Homily on Smoking and Other Enslaving Addictions
Saint Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia was one of his earliest communications with the Church. He had visited that area early in his missionary journeys and left there a church with the kind of spiritual fire and enthusiasm we associate with Pentecost. But later, after Paul had left the area, some Jews who had converted to Christ came in and poisoned the well. They reasoned that Jesus was a Jew, and came to fulfill the Jewish Law, but Paul had not taught Galatia the obvious truth: to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, you must obey the Jewish law. That involved circumcision for the men, a whole host of dietary laws like not eating shellfish and observing certain feasts and fasts and prayer rituals.
Now the Church had settled all that with the Council of Jerusalem somewhere about ten years after Christ’s Resurrection, but there were still some false disciples spreading the fake news. Paul had a simple rejoinder: did you get spiritual gifts from observing the Law, or from living as Jesus did and as I taught? If you get tied up with the Law, will you be enjoying the freedom of the sons of God, or will you be enslaved to a bunch of rules?
So Paul wrote his letter and included a reminder from Christ: “the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Of course you say, that’s more than one word, isn’t it? The one word is “Jesus.” Jesus lived the maxim to love His neighbor as Himself. In fact, He gave His life fulfilling that Law. He was crucified to save all His neighbors.
St. Paul went on to list all the self-centered human actions that ran against that One Word, “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry” and the rest of the list of sins against the last seven rules in the Ten Commandments. Then he listed the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which you may have memorized, “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness” and the one that sums up the list. That one is self-control. These characteristics are of all who walk by the Spirit.
Self-control is the one most people forget, and the least popular on the list. Why is that?
When we are toddlers, we often get into trouble by doing things that seem to feel good or make us feel grown-up but are personally harmful. When I was a toddler, I saw both my parents use cigarettes, so I took one of my mother’s cigarettes, and I ate it. That was not a good experience. In fact, I grew up in a house that usually had a fine haze of cigarette smoke filling it. It smelled funny and sometimes made me cough. When my folks cautioned me not to smoke, I readily complied. Oh, they also told me if I wanted to try to smoke, they would let me do it at home. They needn’t have said that because I experienced it as a vile habit, and the Surgeon General had warned against it. When I earned my credentials as a chemist, it made even more sense not to do it and experiment with my own body.
Over the next decades we learned that Big Tobacco had spent lots of money hiding the fact that the nicotine in tobacco products was one of the most addictive drugs still legal. But that fact was borne out daily by people we knew who wanted for health reasons to quit smoking but found the craving too controlling of their behavior. They gave up until, as with my parents, their health deteriorated to a point when they could no longer rationalize the habit. Many didn’t even give up then. There are stories all over the Internet about people on supplemental oxygen who took out their O-two lines to sneak a smoke.
I found this statement from a Protestant pastor who tried to quit on-line: “There is nothing like having a smoke after a good meal and a cup of coffee and I was craving a cigarette.” That's true. There is nothing like it for hurting yourself.
But self-control, that wondrous, tough-love gift of the Spirit, has applications to all kinds of addictions. Let’s do an examination of conscience briefly.
Using pornographic materials is a bad habit that can enslave the soul of both men and women, particularly when it accompanies self-abuse. Video games can be addictive, as can in-person or on-line gambling. We justify it as harmless fun? Not at all. It hurts all who use it. Even having a cell phone can be an occasion of sinful overuse and can give us a bent cervical spine.
And “can a Christian whose life is dedicated to God be enslaved to a consciousness-altering drug? Though tobacco was unknown to the Bible writers, they were quite familiar with another drug: alcohol. The Bible unequivocally condemns drunkenness,” which is an addiction. Then there are the illegal drugs, easy to obtain and very addictive. Moreover, they are harmful to the individual and his family. All these things can enslave us and injure our bodies and spirits.
So here’s a principle to follow: Any activity or substance use that harms your body, mind or spirit and can leave you addicted to it is evil. It cannot help you to grow into an image of Jesus Christ and takes you in the other direction. It is wrong.
There are institutions and counselors who can help you escape from your addiction. We can help you find them easily. The first step in achieving self-control is to pray, and to find the aids that can help you become free. Free to become an image of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the saints.
