SMOKING AND RELIGION

     When the great conservative English Baptist pastor, C. H. Spurgeon, finished a "glorified" worship experience he was known to have said, "I am going to go home and smoke a cigar to the glory of God."  When I served as pastor in Wheatley, KY, while in seminary, most of my members raised and smoked tobacco.  I only encouraged them to tithe on the profits! One of my professors, Dr. Eric Rust, at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY, would often deposit his pipe on the desk before leading us in prayer.  Of course, smoking has increasingly been seen as a health hazard and so who could encourage others to smoke?  Not me!
     An artcile by Rodney Clap recently cited Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Christian who was killed during the Holocaust, as a smoker.  Bonhoeffer's works have been quoted through the years.  In one entry, Bonhoeffer says, "I am very grateful for my smoking supplies."  Other theological figures were also known to have smoked.  C. S. Lewis smoked incessantly as well as J. R. R. Tolkien.  Other theologians that lit up were:  Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, James Gustafson, and Richard John Neuhaus. 
     Of course, serious objections have arisen by some.  When theologian Paul Ramsey appeared on the cover of the Methodist magazine, CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, it was not his remarks on war but the photo of Ramsey with a pipe in hand that sparked controversy.  Both Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon were referred to by one person as "tobacco-country luminaries." 
     Beyond tongue and cheek humor, Clap suggests that God has always had an interest in fire and smoke!  He gives three reasons why persons enjoy smoking.  First, it presents an occasion for patience.  It takes 45 minutes to smoke a good cigar.  Second,  smoking enhances conversation with others as people puff together.  Third, it is an aesthetic pleasure. 
     In my church tradition there was a saying, "We don't smoke and we don't chew and we don't go with girls that do."  I don't smoke.  (Well, I have smoked a couple of cigars at celebrations and I have fired up my Grandmpa Brewer's old pipe on a couple of occasions).  I don't chew.  (Well, Dickie Duvall gave me a chew at a church softball game in KY years ago, but I turned green and puked).  And I didn't go with girls that smoked.  (Well, I guess there was one short romance).
     But some great Christ-followers have.  Even Dietrich Bonhoeffer!  I guess if you light up, do it for the glory of God.  Afterall, everything we do should be for his glory!