The Disconnected Smoker

Hey all,

Thought I would start by saying wow, I have way to many total views on this blog. there must be a famous person with the same name as me and people are accidentally clicking on the link that sends them here. I can only imagine how disappointed they are when they find out it's a totally random person saying totally random things about totally random stuff. Also I don't know the difference between affect and effect random fact.

Over the last month I stopped, not to be confused with quit (quitters never win, I'm a winner), smoking. The hardest part was/is that I simply enjoy smoking. It's like drinking Coke or coffee, fantastic. :) Now that I'm not smoking I am beginning to see how shamed I was by people or at least how, the things that people would say to me about my smoking habits or what I would hear people say about smokers, has had an impact on the way that I do life.

The smell of smoke doesn't go away when the cigarette goes out, it carries with the smoker wherever they go, and I can remember being continuously reminded that I was carrying a smell with me. So as a response I began trying to do things like reapply deodorant, change my clothes, or use mouthwash to lessen the scent or hide it so then other people wouldn't be affected by it. But if you've ever tried to hide the scent you should know, it's still there. Peoples comments continued to build and echo until I slowly started to walk away from the voices that, though typically spoken with good intent, came across with a dash of judgement and a hint of condemnation. While the echos persist I find now that I started to push away all sorts of people, because obviously they were going to see me as the scent on my clothes instead of trying to get to know my character, to know my heart.

Now that I have taken a season away from smoking I can see how I have been failing to reach out, because I have this lurking fear that people will react the same way that the people from my past reacted. If you know me then you know that I will always argue that smoking isn't my issue. I feel the same way now looking back, it wasn't the smoking that pushed me away, it was the people. It bugs me that the majority of people that pushed me away were Christians. It did and still drives me crazy that so many Christians are failing to love people because they are so caught up in the social stigma, stuck looking at the smoke instead of seeing the smoker, ignoring their character.

I've always felt that the world is split into two categories, sinners and saints. We can argue about whether smoking is sinful, but we can raise a similar argument about McDonalds, the ethical treatment of animals in food production, preserving the land, eating chocolate or drinking coffee (maybe the Apple products you're purchasing?). You being ignorant about the sins that your committing doesn't make them any more justified, and despite the sin in our lives can't we always come to the conclusion that grace is sufficient?

The point, however, is that God used smoking for me to level out the playing field so that I could have conversations with the people that the "righteous" have often outcast. I have had so many opportunities to share the gospel, and point to the cross. Opportunities to show people that God doesn't care about who you've been or how people see you, He loves you just the same. Smoking was never a curse in my life, it has always been a blessing.

My goal in this is that we will be conscious of the words we use, and that we will speak love into the lives of those around us. That we will have opportunities to see beyond the social stigmas and get to know people's character before making any assumptions. Above all that we will have an eternal perspective, and remember who Jesus hung out with the most, because often they are the ones we push away.

WIT

-J

PS

Here is a shout out to my dad. Mitch you'll probably never read this, but here's to you. Dad you were one of few family members that never tried to argue with me about smoking. The worst comment I remember you making in regards to smoking is when you told me that your brothers that smoked got their grey hairs early. I feel fairly confident that you didn't appreciate my smoking, but regardless you loved me just the same. You never resembled a voice of disrespect, disappointment, or condemnation; Instead you embraced me as your son, all labels aside, you cared for me well. I love you dad