If Smoking Is a Sin, What About Soda?

This question brings up a very important subject and that is the stewardship of the body. So, let's start with that. uh God created us as whole beings with an outward physical nature and an inward spiritual nature. So the outward physical nature is the body.

The inward nature we can use the term soul spirit sometimes interchangeably sometimes with a distinction sometimes for the whole person. But the important point is in scripture humans are embodied beings. And even in eternity when we're redeemed when we're saved we're not going to be spirits floating around in the atmosphere. We're going to be have glorified bodies. So God's plan for us in the future is embodied. Uh so that's the whole person. Um and and so that means we should have respect for our bodies as created by God. Now the Bible also more specifically says that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

So in 1 Corinthians 3, your body's the temple. You're the temple of God. And if you defile the body or you defile the temple, God will destroy you. Now that the term uh you or ye is collective so you plural it's plural. So I think it's primarily talking about together we are the body of Christ the church. And so when we destroy the church or defile the church or the body of believers then we have God's judgment. But 1 Corinthians 6 specifically says our physical body that we individually our body is the temple of God. So I think the same principle still applies that if we defile our physical bodies, we're contradicting God's plan because he created us with physical bodies and our body in some sense is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

So both individually and collectively we are the place where God has chosen dwell to dwell in this evil society. Where do people see God? Well, they can see God in the collective group as they come to the church, but they can also see God in us individually as we bear the fruit of the spirit. So, that indicates that uh if if we uh disrupt or destroy the collective body of believers through our sinful behavior uh or through our rebellion or um contention or strife, that's wrong. But if we destroy our physical body again through sins of fornication or adultery, but then that also opens the door.

What if we are physically abusing our bodies? So I do think there's a component of the physical stewardship of the body. God wants us to respect our body, treat it properly, not harm it, not defile it. And so things that cause addiction uh should be forbidden to us because God wants our bodies to be subject to the Holy Spirit and not to anything else. Things that cause intoxication should be forbidden to us for the same reason. So whether it's temporary control by a foreign substance or permanent long-term control by a for foreign substance, that's contrary to God's plan that our bodies be the temple of the spirit.

that only the spirit should control us and that not against our will but as we submit to God. So if you read throughout 1 Corinthians you see this repeated refrain 1 Corinthians 6 uh for example 1 Corinthians 8 that we should not use things and he's even talking about food and drink that harm the body that get control of the body uh that don't bring glory to God and that could be a stumbling block to others. So those are some principles of Christian liberty. Even though we have liberty to make personal choices in everyday lives, we should not subject our bodies to um things that are not beneficial or not wholesome to us.

Now where's the practical application? I think the number one key is moderation. But then when there's something that has little or no beneficial impact or has a very high risk of dangerous impact that moderation that concept of moderation gets pushed to the end of abstension. Okay. So if like in the case of tobacco uh modern science has really proven this but it's actually the most if not one of the most addictive substances known to humans even more than most drugs and uh in you in the US now it may have declined somewhat in recent years because smoking has become less uh culturally acceptable but um typically over 400,000 thousands of America 400,000s Americans die each year because of tobacco, various diseases directly caused by tobacco.

So even if you thought in general, hey, you know, there's some good things to it, if there was anything today that were introduced to say, now this is going to cause 400,000 deaths a year, but we think there's some great social benefits. Uh what what is your vote? It would never pass any kind of test. Congress or the Food and Drug Administration or nobody would approve it. But because it was developed over the centuries without our fully understanding it, here we are. And of course, it was not known in Bible days. It was part of the New World. So there's no express statement against tobacco.

But I think the principles I've just described would say something that is so clearly destructive in such an overwhelming way with no redeeming value. Mo moderation is not how can you be moderate with something that destructive? Moderation would would say abstension. So in other words, strict nine poisoning, you know, um let's drink it in moderation. Well, if it's going to kill everybody that does it, then you know, abstension or, you know, some people say, "Well, well, tobacco is natural, so God created it, so why can't we use it?" Well, poison ivy is natural. God created it. But does does that mean I need to bathe in it, you know?

So, should I, if I'm allergic to poison ivy, as I am, and most people are, uh, should I just use it in moderation? You know, just rub it on me every once a month. Um the answer to that is abstension. Okay. So responsible use for most things means moderation. Responsible use for very uh harmful things is abstension. So I think for obvious health reasons the only proper decision for a mature Christian who takes stewardship of the body seriously and wants to be an example to other people and to children and young people. The only responsible solution for uh tobacco is abstension. Now alcohol is a little more nuanced.

We have a separate episode on that. But I would say the combination of physical and spiritual dangers far outweigh any benefits. So once again I would say responsible use for m mature Christian is abstension. Now when you come to other things like um sugar and u what some people call soda or pop or I call coke um soft drinks I soft drinks um you know they're not in moderation they're not dangerous or caffeinated beverages in general now I would say this some people they got to have their cup of coffee or multiple cups or they got to have uh Coca-Cola or whatever the case may be.

I would say look, if if you really are that driven and you have to have it to function and you get a headache, if you don't, maybe there's an addictive component here, you need to fast and break yourself of that. But I would say for most of the things we're talking about, um I think moderation is the key. Abstension is not required because it's not uniformly dangerous, universally dangerous or severely dangerous. In moderation, it's generally not dangerous at all. Uh I do think in our western culture particularly, we probably need to take more um consideration of our diet than we do. There is the sin of gluttony which I do believe overindulgence uh in food and drink is a violation of God's word.

And again, you mentioned this. I'm not here to say if you have a certain disease or if you're overweight or this or that that you're morally culpable. I have struggled with weight. The older you get, the more metabolism changes and I travel all the time. I'm eating special food that people want me to eat all the time. So I have the constant struggle. So I understand that. But I would say we shouldn't just give ourselves a pass either. If we take seriously that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we should be concerned about diet, exercise, rest, moderation, trying to live a healthy life, just being a good steward of the life that God has given us.

We're we're servants of God. He doesn't want us to destroy our bodies. Then we're not we're not a good servant of God. If we die prematurely or if we have a terrible disease that limits our ability, well then we're not giving God the service that he wants to give us. So it's a matter of good stewardship of God's gifts to us to take care of our bodies. So there's some feeling the body is bad. Don't worry about it. Just you know there is a time for fasting. But overall I think we should take care of our bodies. So yes the question you rais is very important.

Not that we have to push it to the extreme of abstension for most things, but things like caffeine, sugar, just overindulgence in food, adding weight, um we do need to take care to take seriously these principles. And I do believe it's also a matter of Christian witness because if we are going to be strong and conservative and say don't drink, don't smoke, wear modest clothing, take care of your body, don't indul indulge in sexual immorality. Well, it it seems a disconnect if if we say but u there are a lot of areas we can just indulge ourselves without restraint. And some people say, well, you know, you've outlawed so many pleasures at least you ought to be able to eat what you want.

I look at it as we have all kinds of pleasures in life and we should but in moderation and so I think food can be certainly for sustenance but also for pleasure but I think the key and I haven't given you a lot of scriptures here but throughout the Bible you have temperance or self-control that's one of the fruit of the spirit Galatians 5:22-23 and you also have the teaching of moderation and I think that's the watch word that's the key uh in these cases we're discussing

Well, again, I would say moderation is the key and those drinks have proven to be very dangerous when consumed excess even physical harm and death can result or if not complications of various kinds, kidney stones and etc. So I think those should be used rarely and I think if you have to rely on them constantly you need to go back and say wait a minute I have a dysfunctional lifestyle here.

I'm not disciplining myself. I'm not being a good steward of my time. And that's another biblical principle, being a good steward of your time. So, yes, we can all understand there might be an emergency where we have to, you know, we're at the last at the end of preparing for exams or we've got to drive all night. But I think we might step back and say, do I have to drive all night or do I have to study all night? why if I step back and plan my life a little bit better, uh maybe I wouldn't have to do that. So there again, I would say moderation is the key, but uh and I'm not against these drinks in total.

Um but I would recommend uh caution and certainly moderation. So once again, I think the overriding answer for most of these things uh is in moderation but informed by proper medical science and not just popular culture.