Like smoke hovering in the sky, it seems to me that there is a continual cloud of discussion primarily amongst Christians in the air as of late.
It is a conversation on the subject and activity of smoking tobacco, namely cigars. Since this discussion exists, let me provide some of my own personal remarks, most of which (if not all) borrow from the thoughts and words of others.
I begin with a disclaimer (although, as I have learned in the past, even my disclaimers can upset people):
This post is merely one man's opinion. I do not intend to correct, rebuke, encourage, or persuade anyone on the matter of smoking cigars or pipes (From here on, I will refer to the two collectively as cigars or tobacco.). I am simply writing to express my thoughts about smoking.
Let me start by addressing the general anti-smoking hysteria of modern times. It seems that everywhere you look: on billboards, television, newspapers, magazines, websites, etc., there is a conscious effort to discourage people from smoking. (Admittedly, most of these ads are directed at cigarette smoking; however, they can apply to all tobacco use, as well.)
This anti-tobacco propaganda is a reaction based upon recent studies conducted during the past decade or two which make scientific, medically-proven claims about the dangers of tobacco use and the harmful effects of second-hand smoking. While many of the findings of these medical studies are reliable, individuals and organizations have taken these studies and blown them out of proportion, utilizing the specific medical findings in their wide-sweeping, anti-smoking arguments. (For further reading on the anti-smoking trend, read this insightful and frightening article by Dennis Prager.)
I have come into contact with at least three groups of people who oppose the sale and use of tobacco. First, some of these individuals are former tobacco smokers who possess personal vendettas against the tobacco companies for the years they smoked cigarettes without knowledge of any major health ramifications such as lung, mouth, and throat cancer, as well as a series of heart and blood problems. These people seek some sort of revenge or justice. Other society members have jumped on the anti-smoking bandwagon because they have known someone, possibly a friend or relative, who has suffered great physical harm, even death, due in part to the effects of living a life of cigarette smoking. These people are motivated partly by a desire to protect humanity, but also potentially to stick it to the man, the man in this case being the tobacco companies. The third group of people I have encountered consist of religious folk, many of them professing evangelical Christians. These people oppose all tobacco use on the grounds of what they consider Biblical doctrine. Arguments based on notions such as "the body is a temple" and "do not be a stumbling block to the weaker brethren" abound within this anti-smoking group. But again, this group seeks only to promote physical and spiritual welfare within the human community.
All of this modern anti-smoking madness, however, has very little to due with tobacco use in the form of occasional cigar or pipe smoking. I am a tobacco user. I love both good cigars and pipes. Like many of us, I have known people who have suffered physically and/or emotionally from the over-use of tobacco. I have known people who have died young from lung cancer after years of cigarette addiction. And I have heard of individuals who have likewise died of lung cancer without ever taking a puff of a cigarette.
So where's the rub?
The root problem lies not in the occasional consumption of tobacco, but in the over-use; the habit; the addiction.
Tobacco: Tumor-causing, teeth-staining, smelly, puking habit.
Sure. One could make this claim. But it is an appeal to the emotions. One could make a similar claim about other common commodities. Take Starbucks coffee, for example. If one drinks enough of it, I'm sure a double-shot, venti caramel macchiato could cause tumors, stain teeth, make the breath smell bad, and make one vomit, too. How about Coca-Cola? Same thing.
The point is this, and we've heard it before: Everything in moderation.
Whether the item be a La Gloria Cubana, an iced Frappuccino, a Diet Mountain Dew, Cheeto's, Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough, or Baileys on the rocks, remember one thing: moderation.
Now I understand that there are indeed other issues that can come into play for the Bible-believing Christian, one such issue being the matter of the conscience. For example, if I know that my Christian brother, Joe Schmo, is constrained by his conscience not to partake in the
consumption of ice cream due to his past problem with gluttony, as the stronger brother (Romans 14-15) I am obligated by Scripture to abstain from ice cream in Joe's presence. However, outside of Joe's presence, I am granted the liberty by Scripture and my own conscience to eat my ice cream, even if Joe knows I am doing so. And according to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, brother Joe must not attempt to bind my conscience in the consumption of ice cream or despise me; nor should I flaunt my spiritual liberty or look down on him. In this mutual understanding, brothers and sisters in Christ should remain at peace with one another. In theory, I suppose.
This subject of Christian liberty plays a major role in the issue of cigar smoking. While at the same time, addiction (or most often, the lack of self-discipline/control) is another part of the equation. The matter of addiction is a serious one and should be dealt with biblically. However, let me just note that according to statistics, the amount of people who smoke cigars and are addicted to them, are very, very few compared to the number of people who smoke cigars for pleasure and recreation.
Which leads me to another major idea: the activity of smoking cigars is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable activities known to man. (I did mention that this is my opinion, correct?!) Cigar smoking is an activity that can be engaged in exclusive of anything else, and it is also an activity which can be easily accompanied by a number of other leisurely activities: golfing, camping, driving, hunting, walking, boating, reading, playing board games, contemplating, bird-watching, and my favorite: theologue-ing.
Cigar smoking accompanied by the discussion of theology is a time-old tradition, especially among reformed individuals. This is due in part to the influence of the pipe-smoking, White Horse Tavern Puritans upon the modern-day reformed community, formalized by the greatest theologian of the 19th Century, Charles H. Spurgeon, and contemporized by great thinkers and writers like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and others. Thus, for centuries, smoking and theology have gone hand-in-hand. Today still, cigars are precious to many members of the reformed community. They remain a symbol of our reformed heritage, our God-given liberties, and a wonderful pastime!
In closing, avoid the current anti-tobacco craze, and allow yourself to muse over the following two poems celebrating God's creation, the tobacco leaf.
Great Poem by Bach:
Whene'er I take my pipe and stuff it
And smoke to pass the time away
My thoughts, as I sit there and puff it,
Dwell on a picture sad and grey:
It teaches me that very like
Am I myself unto my pipe.
Like me this pipe, so fragrant burning,
Is made of naught but earthen clay; T
o earth I too shall be returning,
And cannot halt my slow decay.
My well used pipe, now cracked and broken,
Of mortal life is but a token.
No stain, the pipe's hue yet doth darken;
It remains white.
Thus do I know
That when to death's call I must harken
My body, too, all pale will grow.
To black beneath the sod 'twill turn,
Likewise the pipe, if oft it burn.
Or when the pipe is fairly glowing,
Behold then instantaneously,
The smoke off into thin air going,
'Til naught but ash is left to see.
Man's fame likewise away will burn
And unto dust his body turn.
How oft it happens when one's smoking,
The tamper's missing from it's shelf,
And one goes with one's finger poking
Into the bowl and burns oneself.
If in the pipe such pain doth dwell
How hot must be the pains of Hell!
Thus o'er my pipe in contemplation
Of such things - I can constantly
Indulge in fruitful meditation,
And so, puffing contentedly,
On land, at sea, at home, abroad,
I smoke my pipe and worship God.
Johann Sebastian Bach - 1725 (1685-1750)
From: The Second Little Clavier Book For Anna Magdalena Bach
Smoking Spiritualized
by Ralph Erskine
This Indian weed now witherd quite,
Tho green at noon, cut down at night,
Shows thy decay;
All flesh is hay.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
The pipe so lily-like and weak,
Does thus thy mortal state bespeak.
Thou art ev'n such,
Gone with a touch.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
And when the smoke ascends on high,
Then thou beholdst the vanity
Of worldly stuff,
Gone with a puff.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
And when the pipe grows foul within,
Think on thy soul defild with sin;
For then the fire,
It does require.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
And seest the ashes cast away;
Then to thyself thou mayest say
That to the dust
Return thou must.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
PART II.
Was this small plant for thee cut down?
So was the plant of great renown;
Which mercy sends
For nobler ends.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
Doth juice medicinal proceed
From such a naughty foreign weed?
Then whats the pow'r
Of Jesse's flow'r?
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
The promise, like the pipe, inlays,
And by the mouth of faith conveys
What virtue flows
From Sharon's rose.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
In vain th unlighted pipe you blow;
Your pains in inward means are so,
Till heav'nly fire
Thy heart inspire.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
The smoke, like burning incense tow'rs
So should a praying heart of yours,
With ardent cries,
Surmount the skies.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.
Further Resources:
Check out this interesting story about Billy Graham:
Spurgeon's famous thoughts on cigar smoking.
A Townhall.com political take on smoking:
American Cancer Society's information on cigar smoking:
Crosswalk.com thread on cigars, etc.
Terrible sermon here on smoking as a sin.
Here is a terrific article on the inferring of sin.
Steve Camp:
There may be many good reasons not to practice birth control, smoke cigars, charge interest, grow huckleberries, listen to the Beatles, drink Bushmill's Irish whiskey, dance at weddings, drive a convertible, send your daughters to Ivy League colleges, sport Afros, invest in mutual funds, play the slots in Las Vegas, watch R-rated movies, learn to whittle, or wear linen sport coats but none of those reasons have any inherent bearing on sin. If you cannot practice these things in good conscience, then don't practice them (Rom. 14:23). Just don't criticize Christians who do practice them.
Click here for an ARBCA elder's blog thoughts on cigar smoking.
