July 06, 2023 | Be On Mission
Stumbling Over Freedom
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 8(NIV)
1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.
4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Devotional
The city of Corinth was replete with pagan temples, idols, festivals, practices, and sacrifices that were contrary to Christian teaching. Pagan festivals included the practices of idol worship, sexual immorality, and eating meat with blood in it as a sacrifice to their gods and goddesses.
A few years before writing this letter, Paul had been in Jerusalem to argue that Gentiles don’t have to become circumcised Jews in order to be considered Christians. James, the brother of Jesus agreed with this declaration: “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood” (Acts 15:19-20).
These practices continued to be a stumbling block to the Gentile Christians who lived in the very pagan Roman Empire immersed in Greek gods and goddesses. In Revelation 2:14, Jesus spoke through John who wrote, “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.”
Here in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul seems to be saying that there are no gods other than God the Father who created the universe and gave us the one true Lord Jesus Christ. And since the false gods are fake, then the food sacrificed to them is morally neutral. The problem is not the food itself. The problem is the bad witness this would cause if new believers watched them eating meat offered to a pagan idol at a sexually charged temple.
We should ask ourselves the same thing. How does my behavior affect my witness? Do the beverages I consume, the movies I stream, the novels I read, the comments I post, the words I speak, the practices I foster, and so forth, draw others closer to or push them further from Jesus? Yes, being in Christ gives us incredible freedom. But Paul reminds us, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9).
Poem
Knowledge Or Love
As a youngster, there were two schools I attended—
One resided in our home
One resided down the road
In each one were lessons given as teachers intended—
Parents teaching how love’s living
School teachers knowledge giving
Each school presented its rewards—
Love’s lessons how to build up
Knowledge lessons how to puff up
At end of lessons, these awards—
A future blessed family
Framed mounted paper high degree
