“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls.”

In just about every part of the country we have now banned smoking in restaurants and places of public eating and drinking. There are lots of people who don’t like government and regulations but after enough years of knowledge and learning, for the most part, we have come to the conclusion that the government’s regulating smoking and in particular, second-hand smoke, is a good thing. It wasn’t that long ago we sat in restaurants, our offices, and in airplanes and inhaled the second-hand smoke of others. At that time, no one thought about the other people around a smoker, we were only concerned with the smoker themselves. We have since learned that the downstream affects of the products of a company and the actions of its’ consumers can have negative outcomes on others. If we were to stop and think about this in the times of product design and business plans, we might think differently about our businesses. I’m not saying that any of our businesses are creating second-hand smoke, but even in how we go about our business, conduct ourselves and our practices, and how we treat our people, can have their own negative consequences.

I can remember once as I was arguing for something that I thought was right, that someone said to me, “Who died and made you Pope?”. It startled me as I didn’t realize I was advocating so forcefully that I would come across as taking a moral high ground. It must not have been too important because I can’t even remember now what the conversation was about, but at the time I must have been passionate. As believers we are, by nature of our beliefs, burdened with watching for second-hand smoke impact. What I mean by that is that we have to monitor our own lives carefully and then we have to be willing to step up and into those areas where we have influence to be sure that we are not letting harm come to other people. And, no, it’s not always obvious what the cause and the effect is and can be. Allowing for that one person at work to be teased and made fun of behind his back could have ripple affects for generations on him and the others who get used to making the fun. It could be that we are put in the places we are put to be the ones to be the speed bumps, the blockades, the persuaders, and the ones who open the window for fresh air for others when the second-hand smoke comes in the room. It’s something to think about today.

Reference: James 1:21 (New Living Testament)