Can Christians Smoke Weed?

can Christians smoke weed let's talk about [Music] it welcome to today's episode of Kingdom Clarity the goal of this channel is to bring biblical Clarity to a controversial world and today we're going to be talking about something that uh Christians have been debating for a long time is smoking weed is using marijuana is that a Christian Liberty or is that overtly sinful and I'm going to start by answering that question I think it depends what exactly are we talking about are we talking about the use of medical marijuana are we talking about smoking weed those can be two very different things and so uh in this episode we're going to talk about what is the B say about our bodies and is this permissible is this sinful uh the age-old argument has been uh for many generations well it's illegal so it kind of stopped this conversation for uh quite a time where it was the law of the land and you got to obey the law of the land it's illegal well this is not really uh as applicable as it used to be because many states have passed the use of medical and recreational marijuana so the question isn't so much is it legal the question becomes is it permissible is it sinful should I have the choice within Christian Liberty or does the Bible say something different now I know for many people in this conversation they' brought up uh other issues of the body and they say well if we're going to talk about this we got to talk about alcohol and we got to talk about food and obesity and I would say those are good conversations but that's not the point of this video today we're going to singularly talk about marijuana and its use with Christians and so here's some of the verses that have been used um to kind of support a nonuse of marijuana that that these kind of restrict the use in any way at least they've been applied by many uh in this way and so 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 12 says everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial everything is permissible for me but I will not be Mastered by anything it's so when you talk about substances and today we're talking about the use of marijuana cannabis weed I'm going to Interchange those phrases but uh I will not be Mastered by anything uh marijuana is one of those one of those substances that you don't just use once every six months it's usually something that becomes a daily or multiple times a week can become a habit and we'll talk about is that a good habit is it a bad habit is it sinful but um Paul makes it clear that we are not meant to be Mastered by anything nothing should have control over us so that would be true uh he continues in uh chapter 6 verse 19 and 20 he says do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have received from God you are not your own you were bought at a price therefore honor God with your body so the question is can we honor God by using the substances uh and we're going to talk about what effects they have on your brain and your body and your Ambitions and the question is can I honor God in the temple of the Holy Spirit while using these things um the Bible also teaches in 1 Peter 5:8 be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lying seeking whom he may devour and so in this word in 1 Peter chapter 5 we get this word sober now what does this mean this means to be self-controlled free of confusion clearheaded of sound mind to keep your head and so in this verse we acknowledge that there is an enemy of our soul that wants wants to distract us wants to destroy us wants to uh have us become addicted to things that um do not edify us that don't build us up they don't help us and so uh Christians in this text to be sober minded to be clearheaded again we ask the question can you smoke weed and be clear-headed can you be of sober mind is your thinking impaired um and so we're going to talk about some of the medical uh benefits potentially and some of the big drawbacks of is it possible to be sober minded and lastly in Galatians chapter 5 verses 16- 21 Paul says so I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of your flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are LED by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious now he's going to list what these acts of the flesh are and there's a word that you're going to hear in the English that's not going to translate how it would have in the Greek the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and Witchcraft another word that's used in other translations is sorcery and what we think of is just tarot cards and palm readings and you know Ouija boards but what the original intent of this word and the word that we see in the Greece Greek is Pharma and this word Pharmaca it's talking about having an altered state of mind and for them this would lead into Pagan worship and into um other demonic things but it was substances specifically this could be through drink or by smoking it and hailing it and jesting it there were many ways to receive these but uh to have an altered state of mind is really what this text is saying Pharma then it goes on it says hatred Discord jealousy fits of raid selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God it's so this word Pharmaca the there's a use in this that I think applies to any substance that alters your mind so I'm going to break this into two parts we're going to talk about medical marijuana and then we're going to talk about recreational use which means I'm not using this for medicinal purposes I wasn't prescribed by a doctor um I just like getting high okay we're going to talk about those two different realities so medical marijuana uh it has been proven there are many many studies uh today I'm going to be referencing the the Mayo Clinic and a couple other medical journals but um it is pretty widely substantiated that there is a medical benefit in some cases to the use of non-smoked marijuana okay I was clear in that um cannabis oils Edibles um you know different topical ointments those can have a real medical benefit in what of the cases that it provides a medical benefit well it provides a medical benefit in severe and chronic pain it won't take the pain away forever but it can help lessen it for a time it can help with multiple sclerosis and muscle spasms it can help with uh severe nausea and vomiting that comes uh from cancer treatments it can help with epilepsy and seizures and so we see that cannabis it does have a um ability to treat symptoms but rarely will treat the actual condition so is that permissible is this the same is taking an ibuprofen it's going to help take my pain away for a time but you know I I don't like how that makes me feel or I have a bad reaction to it is it permissible is it Christian Liberty and I would say there is a large difference between taking cannabis medically for the sake of symptom relief and sitting around and smoking weed I think those are two different things and so if we're talking about using it medically uh respond responsibly and not just to get high and get you know this euphoric feeling I would say that falls within Christian Liberty um if you feel more comfortable taking it I think that is uh it's permissible uh in that guideline but we're going to flip the conversation over to recreational because 90% of the use users of marijuana in the United States uh they use recreationally so uh there are 10% that use it medicinally almost everybody is using this recreationally and so what are some of the realities of marijuana what are some of the risks what are some of the side effects and I want you just to imagine for a second if you're like a I'm I'm in favor I'm a proponent weed should be totally fine within the church however I want to use it I can use it well I'm going to list some of the risks and some of the effects of uh marijuana use and for a moment I would just ask you don't think about marijuana when I'm saying these risks let's say I'm talking about something completely different something you're not in favor of and you tell me at the end of this if you think that this would be a good recommendation to someone uh to be using on a regular basis with all of these known side effects so the Mayo Clinic the Journal of Neuroscience uh they list many side effect effects and uh potential issues with it so one of the ways that they uh show problematic uh use of marijuana is that smoking marijuana regularly it can drastically damage the cells in the bronchial passage which protects the body against inhaled microorganisms and decreases the ability of immune cells in the lungs to fight off fungi and bacteria and tumor cells so for patients already with a weakened immune system this means a massive increase in the possibility of dangerous pulmonary infections including pneumonia this is true anytime you are inhaling smoke into your lungs you are taking on a large risk um their study concludes that users of marijuana within an hour of using marijuana they have a more than quadruple risk than the average person of having a heart attack that's a big risk that's a big effect researchers found that smoking cannabis is associated with the same AG degree of bronchial mucus membrane damage as smoking 20 cigarettes a day now most people are going to say smoking cigarettes is is bad for you it's wrong but because marijuana has a more natural element to it because it grows out of the ground many people just think it doesn't have the same effects it's a widely known fact that uh smoking marijuana leads to short-term memory loss it leads to distorted perception it leads to trouble with thinking and problem solving it leads to a loss of motor skills a decrease in muscle strength increased heart rate increased anxiety these are all known effects M Clinic says that marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70% more carcinogens than tobacco smoke and has the potential to cause cancer of the lungs and the respiratory track and so we asked these questions in the beginning is it honoring my body to be recreationally using marijuana and I'm talking about smoking it for no real Medical benefit does this contradict the Mandate we see in scripture to keep our bodies pure I think it does I think in certain cases medical marijuana non-smoking CBD uh these can be helpful and they fall under Christian Liberty but I think that recreational marijuana we have to ask the question why are people using it I think we're using dude for real I smoked weed for years many many years many times a day for many years I understand why I was smoking weed because there was an escape there was a release there there was a chemical change in my brain that felt kind of good I could disconnect um sometimes it brought on more laughter and I could sit around and just kind of be um in in the moment enjoying the TV show or whatever I was doing and for me the reason I was smoking marijuana uh it wasn't anything to do with a medical benef it had to do with a de-stressor that didn't last um but also to be kind of out of my sober mind was kind of the point and I think many people uh that would be your reasoning as well um marijuana is known to be addictive now I know some people argue this and fight this this is a known fact and anyone who has ever used it regularly um you know you don't just quit one day and never use again uh easily it is a it is a difficult path to wean yourself off of marijuana not doesn't have the same chemicals as cigarettes to keep you addicted but it absolutely has been proven to be addictive and so the scripture that we read earlier in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 I'm not to be Mastered by anything well it's kind of hard to be addicted to something and say that it doesn't Master you and I would just Cheng you if you don't think you're Mastered by it and you smoke weed regularly and you're a Christian uh go two weeks starting today finish this video and prove to yourself that you're not Mastered by it just quit for two weeks I bet you it's going to be a lot more difficult or impossible for you to do that on your own and so uh these two reasons alone the medical benef side effects plus The Addictive nature of it uh when we are called to be transformed formed by the renewing of our mind so if if we need something to be happening in our mind the Bible isn't telling us to deaden our mind and I'm going to prove to you in a moment that there is an effect on your actual brain when you smoke weed that is deadening your brain and over time you become a lot less smart cognitive and focused uh and so are we to be uh renewing our mind or deadening our mind we to be of sober mind or are we just supposed to be so high that we don't really care about the things that are happening around us and so there was a man uh who did a uh pretty deep and detailed study from Northwestern University his name was Hans brider and he's quoted as saying just casual use of marijuana appears to create changes in the brain in areas you do not want to change and and so in his study he took 20 different light relatively light marijuana smokers and then he took 20 nonsmokers and he did a bunch of tests and he put them under uh certain medical instruments and all 40 of these students went went underneath the exact same tests they had MRIs they had brain scans done so the study found that there were two drastic changes to the amydala and the nuclear part of your brain there were massive changes in volume shape and density and so for the people that smoked weed this part of your brain the amydala that is involved in your emotion and motivation and even many mental illnesses they they derive from this part of your brain and and we're seeing a big change in the 20 moderate to light weed smokers in a part of the brain that he says you do not want to mess around with you don't want changes in this part of your brain and so the more marijuana that these students smoked the more changes that there were their brains differed the more they smoked and so we see a decline in IQ in those who regularly smoke marijuana we see a decline in focus in motivation in drive and ambition we see all of this related to the person who recreationally Smokes on a regular basis and so uh I'm going to answer the question I I is smoking weed permissible for the Christian I would say medically it's a Christian Liberty recreationally it's a hard no it's a hard no because you're not in sober mind uh you are willingly allowing all of these negative side effects and negative consequences now you're willingly just taking these in and taking them on and I would say if we took all of these side effects and I just gave them to you and said should any Christian just willingly do this you know a couple times a week couple times a day and just casually use something that causes this effect I would say no one would say yeah I think that's a I think that's a good idea and So my answer is if you don't have a specific medical condition you're just getting high you're just using weed as an escape as a mind altering uh form to probably Escape something that needs counseling and needs actual attention and so uh I would be interested to hear from you in the comments where did I get it wrong where did I miss it today do you agree do you think that the Christian can smoke as much weed as they want whenever they want for as however long as they want I'd love to hear from you in the comments we're going to continue this next week as we talk through more Christian Liberties what is permissible for the Christian I thank you today for joining us for Kingdom Clarity our goal is to bring biblical Clarity to a controversial World hope to see you back here next week [Music]

Channel: Kingdom Clarity

Views: 5,177

Keywords: Pastor, bible, church, christian, christianity, smoking, weed, marijuana

Id: cDSWyBKmi5c

Length: 20min 13sec (1213 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 20 2024