Marijuana becomes legal across Canada this Wednesday, October 17th. As marijuana use becomes normalized—including a host of products containing THC (the active ingredient in marijuana)—how are Christians to react? Is it permissible for Christians to smoke marijuana or use any cannabis products? For these questions, like any other, we must turn to Scripture, God’s word and our authority as followers of Christ.
Now, if you tried looking up smoking, marijuana, or cannabis in the Bible, your search would come up empty. The Bible does not explicitly mention it, but that doesn’t mean the Bible does not explicitly address it.
Drunkenness is clearly forbidden (Eph 5:18; Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 5:11, 6:10; Gal 5:21). Sobriety is clearly commanded (1 Pet 1:13, 4:7, 5:8; 1 Thess 5:8; 1 Tim 3:2). From these passages alone, one could readily see that sobriety of mind is the goal of the Christian and we should flee substances that would leave us intoxicated, losing inhibition or self-control.
What appears clear can lose clarity when other believers make the following objections:
Objection 1: “But it is legal now in our country! And as Christians, are we not under law but under grace? What about moderation? Cannot one partake without taking it to be intoxicated?”
In the first letter written to the Corinthians, the Corinthian church had a similar objection. They were not speaking of cannabis usage, but they were arguing that it was lawful to be joined to a prostitute—a culturally acceptable and lawful practice in their day. They said, “All things are lawful for me.” Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, replied, “but not all things are helpful.” Again they said, “All things are lawful to me.” Paul replied, “but I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
In other words, we may think we are free to partake if the law does not forbid it. But when we ask, “Is this helpful? Is this going to dominate me?” You’d have to answer “no” to the former, and “yes” to the latter. Is this practice the most excellent choice we can make? Is this practice going to bring glory to Christ? Is this practice going to bring honor to the church? Is this practice going to fill my heart with love for Christ? Whether something is lawful in our country is not the final word on whether it should be a Christian practice.
Objection 2: “Cannabis is a natural plant, surely there can be nothing wrong with that.”
Similarly, the Corinthians said, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food.” In other words, this is natural! And what did Paul say in response? He said, “and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13). He continues and says, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
In other words, your body is the property of God. You are called to use your body to glorify him! There are many things that grow naturally that will bring harm to our bodies. The decisive factor is not whether something is natural or not. The decisive factor is this: will this glorify God?
Objection 3: “Do we not have liberty in Christ? Is this not a matter of conscience since cannabis is not explicitly forbidden?”
To be clear, our liberty in Christ is not license to engage in questionable behavior when other Christians disagree. Our liberty in Christ is to give up lawful behavior for the sake of other Christians who disagree! Listen to what it says in 1 Corinthians 8:7–13, “Some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”
Here Paul speaks of food dedicated to the pagan gods of the day. He asserts that such food is permissible for Christians to eat, however, if it would cause another brother in Christ to stumble, then he would refrain and not eat. To this we must ask, “Would my use of cannabis, or other narcotics, be a stumbling block for other Christians?” To this we can clearly see that it would and therefore you are sinning against your brothers for whom Christ died and our Lord Christ himself! Even if you think it permissible, it is certainly not a need, and it will certainly cause others to stumble and so it would be sinful for you.
Remember, we are not our own. We are God’s. We are Christ’s. We belong to one another. Let us treat our bodies and one another, and most importantly, our Lord, with the reverence and sobriety that we are called to. Let us walk worthy of the name Christian and flee anything which would inhibit our self-control, would dominate us, or bring reproach upon the body of Christ. Let us be sober-minded in a corrupt and perverse world, shining as lights for our great God. Let us also pray for our nation as many children, families, and individuals will be destroyed by such a substance.