Tiffany

The only thing more important than me is you

I was in my early 20’s.

I was a Sunday School teacher for a group of middle school girls.

The bullpen was obviously pretty shallow at my church and the girls needed a teacher.

So there I was.

I’m not sure under our modern children’s guidelines that would even be permissible anymore.

But this was 40 years ago and times were very, very different.

There was a girl in the class by the name of Tiffany.

A very new Christian - would have to be - at her age she was still a very new person.

I didn’t know too much about her life other than her dad wasn’t a Christian.

I knew he lived a rough and rowdy life - or so I had been told

Back in the day the Pizza Hut was a thing.

They were popping up everywhere - full service, dine-in restaurant.

They had a deep dish pizza that came out in a sizzling pan - that was kind of cool.

And they stayed open fairly late.

And, at the time of my story, it was fairly late for supper - about 10 pm.

My best friend Terry and I had been rambling around and we ended up at the Pizza Hut.

We sat down, ordered a pizza and a pitcher of beer.

As we ate and talked, in a pretty much empty restaurant - And who should pop in the door but Tiffany and her dad.

Who in their right mind keeps his young teenage daughter out that late on a school night?

Who hasn’t fed his teenage daughter supper by 10 pm?

I about choked - not because I was doing anything wrong - because I wasn’t.

I could build you a case - I could show you the scripture - I knew what I was talking about.

And I knew that I wasn’t wrong.

But I still almost choked because - well - living where I was living, going to church where I was going to church.

Teaching the class that I was teaching,

Was I doing the right thing?

Was the guilt that I was feeling cultural - the folks I hung with didn’t drink?

Or was it spiritual - that the Holy Spirit was convicting me?

If I was right - and technically I was - absolutely there was nothing immoral about what I was drinking.

But if I was right, why was I feeling the way I felt?

Tiffany came over and spoke.

Her dad didn’t - he had no use for church folks so that was no surprise.

She went to her table.

Terry and I finished eating and left.

Now there’s a lot to this story that came after it.

And it all revolved around Tiffany’s dad.

I had a conversation with a church leader - he dropped the bomb that it was my fault his witnessing efforts to Tiffany’s dad weren’t working.

And I toted a lot of guilt around for that - until I studied this passage.

Then my guilt shifted to something that made more sense.

You know, God is the author of salvation.

While I may not have influenced Tiffany’s dad towards Christ, if the Lord was going to save her dad, her dad would be saved.

So, laying his eternal destiny on my shoulders was a little much.

I cannot stop the Lord’s work - I’m a speck of dust in a grand cosmos that the Lord Himself created.

So that guilt was not mine to own.

But Tiffany is another story.

She was a young Christian who had a rebellious father

And here was her teacher doing what her dad did.

As we go through the text today, I hope the right words will come out to explain this.

Her daddy’s ultimate destiny wasn’t mine to determine.

But Tiffany’s growth as a child of God - was mine to influence.

And while I was spot on theologically - that night I sinned against Jesus.

So let’s talk about how I got there.

Our text is 1 Corinthians 8:1-13.

Some folks at Corinth had written Paul a letter about some issues at the church.

It seems that at the local pagan temple, they were having a cook-out of sorts.

People came - they did their thing - they sacrificed animals to their deity.

But now here’s the part of sacrifice that we miss.

Under certain circumstances, even within the Jewish church, there were times that the sacrifices were cooked and eaten by the worshippers.

Think of it this way - it was a pot-luck and the church provided the grilled meat.

Now let me help you understand.

This week for the first time in months and months, I cleaned my boat and took it out on the lake for just a few minutes.

And in that few minutes - some of ya’ll have done this - I rode through someone’s grill smoke.

Have you done that?

I’m telling you, this schnooze of mine can discriminate between chicken, pork and beef.

I can tell if you are grilling steaks or burgers.

And I rode through burger smoke - and I wanted a burger.

Here’s my point.

At the pagan temple, they were killin’ and grillin’.

The priest were not only experts at killin’, they were also experienced pitmasters.

And the smoke spread all over Corinth.

Have you ever passed someone grilling that you didn’t want some?

They wanted to go and eat.

To them - correctly so - the idols that these pagan temples represented, were just pieces of rock and wood - nothing more.

And they are mostly correct.

So some went.

But some of them didn’t feel right about doing that - there was just something not quite right and they couldn’t put their finger on what it was.

So they asked Paul what was the right thing to do?

Hear now the Word of the Lord from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13.

1 Corinthians 8:1–13 ESV

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

We give thanks to the Lord for His Word.

Let us pray:

Father, while we all are simply specks of dust in a mighty cosmos

You called us by name before the universe was created.

You made plans for us to be forgiven - you made plans for us to be made new.

So here we are, listening for a word from you.

Help us see and hear clearly - cause us to leave your house changed.

And Father, as I know I am forgiven of all my sins

I still know who I am and what I do - please do not let anything I do hinder your people from you.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If your Bible is punctuated like mine is, you can see the quotes from their letter to Paul.

“All of us possess knowledge.”

All of us know that “an idol has no real existence.”

Just for fun, the word “existence” is a compound word that literally says they have no place in the cosmos.

I like that - it’s about as big as it gets - there is no place in the entire cosmos where they have any power.

And then he quotes “there is no God but one.”

They are quoting the Hebrew Bible to Paul - letting him know that they know what they are talking about.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

And Paul doesn’t argue that they are wrong because he can’t - they aren’t wrong.

They do know that idols have no existence.

They do know that idols have no power to create anything.

They have no power to make your life better.

They have no power to improve your life one little bit.

Because they are made by craftsmen to look like something they dreamed up.

There’s no way to argue with that in this context - none.

But there is a place for a warning and I bet everyone in here has gotten this same speech from someone.

“Be careful and don’t get too big for your britches.”

Anybody ever say that to you?

Verse 2 1 Corinthians 8:2 “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.”

"Be careful - you think you know more than you do - so don’t get too big for your britches.”

Now, he spends all of verses 5 and 6 agreeing with them about idols.

There are lots of gods in this world and lots of lords.

There are lots of things to worship and things that will rule our lives if we let them.

But there is one God - the Father of all that is.

“from where all things come” - and “for whom we exist.”

He is THE one true and living God.

And THE one true and living Lord is Jesus.

“Through whom all things are created,” and “through whom we exist.”

But now he hinted that, even though they were right - they were still missing something.

What is it?

How can we be wrong when we are right?

You know many of the orthodox religions of the world use real wine for communion.

Catholics, Eastern Orthodox - probably a host of others.

There’s nothing wrong with it - Jesus used real wine.

I know there are some preachers who get apoplectic when you mention that.

It was just unfermented grape juice, they argue.

No matter how loudly they shout it, they are still wrong.

So why wouldn’t it be acceptable here at the First Baptist Church of Gray?

Well, first, we have the cultural thing.

Baptists traditionally are anti-drinking - some of you aren’t good baptists.

But for me, it has nothing to do with any of that.

For someone who has clawed and scratched their way out of addiction, that little 1/4 ounce

That little bitty cup is a nuclear bomb.

Argue what you want, the fact of the matter is, if you are caring - if you are following in Jesus’ footsteps

You’d never in a million years offer a recovering alcoholic a drink of any size.

If you and some friends are going to dinner and one of them is a recovering alcoholic

And the restaurant is packed and they offer you to eat in the bar

You turn them down - you wait.

The bar is an altar where your friend once worshipped.

Why would you take him back to that place?

And you are right - to you it’s nothing.

I’ve eaten in bars before.

One of the best hamburgers I’ve ever had was in a bar / pool hall in Charleston, SC.

And I didn’t sin by going there.

But if my friend was a recovering alcoholic and the alcoholism lives large in them

It would be a sin for me to take them there.

Why?

It’s just a place.

Paul’s own words don’t support what I’m saying, right?

“1 Corinthians 8:8 “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.”

Eating at the bar won’t get us to heaven.

Eating at the bar won’t keep us out.

But verse 9 says, 1 Corinthians 8:9 “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”

And there - there it is.

It’s the 5th word in that sentence - “right.” It is the new American Idol.

I have my rights - why should your “rights” affect my “rights.”

And that’s what’s hiding under their question.

To be specific, what they were doing was smelling the cookout and they wanted to go - nothing wrong with that.

They wanted their church friends to go with them - nothing wrong there.

But some of their friends were converts from the pagan religion that was having the cookout - now there is a problem.

Now to the one inviting - the pagan cookout is a good time to see some funky entertainment and have a fine grilled steak.

But to the one who converted from paganism - that cookout is power.

They believed in that god at one time.

And even though they know it’s not real, that idol still lives large in them.

Imagine if you had followed a ‘god’ for years - that you believed something for years - deeply believed it.

You believed that the god made it rain and made you have babies

And made your crops grow

And if you didn’t sacrifice to it or do all of its rituals, you wouldn’t have rain or babies or crops.

But then you are saved by God’s grace and you learn the truth.

And you repent and turn to the Lord and follow Him.

And you know that you are changed - that you are new and you know it.

But the very thing you escaped from is the very place your new friend insists on going to have a good time.

Not because it means anything to them - it’s just good food and fun

And they make fun of you because it means something to you.

But you were there - and you know a pull it was on your heart.

And neither of you will put it in these words, but I will.

Your “rights” are your idol.

You are smart and technically you are absolutely spot-on right.

And it’s more important for you to be right than it is for you to care about your silly friend.

You’d never put it in those words

But that’s what you’re doing.

You want to go to a crazy fun cookout - and they are just being silly.

I don’t drink because of 1 Corinthians 8.

Now listen, I could really care less if some unbeliever started accusing me because I had a glass of wine with dinner.

They are lost and their accusations are simply Satan trying to stir something up and I really don’t care.

But there are church members who have strong convictions that any alcohol use is wrong.

For whatever reason and it doesn’t have to make rational sense.

They are brothers and sisters in Christ.

And seeing me drink isn’t going to change their mind - but it will injure their conscience.

It won’t build them up - but it will tear them down.

So why would I do it.

And you know what else?

Some of this congregation and every congregation has a drinking problem.

I want to help people be free.

I don’t want to help them to be in bondage.

Paul tells them “1 Corinthians 8:13 “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

That word never is a correct translation - most of the various translations use the same word - but the word “never” is passionless.

And Paul is crazy passionate here.

The word never translates five Greek words - five - so what Paul says, in essence is this:

“if meat makes my brother stumble, I will never ever as long as I live ever eat meat again.

“The last thing I want to do is to make my brother stumble.”

“By sinning against my brother, I’m sinning against the one who died for my brother.”

“I will do everything within my power to not sin against my brother or Christ.”

And here’s what’s crazy.

We’re rebelling against this in our minds right now.

We want to know, how do we thread the needle?

How can I do what I want to do and not offend all of these - weak people - who just don’t get it?

But don’t you see, if we’re wrestling against this, we’re exposing ourselves.

We are idol worshippers and our idol is the very freedom that Christ gave us.

I can do whatever I want and, why does it matter to you anyway?

That’s American - but it’s not Christian.

Paul says, “1 Corinthians 8:9 “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Take care that you don’t become such an idol to yourself, that you can’t stop and consider someone else’s well being.

Listen, churches split because we are our idol.

We get angry and carry a grudge against a brother for years, because we are our idol.

We get mad and won’t come back to church, because we are our idol.

What power does an idol have?

They have no power to create anything.

They have no power to make your life better.

They have no power to improve your life one little bit.

But they do have the power to tear you down.

Because we want what we want and it infuriates us to not get it.

Look at verse 3 1 Corinthians 8:3 “But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”

God knows our heart.

The word known means fully known - every thought, every breath, every insult, every hurt.

He knows us.

I am His.

But so are you.

And He loves us both dearly.

I cannot follow Jesus well when I’m not loving you.

And He knows that - so He corrects us.

In that Pizza Hut a lifetime ago, the Holy Spirit of God convicted me of sin.

Not because what I was doing was wrong in the legal sense of the word.

But because what I was doing hurt a tender sister and that hurts Jesus.

And in the long run, it hurts me too.

When Job was protesting his innocence before God, Job cried out, “Job 13:23

Job 13:23 ESV

How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.

God the Father, who knew Job as He knows us, let Job rage about how good he was until he about ran out of gas.

And then the Lord showed Job the Lord - and Job saw his sin and repented.

And God restored him.

Brothers and sisters,

When’s the last time you prayed to the Lord, “Make me know my transgression and my sin?”

Frankly, the question scares me - but I think we need to ask it.

“Lord, make me know my transgression and my sin.”

Will you bow your heads now and pray that prayer.

Lord, I know I sin

But really, I’m a pretty good person.

I know the things I’ve done - but you have saved me

And forgiven me and you are making me more like Jesus every day.

But Lord, I’m afraid that I think too much of myself.

Maybe I don’t see other people as I should.

So Lord, will you “make me know my transgression and my sin?”

Cause me to see so I will repent.

Because I so desperately want to walk closely with you.

Please Lord,

In Jesus’ name - Amen.