Nicotine, Amphetamines, and Holy Concentration
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - New week, new day, new mercies.
00:00:07.480 | So welcome back to the podcast on this Monday.
00:00:10.240 | We are gonna start the week talking about nicotine,
00:00:13.000 | pipe smoking specifically.
00:00:15.080 | But I think this topic in this question
00:00:16.880 | is likely gonna open up a much broader conversation
00:00:19.240 | about other stimulants like caffeine, sugar,
00:00:22.080 | amphetamines and cannabis and THC for some.
00:00:25.120 | Those substances that provoke the central nervous system.
00:00:29.280 | The question is from a listener named Robert
00:00:31.240 | in Coldwater, Mississippi.
00:00:33.040 | Hello, Pastor John, and thank you for this podcast.
00:00:35.080 | 18 months ago in APJ 1702,
00:00:39.360 | you published an episode titled
00:00:40.760 | "On Cigarettes, Vaping and Nicotine."
00:00:43.720 | It proved helpful to me,
00:00:45.360 | but I have a follow-up question for you.
00:00:47.780 | Many years ago when I chewed smokeless tobacco,
00:00:50.960 | I discovered that my concentration for reading was improved.
00:00:54.600 | Apparently the nicotine did something to my mind
00:00:57.240 | and body to increase my focus.
00:01:00.280 | Today I am considering taking up pipe smoking,
00:01:02.680 | something like C.S. Lewis did.
00:01:04.480 | I would continue this only if it improved my concentration.
00:01:08.240 | Pastor John, would you address the use of nicotine
00:01:11.000 | for the purpose of improved concentration?
00:01:14.260 | - Well, I come at a question like this
00:01:17.880 | basically in the same category as everybody else.
00:01:22.520 | I am simply not an expert
00:01:25.040 | in all the possible effects
00:01:28.160 | medically, socially, psychologically
00:01:30.880 | that nicotine or other drugs
00:01:33.560 | might have on the human person.
00:01:35.720 | I have to do my simple research online
00:01:37.920 | just like everybody else does.
00:01:39.560 | That's how I get ready for this podcast.
00:01:41.800 | I do what everybody else can do.
00:01:43.660 | I look for definitions and I go to Wikipedia,
00:01:46.200 | I go to medical websites and I try to get up to speed.
00:01:49.600 | So don't put me in any kind of pedestal here.
00:01:52.160 | Like he's got some authority
00:01:53.360 | on how to answer a question like this.
00:01:55.240 | I got my Bible, you got your Bible,
00:01:56.800 | I've got Wikipedia, you got Wikipedia, here we go.
00:01:59.360 | But here's what I can do.
00:02:02.680 | What I can do is highlight some possible outcomes
00:02:06.200 | just like anybody else can of the use of various drugs.
00:02:09.080 | And I can point to some biblical guidelines
00:02:14.080 | and then pray that God's people, myself included,
00:02:18.660 | would have great wisdom and great self-control
00:02:21.840 | and great passion for holiness and purity
00:02:24.800 | and great love for others
00:02:27.000 | as we make our way through these days
00:02:28.960 | when more and more natural
00:02:31.520 | and artificial stimulants are available.
00:02:34.920 | As I think about this question
00:02:39.760 | that he's asking about nicotine in particular,
00:02:44.400 | I'm gonna broaden it out because here in Minnesota,
00:02:49.280 | a far more urgent question concerns cannabis,
00:02:53.960 | the constituent of marijuana,
00:02:57.120 | and the relatively recent upsurge
00:03:00.360 | of cannabis-infused drinks on sale
00:03:05.360 | for anybody wherever they have them,
00:03:08.800 | and they're available.
00:03:10.120 | And they're increasingly available
00:03:12.040 | with all different percentages of cannabis.
00:03:16.080 | The marijuana-like substance that goes into these drinks
00:03:19.360 | is called THC, which is short for an unpronounceable,
00:03:24.360 | long scientific word, which you can see in Wikipedia.
00:03:28.320 | That's the psychoactive constituent of cannabis,
00:03:32.800 | and that's what's getting infused
00:03:34.360 | into all kinds of drinks and foods.
00:03:37.280 | If you read about the effects of THC,
00:03:41.760 | what you read is that there is a wide range
00:03:46.040 | of possible effects from heightened sensory perception.
00:03:51.040 | I think that's what Robert's talking about.
00:03:54.760 | Relaxation, sleepiness, dizziness, dry mouth, euphoria,
00:03:59.760 | depersonalization, derealization, hallucination, paranoia,
00:04:05.440 | decreased or increased anxiety.
00:04:09.320 | Now, the difference between smoking marijuana
00:04:14.320 | and drinking THC-infused drinks
00:04:17.880 | is that when the drug is inhaled into the lungs,
00:04:22.160 | it passes quickly into the bloodstream,
00:04:25.720 | peaking in about 10 minutes
00:04:28.120 | and wearing off in a couple hours,
00:04:31.120 | while cannabis-infused foods and drinks
00:04:35.520 | may take hours to digest,
00:04:37.680 | and their effects may peak two or three hours
00:04:41.600 | and persist for up to six hours.
00:04:44.840 | So, Wikipedia, you think I know things?
00:04:47.280 | I don't know anything.
00:04:48.280 | (both laughing)
00:04:49.320 | This is just all learned for this podcast.
00:04:52.880 | Of course, cannabis and nicotine
00:04:58.240 | are just two of many psychoactive stimulants,
00:05:03.240 | including sugar, caffeine, alcohol, opioids,
00:05:09.920 | needle, not to mention the hard drugs that are illegal.
00:05:14.920 | Now, Robert says he used to use chewing tobacco
00:05:21.760 | as a way of getting better concentration,
00:05:26.160 | and he's thinking about taking up pipe smoking
00:05:30.680 | if it works for the same reason.
00:05:33.080 | And what's surprising in his question to me
00:05:37.520 | is that it didn't raise any of the downsides of tobacco.
00:05:42.520 | I mean, if you go to the Health and Human Services website
00:05:48.400 | online and just ask about that,
00:05:51.840 | here's what you read.
00:05:53.400 | Chewing tobacco can cause many types of cancer,
00:05:56.960 | including cancer of mouth, tongue,
00:05:59.320 | gums, stomach, esophagus, bladder.
00:06:02.520 | Heavy users might also notice
00:06:05.160 | that their teeth can start to get worn down
00:06:07.680 | and sustained by chewing tobacco,
00:06:10.000 | which can also cause gums to recede.
00:06:13.160 | Regular chewing tobacco use
00:06:15.160 | is linked to higher heart attack risk too,
00:06:17.920 | since it is known to raise blood pressure
00:06:20.120 | and cholesterol levels, end quote.
00:06:22.280 | And there are similar warnings for pipe smoking.
00:06:27.320 | So for example, quote, "Cigar and pipe smokers
00:06:30.720 | "are more likely to develop heart disease, stroke,
00:06:33.680 | "lung diseases than those who do not smoke."
00:06:37.640 | So you can do your own simple research,
00:06:39.600 | just like I do on sugar.
00:06:43.440 | I mean, how serious is that?
00:06:44.560 | Or caffeine or alcohol or various preservatives
00:06:48.400 | or in drugs and foods,
00:06:50.440 | all kinds of things that worry people these days.
00:06:53.320 | The New Testament does not solve these ethical problems
00:06:58.320 | of what we should eat, what we should drink,
00:07:00.640 | how much or not at all.
00:07:02.600 | It doesn't solve these problems
00:07:04.200 | by giving us a list of foods and drinks that are lawful.
00:07:08.040 | It couldn't.
00:07:08.880 | You can't even foresee what was coming down the pike.
00:07:11.680 | The New Testament writers
00:07:13.240 | weren't given that kind of prescience.
00:07:15.800 | It addresses these things much more profoundly
00:07:20.720 | than giving us a list of foods that we should avoid
00:07:25.360 | or drinks that we should avoid.
00:07:27.960 | It deals with the nature of what goes into the body
00:07:32.520 | or comes out of the body,
00:07:34.200 | the nature of who we are as Christians,
00:07:36.600 | the nature of our body and our soul,
00:07:39.520 | the nature of our calling as Christians
00:07:42.080 | and what life in the body is for
00:07:44.760 | and how we personally relate to other people
00:07:48.880 | in regard to what we eat or drink.
00:07:51.440 | So here's my summary of biblical realities
00:07:56.440 | in the form of eight guidelines.
00:08:01.280 | And I've never listed them like this before.
00:08:03.120 | This was all fresh for me as I thought about
00:08:05.960 | getting ready for this particular question.
00:08:08.120 | And I found breaking them out like this was helpful for me.
00:08:12.040 | I hope it will be for others.
00:08:13.400 | I'll just, I'll state it simply
00:08:15.240 | and give you the place that I get it from the Bible.
00:08:18.760 | Number one, foods or drinks,
00:08:23.240 | material things that go into the body
00:08:25.840 | are not in themselves spiritually contaminating.
00:08:30.600 | It is the motives and the aims and the effects
00:08:35.560 | that food and drink become morally significant.
00:08:40.520 | That's how they become morally significant.
00:08:43.280 | Jesus said to them, this is Mark 7, 18,
00:08:46.400 | "Are you so lacking in understanding?
00:08:48.680 | Do you not see that whatever goes into a person
00:08:52.280 | from outside cannot defile him
00:08:54.640 | since it does not enter into his heart,
00:08:59.320 | but his stomach and is expelled?"
00:09:02.800 | Thus, he declared all foods clean.
00:09:07.320 | And he said, "What comes out of a person
00:09:10.440 | is what defiles him."
00:09:12.480 | That's principle number one.
00:09:14.200 | It isn't foods that defile,
00:09:17.000 | it's motives and aims come out of the heart.
00:09:21.080 | Number two, therefore, food and drink
00:09:25.080 | are God's good creation and meant to be enjoyed
00:09:30.080 | as an occasion of thanksgiving to God.
00:09:35.120 | 1 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 4, 3-5.
00:09:41.520 | "False teachers require abstinence from food
00:09:45.440 | that God created to be received with thanksgiving
00:09:49.560 | by those who believe and know the truth.
00:09:52.760 | For everything created by God is good
00:09:55.840 | and nothing is to be rejected
00:09:57.560 | if it is received with thanksgiving,
00:09:59.720 | for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer."
00:10:04.440 | Number three, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
00:10:11.200 | We should let that have a very profound effect on us.
00:10:18.000 | Keep the temple holy
00:10:21.240 | because it's inhabited by the Holy Spirit.
00:10:25.480 | Keep the body properly set apart for God's habitation.
00:10:29.480 | 1 Corinthians 6-19.
00:10:31.880 | Do you not know that your body is the temple
00:10:34.800 | of the Holy Spirit, which is in you,
00:10:38.280 | whom you have from God?
00:10:40.040 | Number four, your body is a member of Christ.
00:10:45.520 | Our bodies are part of Christ's body.
00:10:48.560 | So we not only are inhabited by the Holy Spirit,
00:10:52.320 | we're part of Christ.
00:10:54.200 | We bring him into every habit we form with our bodies.
00:10:59.040 | 1 Corinthians 6-15.
00:11:02.200 | Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
00:11:06.760 | Number five, Christians don't use their freedom
00:11:12.920 | just because they have it.
00:11:15.280 | They ask about what is helpful
00:11:20.160 | for their faith and the faith of others.
00:11:23.320 | All things are lawful for me,
00:11:27.960 | but not all things are helpful.
00:11:31.040 | 1 Corinthians 6-12.
00:11:33.360 | Number six, Christians don't just use their freedom
00:11:36.440 | because they have it.
00:11:38.280 | They seek to avoid freely walking into a habit
00:11:43.160 | that enslaves.
00:11:44.920 | That happens.
00:11:46.320 | People really do use their freedom to get enslaved.
00:11:49.680 | Don't do that.
00:11:50.640 | 1 Corinthians 6-12.
00:11:52.800 | All things are lawful for me,
00:11:54.720 | but I will not be enslaved by anything.
00:11:58.440 | Number seven, your body does not belong to you.
00:12:03.200 | God bought it with the blood of Christ.
00:12:06.480 | God owns your body.
00:12:09.560 | It's his.
00:12:10.680 | His purpose is that you make your choices
00:12:14.520 | about your body in order to make God look valuable,
00:12:18.560 | beautiful, satisfying.
00:12:20.000 | 1 Corinthians 6-19-20.
00:12:23.480 | You are not your own.
00:12:25.160 | You were bought with a price.
00:12:27.040 | So glorify God in your body.
00:12:30.440 | Number eight, Christians don't make food and drink
00:12:34.960 | and stimulant decisions in isolation.
00:12:37.680 | They walk in love and take into account
00:12:42.120 | how their habits will help or hurt others.
00:12:46.320 | Therefore, this is 1 Corinthians 8-13.
00:12:50.080 | Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble,
00:12:53.200 | I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
00:12:57.800 | So this is the way God wants us to live,
00:13:02.760 | not by lists, but by the Spirit.
00:13:06.720 | Paul put it like this in Romans 7-6.
00:13:10.000 | But now we are released from the law,
00:13:14.320 | having died to that which held us captive
00:13:17.480 | so that we might serve in the new way of the Spirit
00:13:22.480 | and not in the old way of the written code.
00:13:28.360 | And the new way of the Spirit
00:13:30.600 | is to let these passages inspired by the Spirit
00:13:35.240 | shape the way we see God,
00:13:38.360 | the way we see Christ,
00:13:40.120 | the way we see the Holy Spirit,
00:13:42.600 | the way we see our bodies,
00:13:44.720 | the way we see food and drugs,
00:13:47.480 | the way we see freedom,
00:13:49.520 | the way we see love and the good of other people.
00:13:53.600 | The new way of the Spirit is a whole new conception
00:13:58.600 | of God and Christ and Spirit and life and body and love.
00:14:04.000 | And that's how Christians live.
00:14:06.760 | So may the Lord take Robert and me
00:14:11.760 | and all of us deep into His Word and Spirit,
00:14:17.320 | and may He be your teacher
00:14:21.520 | so that you and I and we would all walk in freedom,
00:14:26.080 | in joy, in holiness for the glory of God.
00:14:30.240 | - Amen.
00:14:32.000 | And that 1 Corinthians 6-12 text is so key here.
00:14:35.240 | And all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful.
00:14:38.520 | We will not be dominated by anything.
00:14:42.120 | That text has appeared 13 times in the past on this podcast.
00:14:46.760 | And for obvious reasons, so key.
00:14:48.680 | Thank you for joining us today.
00:14:50.280 | Ask a question of your own,
00:14:51.400 | search our growing archive,
00:14:52.440 | or subscribe to the podcast all at askpastorjohn.com.
00:14:56.080 | Well, speaking of stimulants like caffeine, sugar,
00:14:59.960 | nicotine, amphetamines, and cannabis and THC for some,
00:15:04.880 | it requires wisdom.
00:15:06.800 | So where do we find understanding?
00:15:09.640 | Next time we're gonna look at the five steps
00:15:12.180 | for finding wisdom for life.
00:15:13.680 | That's up next.
00:15:14.520 | I'm your host Tony Reike,
00:15:16.040 | and we'll see you back here on Wednesday.
00:15:18.160 | (upbeat music)
00:15:20.740 | (upbeat music)
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