with them one Wednesday evening, of course with a pinch between my cheek & gum, the Lord slapped an image in my head that broke my heart. I knew that dipping & chewing was very unhealthy, heck I watched a dude who had lost some of his bottom jaw & chin & had nothing but a small pile of skin sown in it’s place. He was giving a speech about the dangers of tobacco use…& he could barley talk. The image God placed in my mind was of me…in the place of those puffing deacons & one of those kids in the place of that dude who lost his chin & some of his bottom jaw. This verse at that point & time came to mind. Even if the use of tobacco was Biblically okay (I’m not at all convinced that it is, the addiction & health risks show that), I was by my actions leading those kids to believe that dipping was fine. I’m nothing great, but I still know that some of those boys looked up to me, if for nothing else other than me being an adult. I thought, what if one of those boys starts doing this filthy habit that I wish I could quite & ends up with cancer or dead. I stopped & never looked back.
There are things that I believe are in the gray area. Now I’m not talking about things like abortion, homosexuality, drunkenness, lying, gossiping, ect…these things are said to be wrong point blank. But when you look at things like smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, ect… things that Biblically are not spread out in plain English as being wrong or okayed. But does that mean that they are right? I’m not writing today to say I know without a doubt, but I do know one thing… “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.”
Romans 14:21 goes a little farther to say that, “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.” Now your brother would be another Christian, he maybe a new Christian or maybe a weaker one. We want to be careful not to be a stumbling block for anyone, especially our brothers in Christ.
But why should I have to rearrange my life because others have a problem with it? “Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.” God’s word tells me to do that very thing, put others before myself. I’m not talking about those who are just out there looking to cause a problem, the ones that would pitch a fit if you didn’t pick your nose just right. But those who would be devastated & may even be lead astray if they saw you doing something in question. For example, I teach 9th grade boys Sunday school, am a deacon & speak at an occasional youth event. Let’s say that I’m out to eat & decide to have a beer. Now, let’s say that this is the only time I ever drink & it’s just one, I don’t even plan on having one for another year. But while I’m sitting there with my drink in hand, one of the youth that I teach walks in & from across the restaurant notices me with a beer in my hand, now the next time that he is out with his buddies & he is offered a beer, where do you think his mind will go…that’s right straight to Ol’ Vern with a beer in his hand… “Is it okay to drink?” he’ll think sure, my Sunday school teacher was & he’s following God. See the problem?
I don’t have to have a beer, so I don’t. If I’m drinking it for the taste, tea or Coke is much better.
Back to my smoking story, I struggled with smoking after I accepted Christ, wondering if it was okay for me or was I in conflict with God. I felt convicted & did read the verses above, but as a new Christian, I remembered seeing one thing that made me really confused…I remember some deacons that I looked up to & thought of as men of God, that while I was growing up, they would be standing out front of the church smoking. Now I’m not saying that this wasn’t something that they were struggling with or that they weren’t right with God, that’s something that I couldn’t know…I’m not God. But the image was burned into my mind & made me, in my struggle, again, very confused.
I did stop smoking, but I started using tobacco in other forms, like dipping & chewing. This is where the verses 23 & 24 of 1 Corinthians really came to play a huge part in my life. I dipped & chewed for about three years after I quite smoking. During that time I helped teach the Royal Ambassadors at our church, that is the 1st thru 6th grade boys, it’s kind of a Christian Boy Scouts, where we taught missions. We would have class for about 30 minutes & then allow them to go outside & play for the last 30. While I was out with them one Wednesday evening, of course with a pinch between my cheek & gum, the Lord slapped an image in my head that broke my heart. I knew that dipping & chewing was very unhealthy, heck I watched a dude who had lost some of his bottom jaw & chin & had nothing but a small pile of skin sown in it’s place. He was giving a speech about the dangers of tobacco use…& he could barley talk. The image God placed in my mind was of me…in the place of those puffing deacons & one of those kids in the place of that dude who lost his chin & some of his bottom jaw. This verse at that point & time came to mind. Even if the use of tobacco was Biblically okay (I’m not at all convinced that it is, the addiction & health risks show that), I was by my actions leading those kids to believe that dipping was fine. I’m nothing great, but I still know that some of those boys looked up to me, if for nothing else other than me being an adult. I thought, what if one of those boys starts doing this filthy habit that I wish I could quite & ends up with cancer or dead. I stopped & never looked back.
There are things that I believe are in the gray area. Now I’m not talking about things like abortion, homosexuality, drunkenness, lying, gossiping, ect…these things are said to be wrong point blank. But when you look at things like smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, ect… things that Biblically are not spread out in plain English as being wrong or okayed. But does that mean that they are right? I’m not writing today to say I know without a doubt, but I do know one thing… “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.”
Romans 14:21 goes a little farther to say that, “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.” Now your brother would be another Christian, he maybe a new Christian or maybe a weaker one. We want to be careful not to be a stumbling block for anyone, especially our brothers in Christ.
But why should I have to rearrange my life because others have a problem with it? “Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.” God’s word tells me to do that very thing, put others before myself. I’m not talking about those who are just out there looking to cause a problem, the ones that would pitch a fit if you didn’t pick your nose just right. But those who would be devastated & may even be lead astray if they saw you doing something in question. For example, I teach 9th grade boys Sunday school, am a deacon & speak at an occasional youth event. Let’s say that I’m out to eat & decide to have a beer. Now, let’s say that this is the only time I ever drink & it’s just one, I don’t even plan on having one for another year. But while I’m sitting there with my drink in hand, one of the youth that I teach walks in & from across the restaurant notices me with a beer in my hand, now the next time that he is out with his buddies & he is offered a beer, where do you think his mind will go…that’s right straight to Ol’ Vern with a beer in his hand… “Is it okay to drink?” he’ll think sure, my Sunday school teacher was & he’s following God. See the problem?
I don’t have to have a beer, so I don’t. If I’m drinking it for the taste, tea or Coke is much better.
With all this I’m not trying to come in & lay down a burden of law on us, we are no longer under law, but we do have a responsibility to live in a way that glorifies God & helps others to follow Him. We need to be leaving stepping stones behind everywhere we go…not stumbling blocks. But again these things are between you & God, I have no doubt that if you ask Him to show you what to keep & what to let go of, that He will give you clarity in what you should do.
Vern
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