Today I asked Google a question. This question has split the ranks of contemporary evangelical Christians and caused division on an international scale. The answer to this question, if it has one, could dictate the moral future of Christianity.

Can I, as a Christian, smoke weed?

Yesterday I went online with the mindset of someone looking for moral guidance on this issue, and, as expected, I found a plethora of opposing viewpoints. Each viewpoint was backed with sound Biblical references and a solid understanding of theology. Most of the websites I found even had good writers tackle the issue. With all the differing opinions from respectable sources, how are we to know what's right and what's wrong?

First of all, the question above is posed simplistically. The fact that certain strains of marijuana have medicinal purposes is undeniable, so the real question we should be asking involves recreational use.

Second, I’m not sure we should be looking to the internet for moral guidance (which, ironically, is what you’re doing now, except I’m 19 and have no qualifications to talk about this). Allow me to read your mind for a second: you probably clicked on this article because either 1. you know me and want to read what I’m writing (I’m truly flattered, thank you); or 2. because you want to be told whether or not it’s cool if you or someone you know smokes weed as a Christian. If you fall into the second category, then there is a fundamental problem in obtaining moral answers on this topic… nobody knows. The issue isn’t mentioned in the Bible, so extracting verses about other issues and interpreting them to support a certain side is illogical.

This brings us back to a question I asked earlier: how can we know if it’s right or wrong?

I have no idea. And, if we’re honest, you don’t know either. This whole “living a moral life” thing would be helluva lot easier if there was one universal answer to this question. I would love to be able to say, “No, you can’t smoke weed,” or “Yeah, toke up man, it’s moral,” but I can’t. Are you comfortable with that? If you aren’t – if we aren’t – then we’re missing something. We crave black-and-white. We crave to be told what to think. Forsake this simplistic mindset, and it’ll go a long way in discerning truth about this issue and also a myriad of others. Think for yourself. As my dad has said since I was a kid, “God gave you a brain so you could use it.”

Now, about the issue itself: one article I found written by Christianity today put it better than most. Rather than asking whether or not it is right or wrong, we should be asking why we would use marijuana. See, the reasons behind our actions justify its moral or immoral nature. If I’m smoking to escape certain responsibilities in my life, then, to me, smoking weed is immoral. If I’m smoking because I have arthritic wrists that cause me pain 24 hours each day then, to me, smoking weed is moral. The answer is within each individual person and will therefore be different. “I have the right to do anything,’ you say – but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Are you mad at me? I imagine you were expecting an answer, but I probably just gave you more questions. Don’t be mad, be liberated: we have the freedom to make our own moral decisions. Don’t go online, get on your knees and look within and above… the answer will present itself.