Drug use

Are alcohol and nicotine illegal? (I have never used them anyway. :saint: )

 

By God´s grace no I have not used them.

 

Never have never will, however I might have a coffee pot in my "closet". Some look at caffeine as a drug as well. Illicit? Not in the slightest. So, heres to you Webdog.

 

In the past I have used alcohol. As a matter of fact you could have called me a beer snob. I no longer drink alcohol, and don't plan to again. IMO it would ruin my testimony because I was not avoiding the appearance of evil.

Lets not turn this into another alcohol thread, Please lets not do that.


Bill

 

I believe the proper interpretation of that verse in to avoid evil when it appears and/or to avoid situations of temptation.

"Avoiding the appearance of evil" in the way you describe (and the way my childhood Sunday School teachers liked to present it) meant to avoid doing anything that someone else might mistake for evil. They used that "verse" to oppose all sorts of behavior such as drinking root beer (the very name says "beer"), playing any form of cards (people gamble with cards), playing any board game that uses dice (people gamble with dice), going to a restaurant that has alcoholic beverages on the menu (how do people know you're not going in there to get drunk?), spending any time with someone who was a Roman Catholic (others might think you were Catholic too), wearing a small cross on a chain around your neck (people might think you're Catholic), or being around people in a business/social setting who are consuming an alcoholic drink (someone is certain to think you are drinking too).

But if we look at the life of Jesus, it is clear He and His disciples didn't worry too much that the religious establishment thought He was doing evil things by associating with unseemly elements or the population or breaking the accepted Sabbath rules. In fact, it seems to Jesus very deliberately broke their rules to upset the religionists (see Luke 6:6-10 for one example).

My point is that the interpretation of "avoiding every appearance of evil" verse that seeks to turn it into the principle of "avoiding everything that someone else might think is evil" is not only a false interpretation, it is counter to what Jesus and the apostles actually did. Furthermore, it is very easy for that false interpretation to lead directly to legalism, where one is more concerned about maintaining religious-looking externals instead of transforming the inner character.

I'm not saying that you should start drinking alcohol, but rather, that your "testimony" should be known by the evidence of the following habits in your life:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.​

And the fruit of the Spirit cannot be imitated for very long without cracks in one's facade showing up. It has to come from inside, from an intentional process of discipleship to Jesus, whereby the Holy Spirit transforms us and produces the fruit of the Spirit.

Avoiding things that other people may think are evil is one way of impressing others by one's religiousity, but it is not something that we are called to do. In fact, our Teacher, explicitly rejected that principle in His life. And I think we all need to leave those kinds of rules behind and focus on the commands and examples that Jesus actually gave us (and still gives us).

 

I imagine that some people would answer the poll questions but not comment. The problem is that this is a public forum and I have known people to use info like this against pastors.

If I did use illegal substances - and I am not saying I did - i would never have inhaled. :laugh: :tonofbricks:

 

Long ago I used to smoke, yep, nicotine, thats my big drug admission. I've never used drugs (except prescriptions as prescribed), nor alcohol.

 

Wow, man, like who's askin', man?
Are there narcs here, or whut??? :laugh:

Seriously, never used anything illegal; never illegally abused legal prescriptions. Don't even like to take pain pills when absolutely necessary.

However, as a teenager/young adult, I was very often in the company of those who did do illegal stuff during my "rebellious period". In my neck of the woods, and at that point in history, it was almost impossible to have ANY group of friends where at least half of them didn't do some kind of drugs. I was pretty good friends with two pastor's sons....they were two of the biggest potheads in school (that's to give you an idea of how prevalent drug use was at the time--it's NOT meant as an indictment of anyone's parenting skills, BTW).

 

No usage of any listed. Very grateful I was sheltered during my most influenceable years.

 

I wasn't sheltered. I just fully believed that my dad would have rather seen me dead than drugged. :laugh:

Then when I was old enough to see the impact of my mother's perscription drug adiction I lost any bit of curiosity I might have had.

Of course I'm thankful Saggy left caffiene off the list! I'll be brewing my second pot about 3 if anyone wishes to share.

Editted to say: I missed the choice of alcohol. alcohol was once illegal in our parts and when it was I didn't partake. Now it is legal and guess what, I still don't drink it. I do cook with it, however.

 

Thanks brother! Right back atcha!



:laugh:

 

I tried marijuana...just made me really hungry and tired.

Smoked cigarettes to stay warm while working at a car wash in winter during high school. Never got hooked. Will light up a cigar on a rare occasion (meaning twice a decade if that)

Drink moderately (meaning a few drinks every 3 months or so...unless it's football or bbq season)

Drink coffee less moderately (5 - 7+ times week)

Alcohol and nicotene are not illegal, btw.

 

I'v never used ILLEGAL drugs, but I've used over-the-counter drugs and doctor-prescribed drugs.

 

No...I have never used illegal drugs.

BTW, alcohol and nicotine are not illegal drugs for adults over 18 or 21, depending on which state you live in.

 

I've never used any kind of illegal drugs. Even when I was in jr. high/high school back in the very late 60's/70's I could never understand why anyone would want to (so-called) 'experiment' with drugs. To me I would no more do it than ingesting arsenic or rat poison.

I would have rather been alone than use drugs or alcohol to "fit in" or be accepted by some group.

Oddly enough, I have three brothers (none are Christians) all of whom have problems with alcohol. One brother (2-1/2 years younger than I) has been an alcoholic for about 20 years. He has been homeless and slept in a sleeping bag down by the S. Platte River (which is the big river that runs through the middle of Denver).

After seeing how alcohol has messed up his life, I don't touch alcohol.

As for cigarettes, I've never even taken a puff.

 

I have used alcohol, that is all. But I voted that I hadn't used any, because I hadn't seen it on the list. We don't tend to think of it as a ''drug'' over here, drugs for us means cocaine, cannabis etc.

 

I went to Art school, so I did a lot of things that I shouldn't have. But that was a long time ago, and, what the hay, it's not like I'm running for office or anything. And I didn't inhale. :saint:

love,

Sopranette

 

Never been drunk, never been high. I tried a couple of sips of wine in my early 20's and thought it tasted rotten. So that was the end of that. :laugh: