Your Decisions affect People

About two months ago, some of my friends and I went to Ariel Foundation Park to go sledding. It was during one of the snow days this year, so we were excited to do something because we had been stuck inside all day. If you’ve been to Ariel Foundation Park, you’d know that it is made up of these sorts of tiered hills. So instead of the hills being at a steady incline, the hills are at a sharp incline, and then a flat area. Then a sharp incline, then a flat area. It made sledding down this was a lot of fun because you’d go really fast and then basically drop off. The only problem was that marching back up the hill was exhausting. We got tired of going back up the hills after about 20 minutes. Now there was so much snow on the ground that the road and the parking lot were not black anymore, they were white. So, my friends and I got a great idea. What if we pulled the sleds with my car? We wouldn’t have to go back up the hill anymore and I could be really careful. Some of my friends were against the idea from the start, but some others definitely wanted to give it a try. What could go wrong? It probably wasn’t the best idea, but I couldn’t resist the temptation. I opened my trunk, and I tied a hammock strap to the back of my car. The person on the sled would just have to hold on. We decided to test the idea and just one of my friends went first. I went slow and I pulled him up the road and then we went into the parking lot, and I pulled him around once, and then twice and then UH OH.

Right at that moment, I saw some bright LED lights and a car slow rolling into the far side of the parking lot. Of course, it was a cop. Cops basically always have the same headlights because they pretty much all drive either Ford Escapes or Dodge Chargers. I knew I was a goner even before he flashed his lights. So, the cop stops us and I’m sure we looked like we were doing something dumb. He asked to see mine and my friend’s driver’s license and we knew we were in trouble. Miraculously, the cop let us go. Just so long as we didn’t try this again and we actually thought about our actions next time. He actually complimented our ingenuity too with the hammock strap.

Meanwhile, my friends were all still over by the other car. All they could see were the flashing red and blue lights. For all they knew, we got a ticket. My friend and I, as diabolical as we are, drove back over and each kept the straightest face as we looked our other friends in the eyes and told them that we were getting a ticket for our little stunt. And they bought it. As far as they knew, the cop was going to send us a ticket later and then we would have to pay. In fact, to this day, they all still think that I got a ticket that night. Well, all except two of them. You see, I didn’t realize that not everyone takes scenarios like that so well. And I also didn’t realize that girls think differently that guys do. Apparently, some of the girls who were sledding with us are very scared of cops and they were distressed that whole night after we got back from sledding. Actually, one of the girls called her dad because she was so distressed by the situation, even though it was me who got the ticket. The next day I felt really guilty, and I told two of the girls that it was just a joke, and we were just messing around. And that was the last they talked to me. No, I’m just kidding, were still friends. They actually found it funny when I told them. But what I want to highlight about my story is the fact that I wasn’t aware of the consequences of my actions on OTHER PEOPLE.

About two years ago, something happened. You all know what it was because it rocked everyone’s world. I’m talking about COVID of course. I remember in that March, everyone was freaking out because they didn’t know what to do. School shut down, stores shut down, restaurants shut down, and virtually all public places were closed off. Churches were faced with several options as well. Should they shut down or remain open? Should they require people to wear masks or leave the option of wearing masks? Should social distancing be in place or not? How should communion be handled? It was questions like these that really started to test the line between church and state. But what would the church’s response be to all this?

It seems like back when all these issues seemed to be the only thing on everyone’s mind, everyone had an opinion. Some people thought that the church needed to close down because it is what the government mandated. Others argued that the church had rights apart from the government and should stay open. Some people thought that those not wearing masks were a danger to society and rejected science. Others thought that those who wore masks were imposing on their rights and had weak faith. Some people thought the vaccine was a godsend and without it they could not survive Covid. Others thought that the vaccine was from the devil and would actually end up killing them. Not everyone agreed on what should be done about these issues, as I’m sure you’re all aware.

The most terrible part about these Covid issues is that what happened to many churches is that many people stopped coming to church. Some people didn’t come back because they were wary of Covid and some people stopped coming because they could not get along with others’ opinions. People, we should be heart-broken by hearing this. These issues of Covid just revealed another, deeper issue within the churches. The real issue within the church is that people are putting their freedom over loving other people.

Think about other issues in the church that we can’t seem to agree on. They might be smaller issues but think about them. Maybe the church is going to paint, and some of us want the walls gray and others want the walls tan. Maybe there are some of us who want to sing to hymns, and others of us who want to sing to contemporary Christian music during the service. Now let’s think bigger. Maybe there are some of us who are pro-choice and some of us who are pro-life in your church. Maybe some of us want the government to do more and some of us want the government to do less. There are probably some of us who are liberals and some of us who are conservatives. Now think about theology. Maybe there are some of us who believe that Genesis 1-11 is literal and others of us who think that those chapters are not literal. Maybe there are some of us who think that evolution is not a thing and others of us who think that evolution is a thing. Maybe there are some of us who think that God predestined some people to go to heaven and others of us who think that God has given people free will to choose or reject him. Maybe there are some of us people who think women should not be in ministry and others of us who think that women should very much be in ministry.

The point that I’m trying to make is that yeah, in the church, we don’t always agree with each other. So, what do we do when we can’t get along with another believer? What is the appropriate response for us towards those who don’t think the exact same way we do? Now I’m not up here to tell you what you should believe on any of these issues. What you believe about any of these issues is between you and God. I’m not here today to tell us the stance the church should take on any of these issues, but the posture of love that must define us, regardless of what our stance is.

The passage we will be looking at today is 1 Corinthians 8. Paul is writing to the Corinthian believers about what they should do about meat sacrificed to idols. Now I know what you’re thinking. What do idols and meat have to do at all with us today? Well first of all, steak is delicious. But more importantly, we’ll see clear lines drawn between the 1st century Corinthian culture and the 21st century American culture. So, if you would, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 8. Paul writes,

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. e

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.

Ok, let’s pause there. First of all, we see Paul talk about this issue of eating meat offered to idols. Why would the Corinthians even want to eat meat offered to idols? Maybe the meat offered to idols was cheaper than other meat. Or maybe they just couldn’t get their hand on other meat elsewhere. We don’t really know. We do know that meat was delicious then, just like it is now. The Corinthians knew that there was one God and that he had been revealed through Jesus Christ. Since there are no other gods except for THE God, why should it be wrong to eat food offered to idols? The idols represent nothing at all and that it has no power. They would have merely been a statue made from wood, stone, or metal. Why should the Corinthians not eat the meat sacrificed to idols? There was nothing wrong with it. And Paul agrees with them. The Corinthian believers were free to eat meat sacrificed to idols. However, there was just one problem with this. The Corinthian believers did not consider how this would affect their fellow believers. Let’s finish the passage to see what Paul has to say about this.

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.

It was clear from Paul that some of the believers who were weak could not understand this. By weak, Paul means that they were probably new in their faith or that they were not as involved in their faith as other people. Because of this, they were so used to seeing idols that they were hurt when they saw their brothers and sisters eating meat sacrificed to idols. To them, the meat sacrificed to idols WAS actually sacrificed to a higher power other than God, even though it wasn’t true, and the other Corinthian believers knew better. It’s not about being stronger in your faith than your brother or sister. It’s not about who is weak and who is strong. It’s about thinking about others before you act.

The Corinthian believers who were eating the meat offered to idols were too concerned with technicalities. Is it really sin to eat this meat, or is it technically allowed because we know better. In verse 8, Paul tells us that food does not bring us close to God and food does not bring us near to God. In other words, eating the meat sacrificed to idols was neutral. It had no effect on the individual Christian’s spiritual life. But it could have an effect on someone else’s spiritual life. When the Corinthian believers acted primarily out of freedom and secondarily out of love, they sinned against their fellow believers. Not only that, but Paul also tells them that they sin against Christ when they sin against their fellow believer like that. Paul would rather never eat meat again than to cause someone else to sin because he eats meat. Think about that for a second. Paul would give up his freedom to do what he wants and eat what he wants so that someone else would not be distressed in their faith. Sometimes, there is a split between freedom and love. Love should be a greater priority for us than freedom, always.

This is a hard concept for us to grasp. Think about America. We are a country that has been built on the foundations of freedom and liberty, that everyone should be free to make choices for themselves. Freedom is what defines our lives in America. In addition, freedom is a great thing in the Bible. As people, we have the ultimate choice of freedom to choose whether or not we want to have a relationship with God in our lives. We can live our own way or we can live a better way, and God grants us the choice. We are surrounded by this concept of freedom, both inside the church and outside the church. And freedom is good. Sometimes, though, freedom gets in the way of love. The greatest commandment, so often quoted, is not life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but to Love God with all you are and to love your neighbor as yourself. Like the Corinthian believers, we can be defined by our freedom or we can be defined by how we love our God and how we love others.

So, think back to the Covid issues I mentioned earlier. In Covid, all the questions were about whether to mask or not to mask, whether to get vaccinated or not to get vaccinated. Seriously think about it! As the people of God, why did we make such a big deal about masks or about a vaccine? Those of you who were wary of other not wearing masks because they were being a danger to society, is it really that big of a deal that they weren’t wearing a mask? If you want to be extra careful around people, I respect that and so should everyone else. But don’t treat other people who don’t wear masks as though they are a leper because they aren’t a leper, but your brother or sister in Christ. And you other people, who can’t seem to put a mask on for the life of you because it is too important to you that you are free to do what you want, what are you thinking? Is your right to not wear a mask really more important to you than the hurt you are causing to the people who do wear masks? Do you realize how easily you could resolve the situation by just putting on a mask? Just put on a mask when you are around them and take it off when you aren’t. The same thing goes for the vaccine. Those who got the vaccine, it’s not fair for you to impose on other’s rights and demand that they get vaccinated or treat them like they are full of diseases or people who reject science. That is their choice. And you other people who didn’t get vaccinated, stop treating those who did as though they have no faith or that they are dumb for putting the vaccine into their bodies. How stupid it is to let a mask or a vaccine divide the body of Christ, the church, US! You may be upset that I just called some of you out, and that is okay. This message had to be spoken. I’m not trying to make people angry about this and I’m not trying to make anyone feel ashamed of themselves either. What I am here to do is to call us to a better way of living, a righteous way of living.

Both groups of these issues need to realize that we are more than a mask or vaccine. Together, we are the church, the very same church that Jesus told Peter that the gates of hell would not stand against. That’s us! The church is not a shadow of what it once was, the church is now! The same church that was empowered by the Spirit 50 days after easter is the same one that is still empowered by the Spirit today. In the Greek, the word for church is ecclesia, literally meaning ‘the called out ones.’ This is not to say that God has called us out of the world as though to escape and dodge earthly things. No, God has called us out from where we were and gathered us together. And between all of us ‘called out ones’ we form something greater than any of us could ever be on our own. We become the church together. There is no I in church, or me for that matter. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Together, as the church, we belong to each other and we become more than the sum of our parts.

Sometimes, like my sledding and fake ticket story, we don’t realize that what we do affects other people in a way that we might not expect. Like the Corinthian believers, we sometimes put our own freedoms above the love that we share with one another. We think differently from each other on political, social, and theological issues, and that’s okay. We need to learn to agree to disagree. It seems like we are finally on the other side of Covid, but it’s only a matter of time until another issue like masks or the vaccine comes up, and I want us to be ready for that. Imagine a church where everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to build each other up instead of tearing each other down. Imagine a church where the people consider how their personal freedoms affect other people inside the church. Imagine a church where the people love each other so much that others can’t help but be attracted to the church. This church is where I see us going forward. It’s not just a wish or a dream, but it will become a reality. Whenever we become this church, we’ll truly be loving God and loving others and sometimes that will require us to put love for each other over our personal freedoms to do what we please. Let’s pray

Gracious God, I thank you for this opportunity I have to bring your word to your people. Open their hearts today and let them receive this message. This is a hard message for many people to hear, but I pray that you would help us all to learn to accept it. Help us to be aware of other people and how they respond to our actions. Sometimes our freedom to do what we want gets in the way of the love that exists between us in the church. Empower us to have love be our priority, not freedom. Help us to truly live as the church, the called out ones, because in the church, we are not just a collection of individual people, but the body of Christ. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.