Two Plus Two Newer Archives - bible questionsIs

I'm sorry I won't have time to include all the cites right now for my answer but the instructions to Christians are, I think, pretty clear. I won't presume to apply this to anyone else but I can share what the Bible says is proper behavior for a Christian with regard to this subject.

The first part of the answer is that there is no substance on earth that is inherently forbidden for us to partake. In other words, under the Christian covenant as opposed to Jewish law there are no prohibitions on eating particular foods or consuming alcohol and although they are never specifically mentioned in the Bible that guidance would also apply to substances we might refer to as "drugs". That is to say you won't find a verse in the Bible that says "thou shalt not blaze". However, to put that freedom into context there are a number of limitations that would cause a Christian either to choose not to do so or where other aspects of God's law would apply to forbid it. Let's look at some of those limitations:

1) First and foremost, is the consumption of the substance interfering with the person's relationship with God? From the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

If a person is addicted, whether to drugs or alcohol or food or sex or money or any other thing that has become a priority in their life over their relationship with God then it has become their god/idol and it's a problem.

2) A second case where it would not be allowed is when it is illegal to do so. Sorry I don't have a cite immediately to hand; I would have to dig through Paul's epistles. In any case we are called to obey our earthly authorities as we would our heavenly Father except in cases where the two conflict, in which case God's law wins. In the situation where we are talking about non-medicinal drug usage there is no conflict and the instruction is clear: if the government says it's not allowed then don't do it. In the case of medicinal drug usage where the substance has not been approved by the FDA (medical marijuana, alternative medicine) then I suppose there is more room for discussion of where that line is drawn but it's not useful to go down that rathole for this particular situation.

3) Is the usage of this substance damaging me? Subfallen has done a nice job already dealing with this and provided one appropriate citation. God may not have said "do not take nicotine" but certainly His wish for us is to maintain a healthy lifestyle so that we can better do His work. We may become sick or injured through outside agents but we shouldn't be doing it to ourselves.

4) Is it causing a brother to stumble? Is it damaging my Christian witness? Is it causing discomfort to other people? These questions deal with the issue of how our actions affect other people. We may not be prone to becoming an addict but others seeing us behave in a certain way may emulate us and suffer a worse fate. Likewise, someone may see a Christian consuming particular substances and decide all Christians are hypocrites as a result - although taking this position to an extreme can also lead to legalism and prohibition of activities that are perfectly fine in God's eyes. The last issue is more subtle but again, it becomes a question of demanding one's own "rights" versus behaving in a loving and sacrificial fashion towards others. That's not to say it's okay to let people run over you all the time but for a Christian the tendency should be to err on the side of love and service towards others, not satisfying one's own selfish desires.

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

I may have missed a couple of aspects but that should cover most of the important issues involved. As it works out in practice it's not terribly difficult to figure out a good course of action based on those guidelines.