Being a christian and smoking / vaping

[FLExJuice]

+1 to that Flex!! I am currently looking for a church and I Googled "vaping church". Unfortunately it only came back with forum posts Maybe one day though!

I know people that God has told them to give up things like coffee or television. Those things were hindrances for them. The ones that understood this knew that it was something God wanted for them. The ones that didn't understand thought these things were evil and no one should drink coffee or watch television. If you have a personal relationship with God then He will speak to you on a personal level. He knows you better than you know yourself and He knows what you need and when you need it. It reminds me of the stories about that one guy that married a prostitute or when God told that guy to sacrifice his son. If they were to tell other people "God told me to..." then people probably wouldn't believe them and think that they are "sinning" or have just lost their mind. I mean, God told David to kill Goliath right? But killing is a sin, it's one of the big 10. I have decided that I no longer believe in black and white. I just keep an open mind, ask God what to do and then do it, whether I really want to do it or not. No matter what other people think. I know someone brought up that we aren't supposed to do things that cause others to stumble, but I see that more like don't offer a recovering drunk a drink or even drink around them. But some people are impossible, no matter what you do they are always going to find something you are doing wrong. We are not here to please people. As long as you know that you are doing what God wants you to do, let Him take care of all the other people, He's big enough. And it is their responsibility to do what God wants for them, that's not on you. If there is something I am doing that is truly hurting someone else I believe that God will let me know. That is not to say that God doesn't use other people to bring issues to light. But again, if someone brings something to me I say "Thank you" and then go to God with it. I've been in that situation before. I had preachers telling me that the way I was living was wrong and that God couldn't use me as long as I continued living that way. However, when I asked God about it He didn't have a problem with it at all and He was already using me in bigger ways than I could ever imagine. In fact, there were a few people that overheard the conversation and I was able to encourage them in the way that I responded to the guys.

You know I was thinking that if there was a faith-based vape shop they could open their business doors on a Sunday morning so they can either broadcast a sermon on their tv's and have a time of fellowship. I'm all about coffee, treats and vaping! Of course if someone needed anything it would be sold at a discount rate and proceeds donated to a local church or non-profit organization. Of course whoever does this might receive persecution from legalistic churches and those who are anti-christ in nature. Plus I'm sure many are thinking about making this a ministry to help smokers in their congregation.

 

[Copycat2]

Take a lesson from Paul on this one pastor. He said and I quote from the KJB "All things are mete for me, but not all things benefit me". Look it up and read the rest of the verse (I have intentionally left the reference out so you would have to look for it). Smoking in and of itself is not a sin and neither is vaping. I used to be embarrassed about smoking until I read that verse. Then I realized it wasn't me who was being a hypocrite but the others around me who looked down on me for it. I abhor legalism and I won't take part in it. Take what you can from this verse and God bless! I thought I was the only christian here - yippee... so glad to see others.

 

[Unhooked]

Legalism and Licentiousness are both problems. If you accept the one at the expense of the other, you will be unbalance. (I have intentionally left the definition out so you'd have to look it up - dork). It is very easy to rationalize our licentiousness, and frankly it is a bigger problem in our the USA than legalism - but not necessarily in the christian church.

 

[Copycat2]

Smoking or vaping is NOT licentiousness. You think big words scare me? Try again dude.

 

[FLExJuice]

Legalism and Licentiousness are both problems. If you accept the one at the expense of the other, you will be unbalance. (I have intentionally left the definition out so you'd have to look it up - dork). It is very easy to rationalize our licentiousness, and frankly it is a bigger problem in our the USA than legalism - but not necessarily in the christian church.

I agree that there must be a balance. Jesus was bad mouthed by the teachers of the law because He hung out with sinners. They also didn't like the fact that Jesus was demonstrating the power of God by teaching, healing and forgiving sins...and His disciples were baptizing in His Name. Ultimately, He was proving the prophecies about Him, who He was, and why He was sent to earth. There was intentional and planned purpose in what He was doing. So my point is there is the law of man and there is the Law of God. Discerning the two can be difficult especially those who attend a local denomination that promote OT laws but even worst using the NT and then putting people in bondage to the same laws.

I believe that I'm able to eat or drink anything I want. I love eating what others consider "unclean" animals like mud bugs and pigs. However, if I'm going to invite someone to my house for dinner who is a vegetarian or holds to strict dietary laws, I'm not going to cook up a steak or Gumbo, though it's my house and I have the freedom to eat or drink anything.

If someone thinks nicotine is bad when I think it's safe, then I'm not going to vape in their house or around them. Or smoking for that matter.

Keep it coming guys....this topic is picking up speed. I think we'll have good discussion and hopefully still be respectful even if we disagree. And if we're Christians responding to other brothers and sisters in Christ, let's show grace since there can be lots of miscommunication especially by implied tone in our writing or not being able to fully express what we really mean.

 

[FLExJuice]

I get devos emailed to me and thought this shed more light on legalism and the liberty in Christ.


We have been delivered from the law, . . . so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit. —Romans 7:6

Here in Michigan we joke that we have two seasons: winter and road construction. Harsh winters damage road surfaces, so repair crews begin their work as soon as the ice melts and the ground thaws. Although we call this work “construction,” much of what they do looks like “destruction.” In some cases, simply patching holes is not an option. Workers have to replace the old road with a new one.

That’s what it can feel like when God is at work in our lives. Throughout the Old Testament, God told His people to expect some major renovation on the road between Him and them (Isa. 62:10-11; Jer. 31:31). When God sent Jesus, it seemed to the Jews as if their way to God was being destroyed. But Jesus wasn’t destroying anything. He was completing it (Matt. 5:17). The old way paved with laws became a new way paved with the sacrificial love of Jesus.

God is still at work replacing old ways of sin and legalism with the way of love that Jesus completed. When He removes our old ways of thinking and behaving, it may feel as if everything familiar is being destroyed. But God is not destroying anything; He is building a better way. And we can be confident that the end result will be smoother relationships with others and a closer relationship with Him.

Free from the law—O happy condition!
Jesus has bled, and there is remission;
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
Grace has redeemed us once for all. —Bliss
Upheaval often precedes spiritual progress.

 

[Saintscruiser]

Ya know, the way I see it is that if Almighty God convicts your heart not to smoke cigarettes, that's something that is between you and Him. It took me 17 years. However, you're looking at this all wrong. It's like poor Peter....the disciple who had a bad habit of opening his mouth and putting both feet in it. People smile and think of him sinking in the sea. The thing that people miss is that he had the faith to get out of the boat! It's the same with a bad habit. You're using an e-cig because YOU QUIT SMOKING TOBACCO!!! You are looking at the situation wrong. However, if God lays it on your heart to stop that, then that is between you and Almighty God. The vaping signifies your conquering your tobacco habit, with Jesus' help. It's a triumph, not a doom!

 

[FLExJuice]

Well said there Saint.

 

[Unhooked]

That is all very interesting and maybe y'all should start a thread about that. This one is about....this....

This christian group section seems pretty dead lately so I thought I'd get some meaningful discussion going maybe.

As a christian I was always a closet smoker. I tried doing it in public but I always felt it ruined my "witness". I never smoked a lot, always less than a half pack a day, but I felt christians judged me or would judge me as weak and worldly, and non-christians would consider me a hypocrite (even though they are not even trying to be pure themselves). I did quit for good about 5 years ago when I became a pastor, though I still do miss it sometimes.

I found vaping and became a no nic vaper, which as you can see from my sig is about half the fun of smoking but that is better than nothing. Yet I still feel even as a no nic vaper I have to hide it. I mean I only toot on the PV in the evenings in my office anyway for the most part, but I don't leave my gear or juice sitting around where people can see it either.

I was wondering what your experiences are with smoking as a christian, smoking in public, having to hide it, and likewise for vaping.

 

[FLExJuice]

Ok now things are getting.....confusing. What you mean OP? Isn't that what we're doing. So all you want is "experience" with smoking and not "vaping" as a Christian? Well I'm out, I never smoked as a Christian but only saw others struggle with it. A pastor said, "Smoking doesn't send you to hell, it just makes you smell like you just came from there."

 

[Saintscruiser]

Ok now things are getting.....confusing. What you mean OP? Isn't that what we're doing. So all you want is "experience" with smoking and not "vaping" as a Christian? Well I'm out, I never smoked as a Christian but only saw others struggle with it. A pastor said, "Smoking doesn't send you to hell, it just makes you smell like you just came from there."

Yeah, Flex, I'm with you on that. So, I'll try once again....no problem.

I didn't hide my smoking habit. I have been a child of THE King for 28 years. I smoked 42 years. When there was a 10 or 15 min. period between Sunday School and church, or after Wed. night supper before Prayer Meeting, my mom, daddy, husband, and g-friend, would go and sit in my parent's car and snag a cigarette. When the doors opened up, I bet it looked like a Cheech and Chong movie. A smoker doesn't realize how bad they smell. They don't understand how if they smoke outside, the smell comes in with them. As a few years went by, the Lord began convicting me on it. I felt bad about smoking in front of children. Even though I felt it was a bad example, I never asked God to forgive me because I had no intention of stopping. He knew my heart. I was a defensive smoker. Everyone knew not to approach me on the subject or they would walk away with half a rear. I knew I was doomed to my grave with a cigarette between my fingers. Then my mother died of lung cancer Oct. 3, 2009. That's when I got completely out of control. The burn marks in the carpet on my side of the bed.....only Grace spared us from becoming crispy critters. In May of 2010, I prayed for help. That was the first time in my life I'd done that. Two months later, on the 20th of July, was my last toke of tobacco, all Glory and Honor to Jesus my Savior. I can't look at stopping tobacco as anything but a MIRACLE, and I don't care who knows it. I don't use an ecig that looks like a cigarette. Mine is black with a blue led. NO ONE can mistake that. I use it everywhere......well, since I'm disabled, I don't get out a great deal.....even church, but I sit in my dr.'s exam room and do it. No one has said anything about it. My vaping is a VICTORY, and I am just so grateful to Jesus that He once again, saved my life. I hope that answers your question.

HOWEVER, if God lays vaping on your heart as a sin, you listen to Him, not us. Ask Him what you should do. He is the One with the final word.....not us.

 

[eHuman]

When I smoked as a Christian, I didn't make it obvious and I wasn't blatant about it, but I never hid it. I did not want anyone who knew or found out about it, think that I was a hypocrite. We have to be careful, there is a difference between Holy Spirit conviction, and society generated guilt.

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial, and I don't want to cause my brother who is under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to stumble because I am free. I don't do the things that I want, and I do the things that I determine not to. Oh wretched man that I am, who is going to save me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. My mind serves the law of God but my flesh, the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.

But at some point we must begin the process of walking in the Spirit and putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and seek to walk Holy and and blameless in righteousness. At first (and for quite a while) it didn't bother me in the slightest that I smoked and the whole church knew it. But at a certain point I began to be genuinely convicted. I knew what it was doing to my health and I knew it could cause others to stumble. I also knew that I had attempted to quit more times than I can count. I knew I was weak, and so did God. God blessed me to find ecigs right at that time frame and I was able to quit a 31 year habit in 2 days, and have been smoke free for over 3 years now this month.

I do not hide my vaping, though I don't flaunt it consciously. It has opened many conversations with both believers and non believers alike. The ones with people who knew me before I quit, "Wow, YOU quit smoking?"

Maybe some day I will begin to be convicted of vaping. Until then, I will rest in Jesus, period. He did everything that needs to be done in order for Heaven to be opened to me. In the mean time I will take opportunities when presented to educate and inform people of safer alternatives to a horrible and addictive slow motion life destroying, health sapping habit. I will praise and rejoice in God for setting me free from smoking even if vaping was the method that He allowed it to happen through, and even if He takes that too away from me one day.

Don't think that vaping in public destroys your relationship with God, you either have one or you don't (that is rendered in the perfect tense, the act is completed and the results remain forever). But do your best to love (agape) others. Don't let your freedom to vape hurt others if you can help or avoid it. If you can't, maybe it's time to rethink it, pray about it and seek higher wisdom.

 

[Saintscruiser]

"Wow, YOU quit smoking?"


I got that same reaction. It was like they grabbed their chest and said, "It's the big one! I'm coming Elizabeth!" (That is a quote from Sanford and Son, for those of you who don't remember it.) I know Christians who smoke. Or at least I did. The only person I can change is me. However, I can influence people and that is why I give out the name of the business I get supplies from and this site. I cannot stress how important this website is for encouragement. It's helped me trememdously.

 

[eHuman]

"Wow, YOU quit smoking?"


I got that same reaction. It was like they grabbed their chest and said, "It's the big one! I'm coming Elizabeth!" (That is a quote from Sanford and Son, for those of you who don't remember it.) I know Christians who smoke. Or at least I did. The only person I can change is me. However, I can influence people and that is why I give out the name of the business I get supplies from and this site. I cannot stress how important this website is for encouragement. It's helped me tremendously.

Good to hear you again SC, it has been too long. I'm a non intentional hermit.

 

[mightymen]

Hi -

Adding my two cents.

We all know smoking is no good for us, but thank God I'm covered with the Blood of Jesus and I'm righteous in the sight of God.
If He won't hold it against me why should I?

It took me 54 years to give them up, but you know once a smoker always a smoker. It one of those bad things we do/did that we try not to do anymore.

Now it's one more testimony to add to my toolbox of 1000's I have.

 

[Saintscruiser]

Ehuman, is something going on? I'm just asking because you mentioned you are a non-intentional hermit. As it turns out, I am as well. Most of the time I just feel so icky that I don't want to get out. There is nothing wrong with becoming a hermit.....at least I don't think so, anyway. My husband considers himself a 'lone wolf,' except his teeth aren't pointy. He is a wonderful guy and we are very close. We've been together for 26 years. He hasn't been able to work for almost 3 years. I do think he is getting back to working again, which Jesus is taking care of. Patience......hard to get through it. I honestly think patience is over-rated. Pray for wisdom.....which tells you not to pray for patience!

 

[rsgars]

Most of my Christian friends drink lots and lots of coffee. I don't see vaping as any different. Unfortunately it seems many Christians are narrow in their thinking of what is acceptable and what is not. In his letter to the Romans, Paul addresses this issue beautifully. Our responsibility is to not make our brothers and sisters stumble. To me this means that if we see someone who struggles with something we need to help them get free. Alcohol is the best example I can think of. I am able to have a beer or two without a problem, but if I know a brother who has had a drinking problem, I will not have a beer in his presence because I don't want to put that temptation in his path.

 

[chapeltown]

So....May I add my two cents here??
I am a Christian. I am 40 years old. I started smoking when I was 21, for stupid awful immature reasons. I knew it then, and I know it now. I came from a family of smokers. I knew better, but it was during a hard time in my life....whatever. Thing is....nicotine is like a medicine to me. Between the ADHD, PTSD, Depression and Panic Disorder (tongue twister), the meds just aren't enough. And I know I am not a nice person without nicotine, just like some people know that whiskey makes them mean. I have struggled over the years with smoking, having people tell me that I am going to hell for smoking and having other people tell me I'm going to hell for taking Prozac. I can't look at what other people say or think. They are just as screwed up as I am.
I have sometimes hidden my smoking from believers, but never from non-believers. It is a fact. In my experience, a Christian may judge me harshly for the cigarette, saying my faith is not strong enough or that I am living in sin. But out in the real world, I have found that when the world finds out that I am a Christian AND I smoke (or vape), it suddenly makes me approachable. I cannot tell you of the countless conversations I have had with non-believers that never would have occurred if I had no cigarette In my hand. For me to be approachable because I know that I am just a human struggling to get closer to God....that God Looks on the Heart, and that we are all at a different place on this journey....perhaps It makes my Jesus a little more approachable too.
I cannot tell you how many songs I've listened to where the artist proclaims that they cannot understand why God would have anything to do with a sinner like them. Aren't we all the Chief of sinners? Don't we all have things visible and invisible that need to be made right? I am not saying that smoking/vaping is a major sin or that it is not. What I am saying is that we can show Jesus to more people if we can just show them that Jesus loves them right where they are at. That they don't have to fix themselves first....that it is a process, but that the process begins with Jesus.
I don't smoke/vape to be obnoxious, or to rub anyone's face in it. Attitude is everything. But going out into the world and pretending your are already perfect and have it all together doesn't help the unbelieving world. It alienates them.

 

[Saintscruiser]

Chapel, you may have something there. It's not as if a long list of 'Thy Shall Not's' scroll down from Heaven once you become a Chrisitian! God loves you just as you are, but loves you too much to leave you that way. I was radically saved, like Carman sings about. I have had more fun as a Christian and more laughter than I ever did as a heathern! My husband was talking to the Lord 11 years ago and he asked God how He views smoking. He said, that God said that because of health He would rather he not smoke, but if sin kept Him from talking to His children, He would never talk to them. That made great sense to me. You just know truth when you hear it, ya know? It's like He'd never allow one of His children to stray too much.

Sheep, I've been told are stupid animals. They just wander away from the flock without a thought. Shepherd's sometimes break one of the legs of one of his flock so that he can carry the sheep around his neck. The lamb learns to depend on his shepherd for everything. The sheep doesn't wander off far, after that. Have you ever had a Heavenly spankng? Well I sure have! They are not fun, I'm here to tell you.

 

[madqatter]

I was wondering what your experiences are with smoking as a christian, smoking in public, having to hide it, and likewise for vaping.

I began smoking (pipes and cigarettes) mainly because it provided periodic moments (whether long or short) for leisurely conversation with fellow theologians and philosophers or for reflecting on my reading/writing. There's nothing quite like a tumbler of whiskey, a pipe, and some good philosophical conversation. I have never belonged to a religious community that entirely condemned or forbade smoking, only to ones that promoted moderation.

While I always made efforts to be a polite smoker, I rarely attempted to hide my smoking. I had no qualms about smoking in public (e.g. in the smoking section of a restaurant or bar or smoking outdoors) as long as the people I was with didn't object (and they didn't often). The only times I "hid" my smoking were the times when I was hanging out with my friends' precritical young children: I didn't want them to watch a close friend smoking. When I was around these kids, I would just slip away for a while.

Despite being a very different activity, my experience with vaping has been much the same. No one I know condemns or forbids vaping. In fact, my nonsmoking religious friends tend to favor me engaging in healthier behavior. I have no qualms about vaping in public (e.g. in businesses that permit vaping or vaping outdoors) as long as the people I'm with have no objections (no one's objected yet). The only times I'm "hiding" my vaping are the times when I'm hanging out with my friends' precritical young children. With an older person, it's easy to explain the difference between smoking and vaping. I don't know whether it would be so easy with precritical children, so I just don't bother to broach the topic.

Good stuff gentlemen!

Some folks here are ladies!