On January 1, 2014 Colorado became the first state in the nation to legalize the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes. For the past three months the weed business has been thriving and pot parties are the rage of the Rockies. The general consensus is that Colorado’s decision will be the nationwide wave of the future. Most predict other states will soon follow and the sale of pot will be as normal as the sale and consumption of alcohol.
We’ve all heard the arguments in favor of Colorado’s lead: the black market is eliminated, tax revenues are increased, law enforcement can give attention to violent crimes, the prisons will be less crowded, the millions regularly smoking pot won’t have to hide and will no longer be regarded as criminals.
It appears the train is roaring down the track and there is little that can be done to stop it. But before you as a Christian are tempted to take up the habit because, “It looks like fun and everyone else is doing it”, let me appeal to you with both a Biblical and a common sense argument to abstain from the use of marijuana.
The Bible commands us, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). For recreational marijuana users the immediate and intended purpose of using marijuana is to escape reality and to alter the mind. That can’t be pleasing to Christ. Followers of Christ should desire to, “…be alert and of sober mind…” (1 Peter 4:7)
Sixty years ago, long before the Surgeon General’s report verified that the use of tobacco caused cancer, my parents opposed smoking simply because they had spiritual discernment. They advised me, “Don’t smoke. It has to be bad for your health. Listen to Uncle Tom cough. Look how many smokers get lung cancer. Notice how much money people waste on cigarettes. Observe how even the world associates smoking with evil. It harms your witness. It’s addictive. So, don’t smoke. It’s just a matter of common sense.” Many relatives and some church members scoffed at my parents for their ultra-conservative views. But in retrospect their anti-tobacco stance seems pretty smart today.
Dedicated Christians should know instinctively that the same common-sense principles apply even more obviously to marijuana. Smoking weed has no place in the family of God. Already we’re reading disturbing headlines: “Two Colorado fourth graders busted for selling marijuana at their elementary school,” “Nineteen year old college student died when he jumped off a hotel balcony after eating a marijuana-laced cookie”, “Forty-seven year old man charged with shooting and killing his wife after eating pot-infused candy.” A headline last week read, “Marijuana may cause heart problems in young adults.”
One Colorado sheriff lamented the legalization of marijuana because of the increased dangers on the highway. “I already have to deal with the havoc created by drunk drivers,” he grumbled. “Now legislators make readily available a drug that will impair even more drivers? That doesn’t make good sense to me.”
Anyone with common sense can see the addictive nature of smoking pot. It hasn’t yet been proven to be physically addictive like nicotine (I don’t doubt that it will be some day), but any counselor who has dealt with “pot heads” will assure you that it is psychologically addictive – destroying the will-power, judgment and productivity of otherwise talented people.
Apparently our nation has lost all common sense. We have almost no moral compass or conscience anymore. However, Christian people are commanded to “…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God…Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).
Followers of Jesus Christ should be distinctive in the way we think, feel and behave. Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean we should. We have a new opportunity to be wise non-conformists…to practice total abstinence when it comes to the use of marijuana. It just makes good common sense.
