Stop Cigar Shaming

Sometimes I see something or hear something that makes me want to scream, “Hypocrite!” However, to make such a statement in person or online would in fact reveal my own hypocrisy. Usually it surrounds the things of Christian Liberty. If you aren’t familiar with such concepts then I would like you to read Romans 14, Colossians 1-2, and all of Galatians. 

I’ll wait….

So now you realize that our freedom is found in Christ and not man made traditions, so what you consider to be “wrong” might be different from what I find to be “wrong” when it isn’t found in the Scriptures. Particularly I’d like to bring your attention to something that is near and dear to my heart, cigars.

Stogies are a beautiful gift from God in which it displays His glory through its handmade craftsmanship, soothing smells, and calming properties. It points to a bygone era when things were simpler causing the aficionado to appreciate the little things in life and the joys of being under the care of God. I have found some of my more profitable times with The Lord to be in the company of my Bible, wife, and a cigar as we converse over the many blessings from God.

In popular evangelicalism, we have often intertwined the Gospel with secular moralism that says smoking, drinking alcohol, playing cards, and dancing are all from the devil and are damnable offenses.  Why? Our Lutheran and Presbyterian brothers don’t have these issues and their beliefs are often more fully developed than ours. In fact the OPC’s  and PCA’s religious conservatism is often far greater than our own even if our fervency for manmade moralism dwarfs theirs in comparison.

Many will point to the “my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” truth as a way to tell people how they should live. Smoking and drinking is bad for your health, cards will lead to gambling debts, and dancing will lead to sex. Smoking is not good for your health, this I affirm. Drinking alcohol can lead to drunkenness, which is a sin. Debt can be bad, but necessary in many circumstances when buying a house. Sex outside of heterosexual marriage is sin, but sex itself is a glorious gift from God.

See, these things unto themselves are not sins, their misuse is sinful. But the misuse of something that no one suggests is inherently bad, such as family, is also a sin. When you treasure your family more than God they’ve become an idol. When sports take precedence over the gathering of the saints, sports have become an idol. When the opinions of your parents matter more to you than being an image bearer of God then you’ve stumbled into sin. Sports are great recreation that teach invaluable life lessons and are an outlet for evangelism. You are called to honor and obey your parents. Sports and parents are a great gift from God, but their misuse carries the same eternal punishment as drunkenness.

Smoking cigars may very well be bad for my health, but so is sugar and overeating. But no one is calling an end to pie, cake, or casseroles. If so our churches would surely be destroyed by the evil one. We all know that Mrs. Betsy’s strawberry pie is second to none and the only thing keeping this world together; her secret ingredient is a pound and a half of sugar per 10-inches of glory. I’ll readily admit that the only safe cigar smoking is none at all, but you’ve got to admit that our embracing of sugar and rejection of cigars is hypocritical. 

The heart of the matter is really our self-righteousness. We are quick to embrace our creature comforts that bring us happiness while rejecting what brings others enjoyment even though there is no biblical mandate. I’ll be the first to repent of my sin when confronted and it can be found in God’s Word; I make this a daily practice when I approach the throne of God in prayer and in study. We have made ourselves into modern day Pharisees who out of their zeal for holiness and righteousness have anathematized things in which God hasn’t. In order to keep the Lord’s Day holy we have said that one can’t even leave one’s house in fear that it might be considered work. Quick aside: Do we keep the Lord’s Day holy by visiting Cracker Barrel after our Celebration Services? Only if there’s pie and not cigars...

I suggest this to those who are ready to grab their pitchforks, if you have an underlying heart or lung condition don’t smoke cigars. If you have a history of alcoholism or substance abuse, don’t drink alcohol or be around those who do. If you can’t enjoy a card game without gambling and going into debt, stay out of Las Vegas. If you struggle with sexual impurity then stay out of the club and probably weddings. If you can’t enjoy a single slice of pie without knocking down Mrs. Betsy’s door clamoring for more then participating in the church luncheon is ill-advised.

Moderation isn’t king, Jesus is. Our freedom is from sin and in all other things we have permission. Paul says , “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17).

Now I know you’re waiting to ask, “How will the world know that we are different? How will we know that we follow Jesus? How will we ‘win’ them to Christ unless without we present ourselves as pure?” This statement is more telling about where your trust and hope lies than anything else. 

First, Jesus says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). So your love for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ displays for the world that you are a Christ-follower. That’s a bit tougher than self-imposed abstinence from cigars. Don’t believe me? How many churches split as a result of lack of love for one another?

Second, Paul says,“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). You don’t earn your salvation by obeying The Law so why do you think you can earn it by obeying your own moral standard?

Third, “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thes. 2:14). People are brought to Christ through the supernatural proclamation of the Gospel. You don’t win people to Christ, God does by His work, providence, power, and will.

I leave you with these words recorded in the Daily Telegraph of 1874 from Charles Spurgeon, who was responding to the admonishment of a fellow minister, 

Well, dear friends, you know that some men can do to the glory of God what to other men would be sin. And notwithstanding what brother Pentecost has said, I intend to smoke a good cigar to the glory of God before I go to bed to-night.

If anybody can show me in the Bible the command, 'Thou shalt not smoke,' I am ready to keep it; but I haven't found it yet. I find ten commandments, and it's as much as I can do to keep them; and I've no desire to make them into eleven or twelve.

The fact is, I have been speaking to you about real sins, not about listening to mere quibbles and scruples. At the same time, I know that what a man believes to be sin becomes a sin to him, and he must give it up. 'Whatsoever is not of faith is sin' [Rom. 14:23], and that is the real point of what my brother Pentecost has been saying.

Why, a man may think it a sin to have his boots blacked. Well, then, let him give it up, and have them whitewashed. I wish to say that I'm not ashamed of anything whatever that I do, and I don't feel that smoking makes me ashamed, and therefore I mean to smoke to the glory of God.