“I’m a smoker, a heavy smoker,” he said. “I know most of the people at my church don’t care about that, but there are some that look at me like a leper.”

Moore, who is 55 years old, said he has smoked since he was 16.

“Back then, everyone smoked,” he said. “Now people see you smoking and start waving their arms around trying to get the smoke away from them. I understand not wanting the second hand smoke, but why are people so mean about it?”

So Moore, like many others, smoke mostly at home to avoid the stigma placed on them by a society that is becoming more and more non-smoking.

Assemblies of God Chaplain Robert Leathers said that some smokers have told him that they feel ostracized by “religious people.” Leathers said one even went as far as to say he felt like he was part of a leper colony.

Moore said he’s not sure if smoking is a sin, or just a bad habit.

“I don’t think it would be a sin, I’ve never heard that,” he said.

But some believers do believe smoking is a sin. Referencing Bible verses such I Corinthian 6:19-20, some believers say smoking is not honoring God with your body.

“Can smoking be considered ‘beneficial?’ Can it be said that smoking is truly ‘honoring God with your body?’ Can a person honestly smoke ‘to the glory of God?’ We believe that the answer to these three questions is a resounding ‘no.’ As a result, we believe that smoking is a sin, and therefore should not be practiced by followers of Jesus Christ,” said Shea Houdmann, chief operating officer for Got Questions Ministries in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“It’s not an issue if you smoke you’re not saved, after all, there are many, many things we should not do—it’s not dividing line on if you’re saved or not saved, but it is a sin” he said.

Houdmann said in his research of the issue, the views differ in various parts of the country.

Some churches are looking for ways to make smokers feel more welcome to their congregation, some even putting ashtrays outside the buildings while others offer counseling to help kick the habit.

But the majority of facilities, including many Christian colleges and universities have not changed their policies on lighting up. Schools such as Crossroads College in Rochester still mandate that students refrain from smoking on and off campus, but school leaders insist that the rules are in place to protect the students, not to say smoking is a sin.

A recent study from John Hopkins University in Baltimore found that religious-based smoking cessation programs, whether at schools or churches, have a much better success rate than someone quitting on their own. The study found that nearly twice as many smokers were able to quit for the long-term than those who received no support from their church or pastor.

While smoking cessation programs are cropping up in small numbers, many churches are choosing to leave the touchy topic to those in the medical field.

“It could be because it is a subject, like drinking, that evangelicals used to camp out on so hard,” said Douglas McPherson, minister to single adults at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. “It just depends on what church you go to, on how they treat smoking.”

McPherson said that while society as a whole is becoming less tolerant of second-hand smoke, churchgoers also have the right to be concerned about their health.

“I don’t view smoking as sacrilegious or anything, I honestly think it is a stewardship issue,” he said. “I don’t think you can look down at someone differently than someone overeating at a church social, which is gluttony.”

The Centers For Disease Control estimates that 44.5 million people smoke at least one cigarette a day.

The Barna Research Group in Ventura, Calif., breaks down the CDC’s numbers in a report that estimates that 39 percent of the unchurched smoke, while 20 percent of born-again Christians smoke.

McPherson said he feels it is the church’s place to love people, no matter their habits. But with such widespread knowledge about the dangers of smoking, each person has to make up their own minds about quitting.

“It’s a choice, I may not like it, but it’s their choice,” he said.

The United States isn’t the only place where smoking and the church are an issue.

Grady Higgs, a U.S. missionary who ministers to South America and Russia said that while in America smoking is just seen as a bad habit, in many foreign countries, Christians view it as a disgrace to their belief system.

“If you lit up in front of a church, in some of the churches I visit you would discredit your testimony in a heartbeat,” Higgs said. “But, it’s not like you’ll go to hell for it, but you’ll just smell like you’ve been there and back.”

He said his thoughts on the subject when it comes to a Christian smoking is that it could be a barrier to being an effective witness, just like other habits such as excessive drinking.

“The world expects us to be different,” he said. “It may be something that would turn a non-believer off immediately. You never know, but we’re supposed to keep from taking part in behavior that could cause others to stumble in their faith.”