RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES
Opening Prayer
Lord, teach me to get along with Christians who harbor differing views from mine.
Read 1 CORINTHIANS 8:1–13
Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols
8 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.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Every generation of believers has its challenges where unity in the body of Christ is concerned.
Think Further
Anyone who has been involved in church life for a while knows that occasionally differing views over an issue will lead to division and hard feelings. I’m not thinking of practical issues like church furniture or the heating system, but more ethical and moral dilemmas where Christians hold different views with deep conviction. This is the context from which Paul speaks to the Corinthian Christians, and this part of his letter seeks to address a thorny issue for the Corinthian church: eating meat that has been offered to idols. In Corinth, as in much of the Roman world at the time, most meat was taken to pagan temples or shrines to be offered to the various gods. What was left over was then taken to the market to be bought and sold. This is dividing the church.
Paul addresses the matter as a wise pastor would. He takes time to develop his argument more thoroughly over the next few chapters. His guidance to the Corinthians is simple, yet profound: love matters most of all. Love for others in the church matters more than our own desire or sense of freedom. Paul permits eating the food in question, but reminds the Corinthians that if by doing so it will cause others to stumble and feel as though they are sinning, then out of an attitude of love, they should abstain.
Of course, this type of love is costly and at times inconvenient. It means sacrificing our freedom in Christ and perhaps things we enjoy for the sake of others. But “love rather than knowledge” remains the center of Paul’s ethics. Choosing love, however costly, maximizes the likelihood of unity in God’s church.
Where are we challenged to choose to love, even if it means laying down our rights and freedoms?
Apply
Pray for grace and power to choose love—even when it costs.
Closing prayer
Lord, teach us that love for the brethren overshadows all other issues
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