On Cigarettes, Vaping, and Nicotine
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Good Monday morning everyone,
00:00:05.300 | and welcome back to the podcast.
00:00:06.620 | Pastor John, we have over 50 questions now piling up
00:00:10.900 | and waiting patiently for us in the inbox,
00:00:12.780 | all on cigarette smoking, vaping, and nicotine addiction.
00:00:17.420 | Topics not addressed on APJ to this point.
00:00:20.380 | Our questions include things like this.
00:00:22.460 | Is cigarette smoking a sin?
00:00:24.160 | Is smoking a deliberate sin, a willful sin,
00:00:27.220 | like what we read about in Hebrews 10.26?
00:00:29.940 | Is it sinful for someone to smoke indoors,
00:00:31.900 | thereby endangering the health of non-smokers inside a home?
00:00:35.720 | And of course, several emails from parents
00:00:37.160 | watching their teens get addicted to nicotine by vapes.
00:00:40.680 | Should they be concerned?
00:00:42.180 | There's a lot to cover.
00:00:43.540 | In our first venture into these sort of intertwined themes,
00:00:47.860 | what thoughts come to your mind?
00:00:50.060 | - The US Food and Drug Administration
00:00:53.300 | has been requiring health warnings
00:00:56.620 | on cigarette packages since 1969.
00:01:00.260 | As of May 2021, there are 11 approved warnings.
00:01:05.260 | Here's six of them.
00:01:08.780 | I just got them off the FDA website.
00:01:11.820 | Smoking causes head and neck cancer.
00:01:14.780 | Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in non-smokers.
00:01:19.780 | Smoking causes cataracts, which can lead to blindness.
00:01:23.380 | Smoking causes bladder cancer.
00:01:25.940 | Smoking causes type 2 diabetes.
00:01:29.140 | Smoking during pregnancy stunts fetal growth.
00:01:32.660 | So it's not a debate anymore
00:01:36.100 | whether nicotine is a harmful drug
00:01:39.500 | and whether smoking causes numerous diseases.
00:01:43.700 | And that includes nicotine in cigarettes, cigars,
00:01:46.580 | e-cigarettes, or vaping, and chewing tobacco.
00:01:50.980 | Nicotine is harmful.
00:01:53.060 | Whatever form you choose to put it in your mouth
00:01:55.620 | or in your lungs.
00:01:57.820 | The Bible is very clear that taking deadly risks
00:02:02.820 | is a noble and beautiful thing
00:02:07.900 | when you do it by entrusting your soul to Jesus
00:02:12.340 | and for the purpose of rescuing other people,
00:02:14.980 | especially people in eternal danger.
00:02:19.460 | But the Bible has no praise
00:02:23.380 | for those who risk their lives or their health
00:02:26.780 | for private pleasure.
00:02:29.020 | The Bible calls this a deceitful desire, Ephesians 4:22.
00:02:33.820 | It's a desire that promises one thing
00:02:36.740 | and then delivers another.
00:02:38.660 | It's not rooted in or governed by a desire
00:02:42.460 | to show that Jesus is supremely desirable to us.
00:02:47.460 | The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 to 20,
00:02:52.340 | "Do you not know that your body is a temple
00:02:55.380 | of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
00:03:00.380 | You are not your own.
00:03:02.060 | You were bought with a price.
00:03:03.980 | So glorify God in your body."
00:03:07.060 | So smokers need to ask,
00:03:09.500 | is my decision to damage my body
00:03:13.740 | and probably others by smoking
00:03:17.420 | governed by a desire to make God look glorious
00:03:22.060 | with my body,
00:03:23.500 | or does it merely make me look self-indulgent?
00:03:27.740 | So yes, parents should be concerned.
00:03:31.020 | And yes, it is wrong to use a deadly drug
00:03:35.500 | to calm your nerves.
00:03:37.320 | But let's do this.
00:03:38.540 | Let's name seven steps
00:03:41.940 | from the first cigarette to the grave
00:03:45.500 | and see whether they fall short
00:03:49.860 | of biblical righteousness.
00:03:52.300 | This might be something parents would walk through
00:03:55.980 | with their 13-year-old.
00:03:58.100 | Step one, many people, especially younger people,
00:04:02.220 | take the first step into smoking because it's cool.
00:04:07.220 | And when I say cool, I intend three elements in coolness,
00:04:12.300 | a feeling of liberating independence from authority.
00:04:16.940 | And that authority might be
00:04:18.140 | a fuddy-duddy, fundamentalist, blowhard podcaster like me,
00:04:23.140 | or it might be parents,
00:04:24.660 | or it might be traditions that you've grown tired of.
00:04:29.580 | Two, coolness includes the feeling
00:04:32.620 | that you now have an image of attractiveness
00:04:36.420 | for whatever reason.
00:04:37.580 | And three, coolness generally includes
00:04:40.700 | a sense of belonging to a group that you admire.
00:04:45.340 | So step one into smoking is often motivated
00:04:50.340 | by a strong impulse to be cool in these three senses.
00:04:55.580 | Step two, the desire to be a part of a cool group
00:05:01.820 | provides the necessary psychological power
00:05:07.060 | to deny at the outset
00:05:09.380 | that you are damaging yourself or others.
00:05:12.540 | Coolness empowers denial.
00:05:16.300 | Step three, after the initial nausea or coughing or dizziness,
00:05:21.300 | if you get through that phase,
00:05:25.180 | there is the nicotine buzz,
00:05:28.060 | which feels in the context of denial
00:05:31.500 | like a justifiable reward.
00:05:33.660 | It feels good.
00:05:34.900 | Step four, now comes the pull of the buzz.
00:05:39.540 | And as it becomes stronger,
00:05:41.700 | the desire passes from a chosen pleasure
00:05:45.180 | to the craving of a perceived need.
00:05:48.300 | This is sometimes called addiction,
00:05:50.380 | but I am usually hesitant to use that word
00:05:52.540 | because it creates the impression of helplessness.
00:05:56.380 | When we all know that if someone puts a blowtorch
00:05:58.660 | in front of your face,
00:06:00.460 | you will be able to put down the cigarette.
00:06:03.340 | Step five, as one grows accustomed to the habit,
00:06:07.940 | there can easily grow a sense of indifference
00:06:11.220 | as to how it negatively affects others,
00:06:13.820 | whether at home or in public.
00:06:15.980 | Step six, after enough time passes,
00:06:19.780 | then comes the negative health effect or effects.
00:06:24.620 | Lung disease, heart disease, kidney disease,
00:06:27.820 | high blood pressure, eye problems.
00:06:30.580 | The body eventually signals
00:06:33.580 | with the help of physical pain,
00:06:37.220 | the foolishness that we refuse to see
00:06:39.980 | in rational or moral argument.
00:06:43.300 | Step seven, a death that may come earlier
00:06:47.540 | than it would have otherwise, or perhaps more painfully.
00:06:52.180 | Now, it doesn't take a Bible scholar to see
00:06:56.020 | that each of these steps involves an inclination
00:06:59.860 | or inclinations and actions
00:07:03.220 | that are contrary to the spirit of Christ.
00:07:07.260 | When the desire to be cool overcomes the call to wisdom
00:07:11.140 | and humility and freedom and self-control,
00:07:13.460 | coolness has become an idol.
00:07:16.260 | It has become more precious than the way of Christ.
00:07:19.980 | This is the main route that parents should address
00:07:23.020 | as soon as their children can talk.
00:07:26.020 | What will be their treasure and their guide,
00:07:29.060 | Christ or the crowd?
00:07:32.020 | The second step, the one that denies the harmfulness
00:07:36.140 | of nicotine is simply self-deception.
00:07:39.380 | And the Bible calls us over and over again,
00:07:41.900 | not to be deceived.
00:07:43.460 | You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
00:07:48.020 | The third step elevates the physical buzz
00:07:51.700 | above moral claims of wisdom and holiness.
00:07:55.820 | When Peter said, "I urge you as sojourners and exiles
00:08:00.300 | to abstain from the passions of the flesh,
00:08:03.940 | which wage war against your souls," 1 Peter 2:11,
00:08:08.380 | he meant that there are soul pleasures
00:08:11.900 | and soul commitments that should govern
00:08:15.380 | the desires of the body and keep us back from self-harm.
00:08:20.380 | In the fourth step, we're falling into the bondage of a drug.
00:08:24.980 | And Paul said, "All things are lawful for me.
00:08:27.620 | I will not be enslaved by anything," 1 Corinthians 6:12.
00:08:33.900 | In step six, as with most bad habits,
00:08:37.780 | they're not just a problem for us,
00:08:39.420 | but begin to be a problem for others.
00:08:42.500 | And our indifference to that is simply a lack of love.
00:08:46.460 | Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
00:08:49.800 | but also to the interests of others, Philippians 2, 4.
00:08:54.340 | Finally, death is appointed for everyone, yes,
00:08:59.460 | hastening it by means of self-pleasure.
00:09:03.940 | Hastening it by means of selfish pleasure
00:09:07.420 | is not submission to providence,
00:09:10.740 | but the failure to value a precious gift.
00:09:14.760 | So I would say to parents, from the earliest years,
00:09:19.760 | with the prayer and a thoughtful use of the Bible,
00:09:23.720 | build into your children, one,
00:09:26.960 | a freedom from the herd mentality of needing to be cool.
00:09:31.040 | Two, a love of the truth.
00:09:33.440 | Three, a passion for self-control and self-denial
00:09:38.160 | for the greater joys of righteousness.
00:09:40.400 | Four, a deep commitment never to be enslaved
00:09:44.840 | by anything in this world.
00:09:46.640 | Five, a strong concern for the interests of others,
00:09:50.640 | not just our own.
00:09:51.720 | Six, a proper stewardship of the gift of health and life.
00:09:57.040 | And seven, a fearlessness in the face of death,
00:10:01.520 | but a refusal to risk it for the sake of personal pleasure.
00:10:06.320 | - That's a great little primer on nicotine.
00:10:07.840 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:10:08.800 | And if you have a follow-up question on the topic,
00:10:11.400 | mention this episode, episode number 1702,
00:10:14.320 | and send it in to us.
00:10:15.340 | You can ask that question or search our growing archive
00:10:17.800 | or subscribe to the podcast.
00:10:19.000 | You can do all of that at our online home
00:10:20.840 | at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:10:25.280 | - Well, we live in the age of tolerance,
00:10:26.840 | a season when the payment due for sin is forborn.
00:10:30.920 | But that sin debt will be called in.
00:10:33.240 | And when this season of tolerance is over,
00:10:36.280 | the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, our Savior,
00:10:38.640 | will not be the king who rode into Jerusalem
00:10:41.520 | on a humble donkey.
00:10:42.920 | No, the king will return on a white war horse.
00:10:46.960 | And we need to look at that
00:10:48.040 | and the implications of this reality
00:10:49.760 | because it matters for all of us.
00:10:52.360 | That's next time on Wednesday.
00:10:53.520 | I'm your host, Tony Reinhke.
00:10:55.400 | We'll see you then.
00:10:56.240 | Thanks for listening.
00:10:57.240 | (upbeat music)
00:10:59.820 | (upbeat music)
00:11:02.400 | [BLANK_AUDIO]