A Yoke, or a Delight? - Christians and Marijuana

Pastoral Position Paper - Virgil Hurt

We are to do all to the glory of God. We are to love God with our whole being. The greatest of the commandments is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.(Matt 22:37-38) We are to love God this way at all times. But, in order to love God and glorify him with our mind, that mind must be clear. To the extent that our mind is muddled, we will not be able to honor God with it.

Can we imagine a world in which godly men and women smoke marijuana to the glory of God? It almost sounds blasphemous to even think it, but what biblical principles are we using when we simply feel aghast? I imagine that in the vast majority of the Christian communities of America, most of those Christians would be aghast at other Christians drinking wine or beer or smoking a cigar with the men. However, they would be wrong. We must establish our behavior not from the prevailing wind, but rather, from the Word of God.

Our concern is whether a Christian can honor God while using recreational drugs. This proposition may sound ludicrous, but if we consider the freedom we have in Christ and the lawfulness of all foods, might we not be able to make a case for the freedom to do such things?

What are the guiding principles regarding use of such things that effect the clarity of the mind? Primarily we appeal to the the prohibition of drunkenness, and secondarily to the principle of wisdom.

Marijuana, even in very small amounts, causes the mind to be drunk, and a sense of loss of control sets in. Heavier users experience more extreme symptoms, such as delusions, lethargy, boredom, and apathy. I don’t think we need argue against these extreme effects.

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise , but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God (Eph. 5:15-21).

What a wonderful litmus test to the lawfulness of any behavior. Can you do it joyfully with other saints while singing psalms and hymns to the Lord?

A heavy use of marijuana is clearly sinful. We don’t have a problem recognizing the sinful behavior of the alcoholic. What might be argued for by some Christians, however, is a casual use. If we are not addicted, that is, a pothead, might we not smoke just one joint? If you say we ought not smoke marijuana at all, then how does it differ from alcohol? What about tobacco?

Marijuana has a qualitative difference from alcohol, or for that matter, tobacco. In properly used amounts, alcohol has a cheering effect on the mind. The Bible says that wine gladdens the heart of man. It actually brings clarity and cheerfulness before it brings slowness and a lisping tongue. Marijuana clouds the mind from the very onset of the high. Wine and beer can be consumed by the glass without causing drunkenness. Marijuana causes a high almost immediately. Heavy or long-term users argue that they can smoke a lot of dope without being high, but no one else around them agrees. We have heard this same argument from alcoholics. Besides, how can you defend spending many years building up an immunity to drugs or alcohol in order to be able to partake of larger amounts without getting high or drunk?

Alcohol use is clearly lawful as our Lord not only turned the water into wine in the joy of the celebration at Cana, but drank wine himself. “John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking and they say, He has a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber’” (Matt. 11:18-19). It is not necessary to establish the lawfulness of alcohol, beyond our Lord’s use of it as a man.

However, the blessing comes with regulation. The Scriptures clearly teach us not to be drunk with wine. There are multiple warnings about drunkenness, and drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God. We can apply the principle of drunkenness to drug use. Although Scripture does not give us a strict definition of drunkenness, it does give us a good description in Proverbs 23. Drunkenness includes delusions, a biting hangover, sea tossings. and the desire for more in the morning. The delusions and swaying are marks of being out of control. A lisping tongue or slow speech might be other signs of drunkenness. With marijuana, the symptoms may look slightly different. Apathy, silliness, boredom, to name a few.

I am not attempting to establish a legalistic view of drug use. Using marijuana is not a sin in and of itself, as if marijuana were some particular evil substance. The prohibitionists tried that tack with alcohol and produced more sin than they got rid of. In fact, no drug is sinful. How can that be, you say, look what drugs make you do! You go out of your mind when you smoke marijuana or crack. How can you say they are not sinful? I say so because it takes a man to be full of sin. The drug itself is no more sinful than a lightbulb. Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man” (Matt 15:16-18). Thus, foods, herbs, drugs, things in general, are not evil or sinful by themselves

Furthermore, we have the admonition from the apostle about returning to a legalistic view of foods. “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—’Do not touch,’ ‘Do not taste,’ ‘Do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Col.2:20-23). It is not prohibition that makes one righteous. Righteousness flows from within, through Christ, as does wickedness, through the flesh.

If the mere act of taking a toke of marijuana were a sin, then puffing a cigarette or a cigar would be also. But cigarettes and cigars don’t alter the mind the same way marijuana does, but might it not be possible to take a puff or two of marijuana without being high (drunk) with it? I concede that it might be possible. However, I cannot conceive of a circumstance in which a Christian would want to take simply a puff or two from a joint as a lawful act that glorifies the Father. Marijuana, by its nature, cannot be enjoyed over any length of time without getting high. Other than getting high, what reason is there to smoke a joint? You can’t smoke it for an hour like you can a cigar or a pipe. You can’t even smoke it for fifteen minutes or five minutes.

Is it a sin to take a single, tiny puff, and not inhale? Well, this wouldn’t be the sin of drunkenness, but rather the sin of comitting random acts with no point, a subject beyond the scope of this paper. We can conceive of any number of acts we might commit that are lawful in themselves, but become sinful in the way we do them. Is your cigar a show to impress your sophisticated friends? Affectation and ostentation are condemned as well. But is it a sin to smoke any amount of marijuana for the effect? Of course.

What if your only desire is curiosity? Like Solomon, you want to examine the inside of this thing to see if there is any wisdom in it. You will find, just as he did, mere vanity.

If you want to argue hard for the freedom to do something that is as close to sin as possible, without being the real thing, then you are probably already in sin. To purposefully get as close to sin as possible is, at the least, foolish. In fact, it has probably already given fruit to sin in the heart. Although a man could theoretically take in miniscule amounts of marijuana without sinning, what is he doing? He is like a man walking across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope. His action is legal and foolish. It will only take a puff or two to blow him into the abyss.

We don’t want to be in the place of prohibiting something the Scriptures do not prohibit. Thus, I will not say, categorically, in every circumstance, smoking marijuana is a sin. It is, however, sinful in the way everybody does it. We do not need to defend hypothetical usages that would only encourage people in their sin. If Christians were arguing for a casual use of 151 (nearly pure alcohol), I would discourage it in the same fashion. A sip or two, a puff or two. To what purpose? Merely to flaunt our freedom? Or to flaunt our folly?

Furthermore, if we seriously entertain the freedom of the Christian to smoke marijuana, then why not crack? Just one microscopically small rock? Wouldn t it be theoretically possible to get just a small exhilaration from cocaine, without being stupefied by it? Well, I couldn t tell you, but I think we have established the principle why we needn t find out.
You may still contend that a casual and self controlled use of marijuana is lawful. Isn’t it just the same as wine? Let us proceed to the scriptural uses of alcohol and see if we could just as easily substitute marijuana.

In feasting, fine wine enhances a good meal. Alcohol, particularly wine, and in some cases well-brewed beer, have the high ground on marijuana. Can you imagine sitting down to a choice steak, expertly grilled, and then pulling out your bong for just that special finish for the meal?

Celebration. The wedding at Cana gives us a good example. Jesus refilled the wine barrels. It was important to the celebration. A party with a large contingent of potsmokers is quite different. Although there were possibly drunks at the wedding, everyone would have been stoned if there was such an abundance of pot floating around. Would Jesus have turned the yard clippings into sensimillon if the pot had all been smoked? There simply is no place for a marijuana party in the Christian world. Could we enjoy a joint together on the Lord’s day? We can sinlessly sip a glass or two of wine. We cannot sinlessly smoke a couple of marijuana cigarettes.

Thirst. It is possible for a man to live entirely on wine or beer as his thirst quencher. I hear tell in Germany they prefer a good draught to a glass of water. Marijuana is not a refreshment or sustainer. It is not a food, as such. Alcoholic beverages fall in the category of food while marijuana does not.

Communion. The Lord used the cup as a symbol of his blood that was to be shed. We find no common ground for marijuana here. However, we must remember that the establishment of communion was at the feast of the Passover. The wine was clearly a part of the celebration. It does have the ability to make the heart glad, and yet our Lord partook of this without sin. Would it have been possible for the apostles to be passing around a joint at the dinner as they passed around the cup?

What about medicinal use? Alcohol is established as a medicine. Paul tells Timothy, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach s sake and your frequent infirmities” (1 Tim 5:23). We are to receive medicine as a blessing from God. We thank Him that we now have much better medicines than alcohol. However, we live in a sedated and overmedicated society. We ought to seek the healing hand of God and also not refuse His means for healing, whether they be direct or through the physician.

A medicinal use of marijuana is not prohibited. However, the kinds of symptoms marijuana is now being prescribed for could be better treated by less mind-numbing drugs. Marijuana is prescribed for nausea related to wasting diseases, such as aids or cancer. This kind of nausea can be quite debilitating. There is a pill version of marijuana’s active ingredient THC that will do what a joint does, without carrying with it the stigma of being a pothead. If that is the best drug for the symptom, no problem. If drugs are necessary, we should seek the advice of a Christian physician we trust. He may prescribe a drug more fitted to the Christian—one that gives relief, but minimizes the muddling of the mind.

Another aspect of drug use is for the dying patient. Ought we to see them pass in complete physical comfort along with confusion of mind or should we strive to comfort our dying loved ones as best we can while keeping the mind as clear as possible? It is of great importance that a man s final days and minutes are marked with clear communication, both with those being left and with the Lord whom he shall soon see. We want assurance of the dying man’s peace with God. How can we have this if he is so drugged that he cannot carry on an understandable conversation? If it is necessary to sedate a dying patient because of intense pain, mind altering drugs should be kept to as low levels as the patient can tolerate.

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Cor. 6:12). God has granted us a tremendous amount of freedom in living the Christian life, and it is, indeed, the good life. He has lavished upon us the blessings of food and drink. We partake of these with great joy. Let us continue in wisdom, not swinging our freedom around on a rope and destroying the very thing we are trying to establish. Christians and marijuana are a bad combination.