Pastor's View on Marijuana

I had a great opportunity to interview a pastor and get his take on marijuana and if people should be able to use it as medicine.  I came up with a couple questions that always peaked my interest in this subject. I was brought up in a Catholic home an still have my beliefs but as we all know I believe everyone should be able to use marijuana for medicinal use. I went over 9 questions with the pastor that he was able to answer for me.

Before I begin, I want to thank you for the opportunity to have this discussion. It's nice to know there are still ways for people with different opinions to have an educated and civil discussion about stuff like this.

1. Although the Bible does not necessarily call out hemp specifically, at least to my knowledge, it does recognize the abuse and intoxication of drugs, which is where I believe the problem comes from. The problem is the abuse of the drug. 

I'm not saying that I deny the fact that marijuana may help with pain and eating disorders. I have a problem more so with the abuse of the drug to cope with life's difficulties. 

We aren't supposed to abuse substances to deal with our situations. It only leads to a temporary numbing of the pain. God wants to walk with us through our pain and get to the root of it so we can overcome it and be strengthened through the process. I think this is where pastors and cannabis reach an impasse.

Does that make sense?

2. I'm sure that there are some pastors out there who support it. You have to keep in mind that many people have their own personal interpretations of the Bible and its content. So, while it does speak against using drugs, depending on how a pastor or person, in general, feel about it, they will have their own opinions and outlooks.

I'm sure there are Christians who smoke weed out there. Heck, I'm willing to bet there are pastors that smoke weed out there too. I don't think it's a good idea given the reputation pastors have to uphold, but I can't force someone to stop doing something they want to do.

3. My personal take on medicinal marijuana kind of falls in line with the first question. In my opinion, I don't think anything should enter your lungs except oxygen, although you can't really avoid all the crap that's floating around, you get my point.

If there were a way for the oil to be used for pain relief instead and not cause one to become high or addicted to anything, maybe that would be a better option. That would, at the very least, remove the smoking part of it. I would also hope that it would not be considered a gateway drug like it is today.

4. I have never used marijuana or any drug for that matter. I do, however, have family members and friends that have and still do use today.

5. This is a good question. I call it the "God and weed" argument simply because of how often it's used in discussion and debates around this topic.

I do not think that God created marijuana for smoking, although I do believe that he did create it for a purpose since he created everything. 
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One objection that I have heard from many marijuana activists is that since God created the plant, then that means that anything with it is fair game. Well, he also created hemlock and toxic mushrooms, but that doesn't mean you should just go get a bushel of them and eat them up.

So, while I do believe that he created it for a purpose, I don't think the way that society is going about it right now is the correct way of using it.

6. This is an interesting question too. God calls our bodies temples, so we should treat our temples like they are important places and take care of them. I do think smoking is bad for you, but I can't necessarily say smoking, in general, is a sin. 

I know many strong men and women of God who are addicted to cigarettes. Does that mean God looks down on them and doesn't want to use them for his glory? Absolutely not. At the end of the day, we need to remember that God doesn't hate smokers or anyone for that matter. He loves everyone and wants to work with each one of us through our garbage.

No one is exempt from God's grace simply because they smoked. You can smoke and still go to Heaven. As long as you have truly accepted Christ as your Savior, then you're set.

7. I, personally, do not support smoking marijuana. Like I said above, if there was a way to use cannabis oil for the same reasons people use medical marijuana today, maybe it would be different. I would need to do a little more research. As for the smoking and the abuse of it though, I do not.

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8. Of course, you can smoke and believe in God. Whatever a person does that God is not for is between that person and God. Anyone who tells you that you can't believe in God while doing something that may not please God is a terrible witness to the gospel and a hypocrite. God will convict us of doing things he may not like, but he will never condemn us.

Even Pastors make mistakes. We're all human at the end of the day. God's love is not hindered by sin or mistake. He took care of all that when Jesus died on the cross. The great thing about Jesus is that he tells us to come as we are to him. Bring all your struggles, sin, and downfalls to him. He'll turn your failures into beautiful victories.

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9.  If there's anything that you pulled out of this conversation, I hope its that you recognize that Jesus loves you, the readers, and everyone else no matter what. We are all people who sin and make mistakes but his love never runs out. 

If there is anyone reading this who would like to know more about God in general, I'd love to talk to them. Feel free to reach out to me at Radiate's Facebook page.

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I would like to thank the Pastor for taking time out of his day to help out with this interview.  I was able to get some clarity from the questions I asked him. I still believe that people should be able to use and consume marijuana if they want to.  It was a great time and am glad we were able to get this done! Let me know what you thought about the interview. Would love to hear your comments on the topic!