Should a Christian sell cigarettes and alcohol?

Dear Pastor,

My mother is now a Christian and she got baptised recently, and she wants to be a true Christian. However, before the baptism, she used to sell alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

She isn't very rich so she does that as her 'little hustling' to try and help to provide for the family. She wants to know if what she is doing is right or wrong, or if she can still continue to do that. What do you think, should she continue to sell 'legal' alcoholic beverages and cigarettes?

S.M.

Dear S.M.,

You are writing on behalf of your mother, so evidently both of you have discussed the matter. The concern is, she sells cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, and she has been doing so to support her family and herself. Is anybody from the church complaining that now that she is a Christian she has to stop doing that type of work? And even if they complain, on what grounds are they objecting? She is not breaking the law. She is doing what is legal and she should be left alone. If she felt that it is against her Christian conviction, then that is a different matter.

But nobody should impose what they believe on this matter on this poor woman who is trying to make a living. If anybody wants her to stop, they should give very good reasons and then they should make a commitment to get her another job that pays her more than what she earns from selling cigarettes and alcoholic beverages. Or they should make a commitment to support her for many years to come.

Let me go further by showing you something. If this woman had a job in a shopping centre and alcoholic beverages were sold there in different forms, would she as a Christians refuse to sell the patrons who bought such items? I doubt that she would. Why then should she be worried or should others condemn her for selling these items on a small scale? She should make sure that if she is selling these items in her store, she is licensed to do so. So my position is simply to ignore those who criticise her.

Pastor