Who do you listen to? - smoking

        People can usually tell by the way you act. The old adage applies; actions speak louder than words. Of course it can get complicated when you are a Christian. Most folks have a skewed view of what the Bible actually says about how to act – regretfully that includes a lot of Christians. They listen to their “church” instead of the Bible. They follow the traditions of men – which the Bible clearly says we are not to do.

I can give you a simple example. A lot of “Christians” will look down on a tobacco smoker – some go so far as to ostracize a smoker claiming you can’t smoke and be a Christian. They draw this primarily from Paul’s writings to the Corinthians (1 Cor 3:16) about us being the temple of God. But they overlook a lot of things. First, the “you” (ye) is plural – just as it is later about being the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27). Second, Paul is speaking about building. He is speaking collectively – as Christians we collectively build and form the Temple of God just as we collectively form the Body of Christ. He clarifies this in his writings to the Ephesians in Chapter 2 verses 21 and 22.

It’s sad enough that so many misunderstand – worse that so many are hypocritical about it. I’ve seen folks way overweight and sorely out of shape whose diets are horrendous that still knock a smoker. Either way they would do well to read Jesus’ own words in Matthew Chapter 15 – specifically verse 11. Jesus considers their harsh words to smokers as defiling - not smoking.

We have probably all heard complaints about Christian hypocrites and hypocritical churches. Jesus was quite clear about His opinion of hypocrites. So who do you listen to? As for me, I’ll take Jesus’ words over anybody else every time. I’d rather be unpopular with people than with my Lord.

 

The Path to Light