Reasons Why God's People Should Not Abuse Drugs
Reasons Why God's People Should Not Abuse Drugs
I. Drug Abuse Is Illegal
All of these drugs are illegal without a doctor's prescription. Most cannot be obtained even with a prescription.
Use for social purposes, personal pleasure, to get a high, to escape reality, etc., is illegal.Specifically, marijuana is illegal to sell, give away, or even possess. Possession of less than an ounce might lead to a year in prison, and possession of over an ounce can lead to several years in prison (per Ft. Wayne, Indiana, police department).
To disobey civil law is to sin against God.
Romans 13:1-5 - God ordained governing authorities. To resist them is to resist God's ordinance. Those who disobey may be punished by the authorities, but they also have harmed their conscience toward God.
1 Peter 2:13,14 - Submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. [Tit. 3:1]
This ought to settle the matter for every true believer. Drug abuse, including marijuana use, is illegal and therefore sinful.Some people favor legalization of marijuana. But even if it is legalized, there are reasons Christians should not use it.
II. Drug Abuse Constitutes Intoxication
"Intoxication" is defined: "to affect temporarily with diminished control over the physical and mental powers, by means of alcoholic liquor, a drug, or other substance..." (Random House College Dictionary). Note that, if mental or physical powers are diminished, whether by alcohol or a drug, that is intoxication.
All drugs we have described alter the user's state of mind so as to cause intoxication.
Our discussion of drug effects showed that all of them produce an artificial "high," a sense of "euphoria," a false sense of well-being, or similar change in brain function.Consider some other quotes confirming this.
"One marijuana cigarette causes a 41% decrease in driving skills. Two cigarettes cause a 63% decrease" - "The Facts about Marijuana," Dr. Harold Voth (via Focus on the Family Newsletter, 9/81).
"Driving while stoned is as dangerous as driving while drunk, maybe more so. This fact has been proven many times over..." - Marijuana: Time for a Closer Look, Curtis Janeczek, pp. 88,89.
The First Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (1972) said regarding marijuana: "At low, usual 'social' doses, the intoxicated individual may experience an increased sense of well-being..." (via "Marijuana - It's Far from a Harmless High!," Plain Truth, 1/80, p. 28).
Note that marijuana causes intoxication even at "low, usual 'social' doses."
"The intake of 5 to 10 milligrams of delta-9-THC into the bloodstream is held to be sufficient to induce cannabis intoxication ... one can readily see that a single marijuana cigarette of the drug type is sufficient to induce a marijuana 'high'" - Marihuana Today, Russell, p. 6.
So even a single marijuana cigarette produces intoxication. And this is the mildest drug we are studying. All the others produce even greater degrees of intoxication.
The Bible clearly rebukes intoxication.
Like our English word, the Greek word for "drunk" refers to "intoxication, drunkenness ... to get drunk, become intoxicated..." (Thayer).Romans 13:12-14 - Cast off the works of darkness, walk properly, not in drunkenness. Make no provision to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - People who are guilty of drunkenness, will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 5:11 - If a church member commits drunkenness and refuses to repent, he should be disciplined so we don't keep company with him.
Hence, whether caused by alcohol or by other drugs, intoxication violates God's word. But use of any drug we are studying, including just one marijuana cigarette, causes intoxication.
[Matt. 24:45-51; Luke 12:45; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:6-8]
III. Drug Abuse Is a Lack Of Sobriety and Self-Control
One of the main reasons why God condemns intoxication is that, as Christians we face many serious temptations. In order to distinguish right from wrong and then have the will power to resist evil, our minds must think clearly and control our bodies. The Bible calls this sobriety and self-control.
Mind-altering drugs weaken the mind's ability to think clearly, distinguish right from wrong, and exercise will power.
This is true of all the drugs we have studied. Consider:"...in a typical LSD trance ... a person's inhibitions tend to disappear. This breaks down a person's will to resist" - "Drug Addiction"/"Narcotics," D.C. Parks, p. 18.
In testimony to a U.S. Senate subcommittee, Dr. Hardin Jones said regarding marijuana users: "They are easily induced into risky, impetuous and foolish behavior, such as acceptance of heroin, LSD, and other dangerous drugs, and homosexual experience, which are later regretted" - Russell, p. 28.
- Dr. Walter X. Lehmann, M.D., said: "Anyone who says 'pot' is harmless will get an argument from me. It hasn't been harmless for any of the nearly 3000 young people I've worked with as a specialist in adolescent medicine. Virtually all who became addicted to hard drugs started with marijuana, which distorted their judgment and put them into the drug scene" - "Marijuana Alert ... Enemy of Youth," Reader's Digest, 12/79 (reprint, p. 6).
- Dr. Franz Winkler: "An early effect of marijuana and hashish use is a progressive loss of will power, already noticeable to the trained observer after about six weeks of moderate use. This loss of will power weakens the ability to resist coercion, so that marijuana users too often fall victim to hard drug pushers, extortionists, and deviates" - Russell, p. 33.
The Bible forbids participating, for the sake of personal pleasure, in practices that hinder our moral judgment or weaken our self-control.
1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 - Being sober is the opposite of being drunk and is associated with being alert and watchful.1 Peter 1:13-17 - Be sober, gird up the loins of your mind so you can avoid lusts and be obedient and holy. This requires being alert.
1 Peter 5:8,9 - Be sober so we can be on guard for the devil, resist him, and not be devoured by him. Realizing how dangerous Satan is, we should keep our minds clear so we can recognize his deceit and resist his temptations.
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 - Bring our bodies into subjection to our minds, exercising temperance (self-control) like athletes in training, so our bodies will be properly guided by our minds.
Proverbs 4:23 - Keep your heart (mind) with all diligence because it must decide the issues of life.
Struggling against evil is difficult and dangerous at best, even with the clearest of faculties. That is why God has forbidden intoxication. There are other ways to violate these principles, but drug abuse is surely one way.
[2 Tim. 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:1-7; Tit. 2:2,4,6,12; Acts 24:25; Gal. 5:23; 2 Pet. 1:6]
IV. Drug Abuse Tempts People to Fall Farther and Deeper into Sin.
A. The Bible Warns Us to Avoid Temptations and Evil Influences
We should not participate, to please ourselves or other people, in activities that tempt us to sin or that endanger our service to God.Proverbs 22:3 - A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. Instead of walking into spiritually dangerous situations, we should hide from them.
1 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits."
Matthew 6:13 - We should pray for God to deliver us from evil and temptation. How can we sincerely pray this and then knowingly do things that tempt or encourage us to do evil?
Matthew 18:8,9 - We should cut off our hand or foot or eye or anything that tempts us to sin. While this is not literal, it teaches that entering eternal life and avoiding hell are so important that we should do whatever it takes to avoid sin.
Proverbs 23:17,20,21 - Specifically this principle of avoiding temptation should be applied to people who practice intoxication (drunkenness). If we want to avoid their destiny, we should not envy them or mix with them.
[Prov. 13:20; 4:14,15; 24:1,2; 1 Cor. 5:6,7; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; Heb. 12:15. Matt. 26:41; 1 Pet. 4:3,4; James 4:4; Psalm 26:5; 119:63]
B. Applications of This Principle to Drug Abuse
Use of drugs is wrong from the very beginning because all involvement tempts to greater drug use.
The person who uses drugs generally starts because of peer pressure - he gives in to temptation from others. The more involved he becomes, the greater the temptations become and the weaker his will to resist."...research shows peer pressure (wanting to be part of the crowd) is the most likely reason people start using grass" - Janeczek, p. 14.
"Virtually all who became addicted to hard drugs started with marijuana, which distorted their judgment and put them into the drug scene" - Lehmann (quoted previously).
"90% of those using hard drugs such as heroin started with marijuana" - Voth.
"An early effect of marijuana and hashish use is a progressive loss of will power, ... so that marijuana users too often fall victim to hard drug pushers, extortionists, and deviates" - Dr. Franz Winkler (quoted previously).
- "Although marijuana serves as the major 'gateway drug' into the use of illegal drugs, the major gateway drugs into marijuana use are two legal drugs - tobacco and alcohol ... A child's decision to begin smoking cigarettes is one of the most important indicators that s/he will try marijuana ... In 1976, Dr. Robert L. DuPont, then Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, pointed out that various surveys clearly demonstrated that 'marijuana is the gateway into illicit drug use in America today. If people do not use marijuana, they simply do not use other illicit substances.' [He reported:] Marijuana use is a precursor for those who go on to other drugs. Among users of stimulants and sedatives ... 97 percent report previously using marijuana; 100 percent of hallucinogen users report using marijuana; and 100 percent of cocaine users reported using marijuana..." - Parents, Peers, and Pot, Monatt, pp. 50-53.
Then they want a bigger high. They are already using an illegal drug that drug weakens their judgment and inhibition, so they have removed the barriers against stronger drugs. Soon they become another drug addict statistic.
And why did it happen? Because they were not obeying God's instructions to avoid tempting situations and tempting people.
Drug use is wrong because it tempts those who are involved to participate in other sins as well.
Drug users run with other drug users. They begin because of the influence of others. They attend parties where drugs are abused. They must obtain their drugs from drug pushers or friends who use drugs.So they become companions of people who enjoy illegal activities and who rebel against parents and authority. But this kind of people will practice other sins too. So drug users are soon tempted to all kinds of sins, including:
* Lying to cover up drug use from parents, teachers, police, and other authorities. See Rev. 21:8; 1 Tim. 1:10,11; etc.
* Disobedience to parents - Most people start drug abuse while still subject to their parents' authority, knowing that their parents object. See Eph. 6:1-3; Rom. 1:30; etc. [2 Tim. 3:2]
* Failure to do ones job or schoolwork - Drug users lose interest or ability to do work or schoolwork. They become negligent, are often absent, make careless mistakes, etc. See Ecc. 9:10; Eph. 6:5-8; etc. [Tit. 2:9,10; 2 Thess. 3:10; 1 Thess. 4:11,12; Col. 3:22-24; 1 Pet. 2:18].
* Stealing - Many drug users steal to pay for their habit, especially when they cannot get a good job because they have neglected their schoolwork or their job, etc. See 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Rom. 13:8-10; etc. [Matt. 15:19,20]
* Neglect of Bible study, prayer, worship, church work, etc. People involved in drug abuse lose interest in spiritual things because they feel guilty and because they are more interested in getting high. See 1 Cor. 15:58; Matt. 6:33; etc. [Rom. 12:1,2; Heb. 10:25; Acts 17:11; Psa. 1; 1 Thess. 5:17; Matt. 16:24]
Our point is that drug abuse is wrong even before people actually begin to practice these sins, because from the beginning it tempts people toward these things. Drug abuse is a failure to avoid temptation.
C. Some Examples Showing How Drug Use Leads to Greater Involvement in Sin
Dr. Walter Lehmann describes a typical example of the young people he treats who are on marijuana:
- Dynamic, self-possessed, he confided to me that he himself had been smoking pot, cautiously but regularly two to five times a week, enjoyed getting moderately high and had suffered no untoward effects. He felt fine, his grades remained well above average, he was captain of the soccer team and had been accepted at an Ivy League college.
- How often we hear of such overachieving easy riders among our middle-class friends nowadays. I tried to warn him about the gradual, long-term changes I had seen in other outstanding young people, but nothing would dissuade him from continuing his "moderate" marijuana use. I saw him again late that summer, just before he left for college. He was slovenly, unkempt, apathetic, slow. He admitted that he had been smoking pot heavily during summer vacation. I pleaded with him to get off it, but he ignored my advice.
- He was home by December, having been asked to leave college. By then, he was a typical heavy user. He didn't care about anything except getting high every day. His parents brought him back to me. Eventually he began to perceive what marijuana had done to him and decided he had to kick the habit.
- It wasn't easy - it rarely is. I used to think that marijuana created only a psychological dependence, without physical addiction. But now I am persuaded otherwise. I have seen too many youngsters suffer the terrible anxiety, the sleeplessness, sweating, the lack of appetite, the nausea and the general malaise of withdrawal. Fortunately, my patient had enough fortitude left in him to do it.
- He's back in college now, doing okay. His academic performance is acceptable, if mediocre - it's the best he can do, but it isn't close to the promise he once showed. He has not regained that sharp edge, that quality of drive, spirit and capability that once made him a standout. I am not optimistic that he will ever regain it. From what I have seen, there is no question that marijuana wreaks a havoc in the body, brain and psyche that can't be entirely undone - Lehmann, pp. 6,7.
Letter from Jenny.
- I started getting high to be "in," to go along with my friends. I immediately went down in school. Pot disrupts the memory banks in your brain ... And pot DOES lead to the use of other drugs. People who get stoned get to where they don't care about anything but getting high. And after a while pot just doesn't get you high enough. I got kicked out of cheerleading and eventually kicked out of school completely 'cause I was always skipping out to get high. Finally I got kicked out of my parents' house (after getting put in jail several times) because I became moody, restless, incommunicative and because I was out all hours of the day and night partying with my friends. I've been living on the streets supporting myself for a year. I've done every drug you can think of. I with through h--- getting off speed. Messed up my nose terribly on coke (and my arms) and three times I almost OD's on Acid. I'd been doing drugs for 3 years and I finally quit cold turkey a few months ago. I got some friends to talk to and I got a steady job. For the first time in 3 years I can think clearly and I'm really free. Drugs are a trap. Once you're gone you can never come back. I've seen plenty of people die of overdoses. And I've seen several people murdered over dope deals. All of them, including me, started out just smoking an occasional joint on weekends "to go along with our friends." I know I ruined my life. I once had a pretty bright future with a lot of opportunities. Now I work all day to stay alive. I'm 16 ... - Young Once, March, 1980 (reprinted in Powerline, Vol. V, #9).
Proverbs 6:27,28 - Can a man take fire to his bosom and not be burned? The sensible person, who wants to please God, will avoid playing with fire.
V. Drug Abuse Harms the Body
A. All Mind-Altering Drugs, Including Marijuana, Harm the Body.
This is true for all drugs we have discussed, when used for "recreational and social purposes." We earlier cited specific diseases, infections, and even permanent damage to the brain, heart, lungs, etc. Drugs often lead to accidents or other dangerous or even violent behavior. Many people die or are seriously injured due to overdoses. And many suffer torment from withdrawal.Consider some further evidence, especially about marijuana:
"Marijuana smoke clearly can damage the lungs. The most recent information indicates it is more harmful than tobacco smoke ... Daily [use] ... increases a woman's risk of losing her child before birth" - Janeczek, pp. 88,89.
"...CELLS DON'T LIKE POT! Period! This is probably the best known scientific fact known about the stuff ... Marijuana is poison to cells! ... That goes for lung cells, blood cells, sperm cells, brain cells..." - Janeczek, p. 23.
"Five marijuana cigarettes a week have the same cancer causing capacity as 112 conventional cigarettes" - Voth.
- Dr. Hardin B. Jones, professor of Medical Physics and Physiology at Univ. of California in Berkeley, testified to U.S. Senate subcommittee: "As an expert in human radiation effects, ... chromosome damage ... even in those who use ... (marijuana) moderately, is roughly the same type and degree of damage as in persons surviving atom bombing with a heavy level of radiation exposure ... The implications are the same" - "In Loving Memory of Larry."
- Testimony to the Internal Security Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate in May, 1974: "...Marijuana, even when used in moderate amounts, causes massive damage to the entire cellular process ... there is a growing body of evidence that marijuana inflicts irreversible damage on the brain, ... when used in a chronic manner for several years ... Chronic cannabis smoking can produce ... bronchitis, emphysema, and other respiratory difficulties in a year or less, as opposed to ten or twenty years of cigarette smoking to produce comparable complications ... Cannabis smoke, or cannabis smoke mixed with cigarette smoke, is far more damaging to lung tissues than tobacco smoke alone. The damage done is described as 'precancerous'..." - Russell, p. 8.
- The Federal government began allowing experimentation on marijuana in 1969. "These six years of research have provided strong indications that the drug in its various forms is far more hazardous than was originally suspected. In fact, eminent scientists from around the world agree that, based on recent findings, marijuana must be considered a very dangerous drug. Several of these scientists have gone so far as to state that they consider cannabis the most dangerous drug on the market today" - Russell, p. 7.
- When he cannot get the drug, he becomes very uneasy after a little time, later he becomes restless and irritable. His eyes water as though he had hay fever. He yawns and mucus runs from his nose. Still later his muscles start to twitch violently and his back, arms and legs ache severely. He has violent pains in the stomach, vomits, has diarrhea, kicks his legs and jerks his arms. He curls up in bed or on the floor and puts on as many blankets as he can find, even in the hottest weather. His feet twitch continually. If he sleeps at all, he is extremely restless. Finally sleep becomes impossible. Because he cannot retain food or liquid in his stomach, he loses weight rapidly, as much as ten pounds within twenty-four hours. About the third day without the drug, he is in the very depths of torment. He is unkempt, disheveled, dirty, neglecting all thought of personal hygiene and decency. He is utterly wretched - via "Drug Addiction," D.C. Parks, p. 3.
B. The Bible Teaches that Christians Should Care for their Bodies and Use Them to Serve God.
It is wrong - simply to please self or others - to do things that can reasonably be expected to harm our health and lives.Romans 12:1,2; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 - Your body and life belong to God and are entrusted to you to use to accomplish His will. This is a stewardship. We are responsible to care for property that belongs to someone else but has been entrusted to us for a purpose. We must use that property for the purpose of the owner, not destroy it for selfish purposes. We will give account to the owner for how we used his property - Luke 12:42ff; 1 Peter 4:10; 1 Cor. 4:2.
3 John 2 - We pray for good health. Is it fair to ask God to protect our health and cure us of diseases, then turn around and selfishly practice things we know harm our health? [James 5:13; 2 Kings 20:1-7; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; 2 Sam. 12:13-23]
Matthew 25:35,36,43 - Christians should have compassion on the sick and care for them. People who knowingly harm their health for self-pleasure, are working contrary to Christian goals. Should we knowingly harm our health and then expect other Christians to have compassion on us when our habits destroy our health?
When simply for the sake of pleasing himself or his friends, a Christian participates in activities that are known to harm his health, that person has abused his stewardship and misused his God-given health. Yet this is exactly what happens when people abuse drugs.
VI. Drug Abuse Sets a Bad Example and Constitutes Fellowship with Sin.
A. Many Passages Teach Christians to Set a Good Example and Avoid Fellowship with Sinful Conduct.
1 Timothy 4:12 - Even in our youth, our manner of life, purity, etc., should be a good example to others.Matthew 18:6,7 - Woe to people whose example leads other people to sin.
Matthew 5:13-16 - Our lives should be such that they lead others to give glory to God.
Ephesians 5:11 - Don't fellowship the works of darkness, but reprove them.
[1 Pet. 2:15,16; 3:16; 1 Tim. 5:22; Tit. 2:7,8; Rom. 1:32; Prov. 28:10]
B. Drug Abusers Violate These Passages by Setting a Bad Example and Having Fellowship with Sin.
Consider the drug user's influence and fellowship with the following people:Fellowship with drug dealers
All people realize that dealing drugs is evil. It is definitely illegal. It promotes and encourages sin, causing harm and grief to many people. When you buy drugs, you share in the dealers' sin and you support him financially when you should be rebuking them. You are having direct fellowship in his sin. Note 2 John 9-11.Influence on drug users or potential drug users
People almost never begin using drugs alone. They begin because they want to go along with the crowd, please others, be a part of the group, etc. Several earlier quotations establish this.If your example encourages others to begin or to continue using drugs, you are violating the passages about influence. You are having fellowship with sin, not reproving it. You encourage people to enter sin and stay in sin, when you should be urging them to leave it.
Specifically, reformed drug addicts must completely abstain from drugs. Their first use of drugs will addict them again. If your example encourages them to return to drugs, you share in the guilt.
Influence on people who need to become Christians
Christians should help sinners learn the gospel, leave their sins, and serve Christ. We should never do anything to hinder their salvation.But a drug abuser generally doesn't care about the salvation of the lost. If he did try to teach others, his own example would turn people off so they would not listen. And if he claims to be a Christian, his example would hinder the efforts of other Christians to save lost sinners.
Instead of fulfilling God's command to be a good example and save souls, the drug abuser is a barrier to the salvation of the lost.
Comments
Post a Comment