Pastors who smoke

Welcome to the BB from NC. I've found great friends and fellowship here. I've also learned tons -- not all Baptists think or believe the same and some of the discussions have sent me to locate books and dig into the Word! (oh, and some of us are down right contankerous at times! :laugh: )

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I haven't know a pastor personally who smoked in a long time.

What do you want to do? Do you want to talk to him? My first inclination is that you need to pray for him to see that this is not healthy nor a good example. Let the Holy Spirit convict him.

 

Well, Charles Spurgeon smoked and he was a great preacher.

It is not Biblically wrong to smoke, it has just been passed down for some time now by Christians that it is evil.
If this pastor is so out of it that he doesn't know it is unhealty, then I wouldn't trust him on much of anything else.
ON the other hand, what about gluttony?
I have known many pastors who are guilty of that and that is stated directly in the Bible.

So, My advice, if he is good in other ways, there is certianly no actual SIN in smoking!

I don't smoke, never wanted to, never planned to. But unless you find a Biblical prohibition against it, becareful making a law where there is no law.

God bless! I hope this was helpful!

 

I would talk to him about his smoking, raise some of your concerns in a loving manner, and joke about how the stuff kills you.

He may consider his own smoking to be a problem and he is trying to quit. I would remind him that as a figure of authority and leadership, his vices and his approach to them influence those in his flock. Maybe what he really needs is the church to rally around him and support him in his desire to quit smoking.

 

The G word got me.

This being a new thread I was all set to enjoy reading the responses to it, when suddenly and without warning the second post in reply brazenly mentioned the G word. At 5'11'' and 245 pounds I must say that I was devastated to see the G word brought into the post. The thread is about smoking, I used to smoke, long since quit of course, but I was miraculously delivered by the Lord and have absolutely no desire to smoke now.
Still if my fellow posters could go a little easier on those of us who are not exactly skinny I would deeply appreciated it.

 

In the eary days of the Baptists almost all he preachers, deacons and Pastors chewed tobacco and a lot of churches has "spittoons" on the stand for them. I will never forget those days when they had pot belly stoves, wood floors and out door toliets. Yes, I know Pastors who smoke and I have to agree it sure don't look good, but I was one of them for a long time but even then I felt guilty and would try and hide my smoking. When I first started I carried them in my shirt pocket when a older brother came to me one day and said "get them cigerattes out of your pocket. I was glad he did that for at that time I had not thought how it looked. Since then, I have seen other preachers get in the stand with them in their shirt pocket but not many any more and it sure does look terrible.

 

Seems like that if God miraculously delivered you from smoking, which is not mentioned in the Scripture, He would also miraculously deliver you from gluttony which is mentioned in the Bible specifically.

 

I lost 6 pounds reading and laughing:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: raise:

 

Its not necessary to automaticly relate gluttony with being over weight. Gluttony means simply to over do something in excess. Food is just one of the things that can be handled this way. Also an over weight person is not always a gluttonaous person.

Making the comparison between smoking and gluttony of any kind is reasonable. we as christians are quick to judge smoking, but then go to the buffet after church and become gluttons. Even those who are not over weight. Regardless of our weight it is still as sinful as smoking.

Just because there is no specific mention of smoking in scripture doesnt mean it isnt addressed. We are not to over eat. We are not to drink alcohol in excess. We know that we are not to do those things that are excessive and harmful to our bodies. You can know that smoking is as sinful as gluttony or drunkeness. Scripture is not really so quiet on this issue.

 

To smoke or not to

It says in the bible everything God made was good.He made tobacco.Why can't we smoke?The Indians of old had peace pipes and I' sure that people in days gone by found some use for tobacco.Also it says to drink a little wine for what ails you .But we say it is a sin.I think if we love one another as God loves us all these other things are not important.raise:

 

The Indians of old also smoked funny stuff in their pipes to enhance their visions and communion with mother earth.

To me there are a couple of issues. The first would be our testimony and how smoking, overeating, poor use of language, etc hinders or enhances it. The second is the care of our bodies. Smoking just isn't good for your health. (neither is smoking the funny stuff -- whatever the reason. )

 

Revmitchell posts:
"Making the comparison between smoking and gluttony of any kind is reasonable. we as christians are quick to judge smoking, but then go to the buffet after church and become gluttons. Even those who are not over weight. Regardless of our weight it is still as sinful as smoking. "

Very true.

Our schedule on Sundays leads up to overeating. Weightwatchers, and other diets say eating six small meals a day is the healthy way to eat and to control our weight. Yet on Sundays, people tend to eat a very small breakfast or not at all, and then don't eat until 1 or 2 o'clock. It is no wonder we tend to pig out and become overweight when we don't eat for over six hours or more. Skipping two meals is not the way to maintain our weight or to lose weight.

Our Sunday schedule assists in many christians being overweight.

 

That is quite a philosphy.

 

My dad's family is from Kentucky, so you can imagine how they feel about the subject, ever see your aunt with a spit cup on the ironing board? Trust me that isn't just a Jeff Foxworthy joke! It doesn't bother me in the least and never has, I am sure it has to do a lot with the culture you grew up in as to whether or not it will bother you.

 

go2church, I hope I don't sound argumentative here, but culture is only part of it. People have been convicted of cultural things that are wrong. There is enough medical evidence about smoking's harm to outweigh any cultural norms.

Bitsy, from the city carrying the name of two cigarettes, Winston-Salem. (That was a joke btw.)

 

Some pastors smoke more than others but that could depend on what type of wood you're using. :laugh: Okay, okay, bad Will. Back to the discussion. Ummm...well, in today's day and age, I suppose that it's a bad testimony for the church. Spurgeon smoked fine cigars quite frequently, and saw nothing wrong with it. I don't know that it's wrong persay, but it can have a damaging testimony for the church.

And that's my five cents.

 

Where in the bible do you find that smokeing is a sin?David sinned and so did Peter.Ithink a man that God loved had a baby by his wifes nanny.Men and women through out the bible did things that were not right but God used them.You yourself are not sinfree.You might not smokebut if you have one eye you are peeping at something you should not if you are a man.and if you are a woman you are doing the same thing.The pastor might smoke but if what comes out of his mounth is the truth that's what counts.The Lord said if He could not fined anyone to praise Him He could make a pile of rocks do the talking.The pastor is not perfect and we arn't either.Some smoke some over eat some talk too muchand some don't tithe.:saint:

 

vermae,

first of all, the Bible says all things God made were good BEFORE the Fall. Your logic in your first post would also mean that "God made marijuana and coca plants, so go ahead and smoke pot and crack." God made arsenic and cyanide too, but I bet most of us don't consider them a good source of vitamins and nutrients.
Also, I don't think anyone said that any of us are without sin. That fact does not mean that we just act any old way we want and declare that God can use us no matter what we do.

That being said, as to the original poster, I think if he is not YOUR pastor than you probably shouldn't say anything at all unless he is a personal friend of yours. And most certainly don't tell anyone from his church about it. This could be a habit he is trying to get rid of and struggling with.

 

Re: Spurgeon

By way of using Mr. Spurgeon as an example, I would ask if you felt that had he the medical evidence before him then that we have today if he would have smoked? Truly we do not know but given the fact that we still quote his wisdom today should we doubt that he would have had the wisdom to not smoke today?

:type: I love the smiley's :laugh:

 

Many men and women of God have throughout history had some failing somewhere. David had multile wives, Abraham had a child with his concubine and lied about who his wife was, Noah got drunk, Spurgeon smoked.

It doesnt belittle what they did accomplish as led by the Holy Ghost. Are we surprised that men fail even pastors? Smoking is clearly wrong but if that is the worst thing about this pastor then praise God for him.