Twisted Tuesday – Liberty or Sin? Smoking Cigars

It’s liberty, beloved. Shortest post ever. Be good Berean’s and…

Ok, I’m kidding. Not about the liberty part, about being done with the post. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing Scripturally prohibitive against having a cigar from time to time. That’s hard for me to say, I’m married to a Respiratory Therapist who sees first hand how bad these things are for you. I really want to do a quick mom rant here for all my Neo-Reformed friends, but we all know how bad smoking is. I’m not sure how anyone could to it to the glory of God, however that’s why we have liberty. I’m always reminded of the card Leonard Ravenhill sent to Paul Washer with a hand written note that read “Others can, you can not.”

Why are there some believers who smoke cigars and post about it on social media? Most of them point to Spurgeon, whose doctor actually encouraged him to smoke them for his health, as a ‘relaxant’. My what we’ve learned since then! Eventually he realized they weren’t helping his health, and towards the end of his life he gave them up. If I had as many health issues as he did I’d probably give it a try as well. Either way, we have liberty in this area, but should never follow someone else’s behavior. If it’s popular, if it’s not, these things do not matter so much as being able to do all things in faith.

From the beginning of this series I wanted to point to the attitude behind flaunting our liberty on social media. Rather than look at the act, drinking, cursing, and smoking, I wanted to look at the reason behind flaunting those acts. One of our sisters in Christ pointed out that it could just be immaturity rather than boastfulness, and I think she’s right. It reminded me to check my own heart when posting on social media. Am I acting out of love for my brethren? Am I pointing to God, so He gains the glory? Am I being an immature believer? Or am I being boastful? Our hearts are deceitfully wicked, beloved, we must be constantly vigilant, asking God to show us where we need to mature, and to discipline us when we’re boastful or unloving. Love for one another is how the world will know with whom we have to do. If you drink occasionally or smoke a cigar now and then, would you be willing to stop should it cause offense? That’s an important question to ask yourself, my friends, if these posts include behavior you’re prone to posting about online.

What do you think, beloved brethren? Is there a Verse I missed? Am I misunderstanding the reasons behind posting yourself surrounded in cigar smoke? I so value you’re opinions and advice, brothers and sisters, more than I can express in this post. I pray this series has been edifying, as always dear ones, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.