Since when can't you smoke cigarettes and be a Christian?

Question

I don't smoke, but it seems to me that it's becoming more and more of a requirement to be absolutely perfect in order to be accepted by Christians as a Christian.

My neighbor smokes, and she went to church with another neighbor of ours and when she came back she was in tears.

She told me that when she got out of the car when they got to church, she lit up a cigarette. She smoked it while they walked thru the parking lot and disposed of it properly (there were no ashtrays, so she put it out and placed the butt in her cigarette pack).

After church, she said a bunch of people came up to her and scolded her for smoking, and that if she wanted to get to the kingdom of heaven she would have to treat her body as a temple....in other words, she was not welcome there as a cigarette smoker.

Is this something that's all over the place, or is it just a random thing here in my town?

Answer 1

it is a matter of the Christian not being enslaved by something.
and cigarettes definitely enslave their users!(: - o 0

Answer 2

I've experience a similar situation, one church that i was attending was so popular that it had 3 morning services, with the middle one being the most attended and there was a waiting line to get in, so after standing in line for some time i lit up a cigarette.

Within a minute a security guard came over and said that this is church property and if i wanted to smoke, please do so off church grounds...so i just eased over to the sidewalk and finished.

If that's the way it is then so be it, I'll conform because it's a church after all--what can you do, nothing!

Answer 3

Smoking is not a sin. Like other so-called sins on the Christian Fundamentalist list, there is no mention of smoking in the Bible. Rather Fundamentalist minds have decided that smoking is a sin based on 1 Corinthians 3:16, where we are told that our bodies are the temple of God. However, what most Fundamentalists forget, or never knew to begin with, is that in Matthew 15:11 Christ specifically says that it's not what goes into the mouth that defiles the body; rather it's what comes out - such as hate, evil speech, and lies.

Answer 4

Hi, That is horrible, we as Christians are supposed to accept people and treat them as God would treat them, with love,
What about those who are overweight, who secretly look at porn, do drugs or drink alcohol, and then go to Church and put on an act that they are perfect. At my Church there are a few people who smoke, and are respectful about it like your freind. Maybe she should try another church, or maybe not smoke in the parking lot at the Church.

Answer 5

Do you know that the person who is pointing fingers at everyone else is no more a better Christian then you or I. The Bible says for ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I want apologize to that poor woman for what those church going no gooders are doing. God looks at our hearts and He will judge us all. Please tell your neighbor friend to find a good Bible teaching, God fearing, Jesus loving church to attend where she can see God's true love put into action. I am a Christian and I love God with all my heart and at my very best I am still a sinner saved by God's grace. But I must add that what they should have said is smoking is bad for your health and when your neighbor wants and feels she wants to stop she can ask God for the strength to quit. And He is faithful to answer.

Getting to know God and walking with Him is one step at a time.

Enjoy the journey and God bless to you all!

Answer 6

No it's everywhere. The thing is those same people probably overeat and don't take care of their bodies. They are judging and God will judge them. I AM a smoker, and those who have never smoked have no idea how hard it is to quit, but I'm sure God still loves and accepts me.

It's so sad that people forget that Jesus did not come to lead the good people to God, but to lead the sinners to God. That none of them are perfect by any means. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Tell your friend that those hypocrites will be judged by God and find a different church if she wants to attend church, but she is not required to in order to believe in God. Only to be a part of the click in that church.

Answer 7

WE smoke, we drink, we overeat, we verify out porn, we get indignant and decide directly to come again at human beings, we are able to be in church and lust after some warm finding lady who quickly parades on our strategies, we thieve from the place of work, we divorce one yet another, we lie, we gossip and we in all likelihoodchronic over the fee shrink too! Why can we do any of it? a similar reason you do. we are all born with the fallen nature of Adam. we are problematic-under pressure to obey the needs/lusts of the fleshly bodies that we inhabit. because of the fact of this all of us decide on a clean nature! those people who've gotten this new nature of Jesus Christ by utilising getting born returned, are nonetheless caught in this fleshly physique of dying! that's then our walk in life to die on an known basis and positioned to dying the deeds of the flesh so as that 'we' will shrink whilst Jesus will develop interior of our life and its outward strikes. And definite, Prayer is the 1st step in this long technique. (wimps decide on no longer be conscious)

Answer 8

I am a Christian and because we are just as human as everybody else we do and say dumb things like the rest of the freakin world. Where we possibly differ is that we are TRYING to find the answers from who we believe created us. We no longer answer to ourselves.

We go to church which in my opinion is like a hospital.Full of sick people and sick people do "sick" things. If you passed out with a high fever and had to go to the hospital when you woke up would you get up and run out cuz everyone else there is sick too?


EVERY christian is a work in progress. I'm sorry they made that lady feel bad about smoking. I do hate smoking but would never try to make someone feel bad because of what they do but help them see there is a better way. No one will want to listen to what you know unless they know you care. They didn't give her the opportunity to care about her. They just attack like EVERYONE does when they don't understand something.People do it to Christians all the time. We are aware that we are just as screwed up as everbody else even though we don't always act like it and chances are everyone else knows they have issues too before we tell them about it.

The thing is I don't have to be totally cancer free before I let someone else with my same sickness know how I began the journey to get well again,right? Make sense?If I thought I had the cure for cancer I'd be totally selfish to keep it to myself even if I didn't totally understand fully how it works but that it DOES work.Same thing with christians.

Furthermore, the bible warns us not to be under the influence of anything other than the HOLY SPIRIT. If you are addicted to ANYTHING including food your are under the influence of that thing--nearly a slave to it and GOD wants us to be totally free.If it is a total STRUGGLE to quit smoking it may be an addiction. (I don't know anyone who smokes that isn't addicted to it.)

I'll pray for all of us to be a little more forgiving of each other and for that lady to not be bitter over the un-feeling stupidity of well-meaning christians and return to church again. After all she went there for a reason right?

Peace and Blessings to you all
LOVE changes everything

Answer 9

there will be a lot of non smokes...in hell. the bible says... our bodies are the temple of GOD.. so i am guessing these people consider smoking a violation because it destroys our body. however these same people will go home and eat a whole cow..or cake for dinner, gluttony is also a sin. i personally would not smoke in a church parking lot,. but smoking a ciggerette..alone is not giving her a ticket to hell.

Answer 10

I've been told smoking won't send you hell it will just make you smell like you've been there. But we should treat the body as a Temple of the Holy Spirit

Answer 11

You know I get fed up of these people who say "your a christian, you cant do this and you cant do that" who says we cant because I don't hear god saying. What I do hear is god saying follow what is in your heart and do what you believe is right and you will always be on the right path. But since these people who say this and that are themselves doing what they think is right by saying this and that then perhaps we should not judge them but thank them kindly for their advice and continue to live our lives by been the best person we can be