Isaiah Roman

Second Hand Sinning

For this command which I am commanding you today is not too wonderful for you, nor is it too far off. It is not in the heavens that you should say, Who shall go up into the heavens for us, and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it, that we may do it? And it is not beyond the sea that you should say, Who shall cross over for us to the region beyond the sea and take it for us, and cause us to hear it, that we may do it? For the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
Behold, I have set before you today life and good and death and evil, in that I am commanding you today to love Jehovah your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands and His statutes, and His judgments, and you shall live and multiply, and Jehovah your God shall bless you in the land where you are going in, to possess it. But if you turn away your heart, and you do not listen, and are drawn on, even you will bow down to other gods, and serve them; I have declared to you today that you shall certainly perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land to which you are crossing the Jordan, to go in there to possess it. I call Heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, that you may live, you and your seed, – Deuteronomy 30:11-19

I’m not aware of anywhere in the Bible where it says “Thou shalt not smoke.” I know where it says to keep the Lord’s temple holy and clean, a passage which refers to our bodies as the temple. I do know this. I’ve not met a real Christian that smokes; not one. Oh I’ve certainly met with those who follow Christian practices who happen to smoke, but not a real Christian.

There’s a really simple reason for that, but I started thinking a little deeper, a little broader on the subject. I began seeing some similarities between smoking, and sinning. And as I began to pray about these things, and as they began to be revealed to me, I began to see the amazing connection between the smoker and the unsaved, and quitting smoking and being saved.

First things first, how do you know a smoker? Well, that’s easy; they smoke. We can see them smoke, watch them light up and smoke on their cigarette. The smoker smokes. He or she doesn’t see themselves smoking, so it’s easy to discount the act, and for that matter, the frequency of the act.

How else can we tell a smoker? The smell. That overriding smell of tar and smoke that follows a smoker everywhere they go. It’s in their clothes, their hair, their breath, even their lungs. They can’t escape it, it might go away with a shower or a change of clothes, but if you smoke in your home or if someone else smokes in where you live, you smell like cigarette smoke the second you put on a new shirt.

We can add to this the telltale signs of yellow fingers, yellowed mustaches or beards, wrinkles, or premature aging. All of which are outward signs of being a smoker.

So what’s the big deal? There are cases of people smoking well into their eighties. Why should we care about the smoking? Because whether you live to forty, or eighty, it’s the smoking that kills you. Because we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that smoking cigarettes kills. Smokers themselves call their cigarettes “coffin nails.” Smoking causes cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and lowered immune system capacity. And yet smokers still smoke.

So, if smoker’s know all of these bad things that smoking does to their bodies, why do they smoke? Because they’re addicted. Because mentally, and chemically the smoking is a part of who they are. The smoking has become inseparable from the smoker. The smoker knows that cigarettes will kill them. The smoker knows that cigarettes will make them weak. The smoker knows that cigarettes will cause them bodily harm, but they can’t stop smoking.

What does the smoker stand to loose by not smoking? What benefit does the cigarette provide in exchange for the down side? Some smokers say it’s the social aspect, the meeting of friendly acquaintances in the smoking area. Some will say it’s the break from stress in the day. Some say it helps keep them awake in certain circumstances.

Is this true? Well, certainly not. We all know for a fact that non-smokers socialize as much, maybe more, than non-smokers. We know that a break in stress from the day can be had in many, many different forms. We also know that cigarettes are not a stimulant, but rather a depressant. So what is it that cigarettes provide? A dulled mind, dulled senses, and a false pretense. They provide a drug that falsely calms the nerves by dulling the mind and the emotions. They provide a habit that becomes a comfort for it’s regularity, it’s consistency.

The same is true of the sinner. They don’t know think of their actions as sinning, they just simply sin; it’s what they do and who they are. On the surface the benefits of sin may seem to outweigh the benefits of not sinning, but just as in smoking it’s not the immediate consequence that is in question. We all know that sin is wrong when it’s been shown for what it is. The law stands in contrast to murder and so we recognize that murder is bad. The law stands in contrast to theft, and so we recognize it’s effects upon society. But, where there are no societal laws against a sin it’s easy to set aside the eternal laws against sin, and thereby invent a means to justify one’s sins.

Oh everyone sins, saved and unsaved, but some of us are second-hand sinners. Those who are not born again are the smokers. Those who have been born again are those who are exposed to sin second-hand and have no choice but to breathe the smoke in from time to time.

People who smoke can rationalize away the dangers of the drug, and it’s accompanying chemicals. People who sin can rationalize away the destruction sin brings, but in the end both have the same result; death. The main difference is, of course, that cigarettes merely take away the physical life; sins take away one’s eternal life.