Featured Pastor Smokes?

How about a fat, cigar smoking preacher with tats? [Looks for rolling eyes smilie]

 

Why Divert Attention.....?

The topic of the OP was smoking....talk about other sins/preferences in another thread. This one was about the issue of smoking. Let's stay on-topic.

Bro.Greg:saint:

 

I would continue to attend and I would wonder about his/her intelligence knowing what we do about the negative health consequences of smoking.

However, no smoking inside the church or on church property. No smoking in front of children.

 

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

If I were to try to come up with a list of attributes that a pastor must have before I will allow him to lead me, personal vices of the type being discussed here would be far down the list.

While I'm sure some don't/won't admit it, there's some clay in the feet of everyone who steps through the doorway of a church. Instead of letting God put their clay on His potter's wheel, they are pointing out the mud on another's toes.

How many condem a pastor for smoking or eating too much, yet think nothing of offering a long list of excuses for not being in church on a given Sunday morning?

I was at a golf game. I had to fix a plumbling leak.
I was at the beach. I was expecting company.
I was baby sitting grandkids. I had to work overtime on Saturday.

If a God called pastor is preaching the gospel, as God calls him to do, who am I to pick off specks of lint off his coat? If a God called pastor often puts his personal life on hold to help others 24/7, who am I to condem him for being overweight or smoking.

He who is without sin cast the first stone.

 

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

...bravo! :thumbs:

 

Sanctification is a lifelong process. We have a tendancy to put pastors on a pedestal and expect them to conform to a standard which does not apply to the rest of the Saints.

We are all admonished to not be conformed to the world and to abstain from all appearance of evil. We all have personal demons with which we have to deal. Some times this is a beam in our own eyes.

Pray for those who are stumbling, including the judgemental.

It is not what goes in that defiles, but that which comes out.

The Lord took that foul smelling toxic addiction from me--I resisted for twenty five years.

Be an example. What would Jesus do?

Take that $3-4 a pack and buy your neighbor a Bible.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Bro. James

 

that reminds of the time when as an Elder in an AoG church, some elderely ladies came to me, and wondered how we dared to keep on the elder board a person who would sneak off to go outside to take a smoke...

My reply back was how dare we put up with gossipers in church?

 

Really???

If the Pastor was a "HER"...I'd be GONE immediately regardless of the smoking thing.....that is DEFINITELY NOT BIBLICAL. (1 Tim.3)

Bro.Greg:saint:

 

All other considerations aside...

Folks....all other considerations or questions aside....there is, in my opinion, NOTHING good that can be said about tobacco use (smoke,dip,chew) at all. I smoked heavily for better than 25 years of my life and it was a habit that did me ABSOLUTELY no good whatsoever and was a negative influence on my life, my family, my friends and a terrible testimony to those I knew who were watching my life as a professed believer in Jesus Christ. It is crazy to me that it is even remotely necessary for this kind of debate to be conducted on a Christian forum. I pray with compassion for anybody who is trapped by this addiction. Even somebody as "way out there" as Ozzy Osborne has been known to have said that "kicking a smoking habit is more difficult than quitting Heroin". That doesn't sound like a habit that should be considered "OK" for any Bible-Believing Christian nor an acceptable habit for any godly Pastor (who is supposed to be a godly example to those he serves) to engage in. While I know we are all in different stages of development and spiritual growth in our Christian "walk", we must remember that our lives are, as much as possible, supposed to be reflections of the presence of our Lord in our daily lives. Our bodies are His Temple. While there are many things that many of us are probably guilty of doing that are harmful to this "temple"(over-eating,etc.)...smoking is one of those things that has "reach" (nasty smells...and proven harmful second-hand effects on others) that goes beyond the internal effects to the user ONLY. I know of not even ONE positive thing that I could ever say about this terrible habit other than I DON'T SMOKE ANYMORE....Thank God! Thankfully...neither does my godly Pastor whom I love very much.

Bro.Greg:saint:

 

SMOKING DOESN'T SEND YOU TO HELL IT JUST MAKES YOU SMELL LIKE YOU'VE BEEN THERE

Saying that, I would have to say no, based on his not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in his life in this area then how many other areas is he neglecting?

Pastors need to be ABOVE REPROACH!

 

still have YET to meet one though who reached that ole "sinless perfection" state!

 

Smoking isn't a sin as I undedstand the definition of sin to be. That doesn't mean that it is a smart thing to do, though.

 

Down in the South, in "tobbaco road', might be viewed sin to not smoke!

 

How does smoking violate this passage?

 

It's never a smart thing to do something immoderately.

A chain smoker who blackens his lungs and tempts lung cancer is violating the Bible rule of moderation.

But a preacher who gets together once a month with other preachers in his library and they smoke pipes together while they discuss theology and current issues?

Yea, I think that is not a bad thing.

 

To my knowledge, there's only one person who has walked on this earth who also was ABOVE REPROACH! (shouting, too, praising my Saviour!)

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with you that a, God called, pastor is not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in his life, if he smokes. What is your evidence that he is neglecting anything that the Lord is leading him to do? Are you so free of sin that there's nothing left in your life that causes a struggle? I'm not. I struggle everyday with something. Some days are worse than others. :tear:

Where is the love and compassion you've "preached" about in other threads, when it comes applying it to shepherds of His flock? Shepherds that He has called. Are they not human beings, too? What would you have said, if I'd posted that the subjects of your thread should be ABOVE REPROACH!?

 

PASTORS and ELDERS are to be held to a HIGHER STANDARD the bible does say.
As a brand new believer 28 years ago...I quit smoking weed and cigarettes within 2 weeks, cause I knew Jesus was IN me so how could I do that to my body?...If I could do that and God's Holy Spirit in me convicted me as a brand new believer than why can't a pastor...that goes with overeating or anything that controls us.


Question: "What is the Christian view of smoking? Is smoking a sin?"

Answer: The Bible never directly mentions smoking. There are principles, however, that definitely apply to smoking. First, the Bible commands us not to allow our bodies to become "mastered" by anything. "Everything is permissible for me—but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me—but I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12). Smoking is undeniably strongly addictive. Later in the same passage we are told, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Smoking is undoubtedly very bad for your health. Smoking has been proven to damage the lungs and the heart.

Can smoking be considered "beneficial" (1 Corinthians 6:12)? Can it be said that smoking is truly honoring God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:20)? Can a person honestly smoke "for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)? We believe that the answer to these three questions is a resounding "no." As a result, we believe that smoking is a sin and therefore should not be practiced by followers of Jesus Christ.

Some argue against this view by pointing to the fact that many people eat unhealthy foods, which can be just as addicting and just as bad for the body. As an example, many people are so helplessly addicted to caffeine that they cannot function without their first cup of coffee in the morning. While this is true, how does that make smoking right? It is our contention that Christians should avoid gluttony and excessively unhealthy eating. Yes, Christians are often hypocritical by condemning one sin and condoning another, but, again, this does not make smoking honoring to God.

Another argument against this view of smoking is that many godly men have been smokers, such as the famous British preacher C.H. Spurgeon, who was known to smoke cigars. Again, we do not believe this argument holds any weight. We believe Spurgeon was wrong for smoking. Was he otherwise a godly man and fantastic teacher of God's Word? Absolutely! Does that make all of his actions and habits honoring to God? No.

In stating that smoking is a sin, we are not stating that all smokers are unsaved. There are many true believers in Jesus Christ who smoke. Smoking does not prevent a person from being saved. Nor does it cause a person to lose salvation. Smoking is no less forgivable than any other sin, whether for a person becoming a Christian or a Christian confessing his/her sin to God (1 John 1:9). At the same time, we firmly believe that smoking is a sin that should be forsaken and, with God’s help, overcome.

Recommended Resources: Logos Bible Software and Freedom from Addiction: Breaking the Bondage of Addiction and Finding Freedom in Christ by Neil Anderson.

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Related Topics:

I am a Christian who is addicted to smoking. How can I quit?

Should a Christian work where alcohol and tobacco are sold?

What does it mean that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Is gluttony a sin? What does the Bible say about overeating?

Medical marijuana - what does the Bible say?

www.gotquestions.org

 

Yeah. A few barbecues a year would be okay.

 

WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT JUST ANYONE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PASTORS...Please do not go off topic.