Are our Christian actions and choices based off what we want to beleive?#Christian Values

I Corinthians 8:1-13

Introduction:the Apostle Paul is going deep into this question as He ask the church in Corinth. Does the Gospel of Jesus Christ erase people’s cultural values, identities, and ethical norms? Answering this question is not easy because when the gospel encounters people’s way of living, an engagement begins and this involves a two-way navigation of mutual love and trust. Paul raises the issue of knowledge that makes people proud and at the same time he introduces love that builds.

There are so many diverse and plural versions of Christianity today and like the Corinthian Christians, this passage confronts 21st-century gospel with the need to navigate cultural boundaries with grace. The message of the passage is about how cultural and ethnic people reorder and reorient their lives when encountered by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Corinthians had to discern their new faith in the context of cultural and ethnic diversity of which each was called to surrender old ways of living and embrace new Christian values of obedience to Jesus Christ — faith, hope, and love. Instead of worshiping many gods, Christians in various global contexts are called to a monotheistic faith. Which means that the corinthian church had to believe in the existence of one God, or in the oneness of God. While their identities will not change and even be erased, faith in God becomes the primary lens through which they define and see themselves.

While there must be boundaries between gospel and culture, the truth of the matter is that Jesus’ incarnational presence is always transformative in ways that are a mystery, allowing believers to be hyphenated-Christians who wrestle with issues of “idols” of culture and at times idols of the heart.

Much of 1 Corinthians 8 might be summarized as an argument for the priority of love over the pursuit of knowledge. Paul takes on this topic by starting with where the Corinthians are at in their thinking as they consider eating meat that has previously been sacrificed to pagan idols.

Verse 1-3,Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. 3 But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

This text is where I believe Theodore Roosevelt came up with his saying “ True spirituality is not evidence by how much we know, but how much people know you love them” Corinth was filled with temples of pagan gods, and the Greeks offered sacrifices regularly just as the temple in Jerusalem a portion of each sacrifice was consumed by fire. A portion went back to the one offering the gift and another portion was given to the priest. after taking enough for himself, the priest would sell a good portion of the sacrifice in the market.

Notice the words in quotation marks,“ We all have knowledge” Although the earliest manuscripts of 1 Corinthians would not have contained punctuation, the choice to include quotation marks in 8:1 is a good one since the phrase “all of us possess knowledge” makes more sense as Paul’s quotation of a Corinthian slogan that helps to make his own argument. He meets them where they with something they said, which also notes it’s what they believe. We all know that the more we say something the more we are confident that it’s truth.

The Corinthian church asked Paul can we eat that meat? Heres the reality, it was already made up in there hearts what they wanted they where going to do it anyway, why because they “all have knowledge” but wanted paul to say it. They just needed Paul to agree and when he didn’t say what they wanted, they phrased it another way. In hind sight they really wanted what they wanted to believe. People will search for churches that will tell them what they want to hear. To justify and make what we do okay. To many this is called “consumer Christianity” It’s pretty cheap compared to the regular meat and what if we’re out of pagen‘s house and they offer us some? as only the best teachers can Paul takes a simple yes or no question and turns it into a teaching moment. Paul diverts the question about sacrificing cows and turns it into a lesson about knowledge and love. Christian behavior is founded first on love, not knowledge. All we do must be based on love, and not just knowledge.

The Corinthian church Prided themselves on their knowledge and wisdom. Some Corinthian believers assumed that knowledge was the true sign of spirituality. They did not understand that knowledge without love indicates a lack of knowledge. Paul wants them to show love here and also when it comes to any topic of Christian ethics. We can know the biblical response to every Question “Can Christians do….? kind of questions, but respond in anger, pride or arrogance. Can christians watch rated R movies. What about that one TV show everyone’s talking about? What about reading books like Harry Potter or other fantasy novels? What about tattoos and drinking? Can a Christian drink? It’s easy to quote a bible verse about each of these topics and any other similar topic, but do we do it with love not just knowledge ?

The love expressed on Calvary should be revived, strengthened, and diffused among our churches.

Ellen Gould White

Let’s understand how this applies to our lives today where we live we don’t need to worry about meat offered to idols. We can go down to your local grocery store pick up a couple of steaks or pork chops and not have a guilty conscience about it. But if you live in Kenya and the best meat available was Halal meats that were butchered according to Islamic dietary laws and is part of the process. The meat is blessed by any muslim, so would it be lawful for you to eat Halal meat? just food for thought( ha,ha)

Paul develops the priority of love over knowledge more in 1 Corinthians 8:2-3 as he states that anyone laying claim to knowledge proves their very lack of the same. Such a person stands in contrast to one who loves God and thus benefits from being known by God. While the use of the term “knowledge” here (as opposed to “wisdom”) makes this text somewhat distinct from earlier chapters, the heart of Paul’s message in chapter 8 echoes similar sentiments from 1 Corinthians 1-3 where Paul pointed out that the world did not come to know God through wisdom (1:21), that he himself did not preach with words of wisdom (2:4), and that the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God (3:19). In short, although the language of chapter 8 is slightly different, the sentiment is the same.

Verse 4 so then about eating food sacrificed to idols we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world yet for us, there is but one God, the father, from whom all things came, and for whom we live, and there’s but one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things came in through who we live, we know that there is only one true God and idols are nothing. The temple of Zeus didn’t hold Zeus and Artemis and Apollo aren’t real either, so if idols aren’t real, the corinthians reasoned, then it shouldn’t be a big deal to eat the meat sacrificed to idols, so then buying the cheaper meet, would actually be a sign of being a good steward. Let’s look at the book of Isaiah to provide another picture. Isa. 41:17-20

“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.18 I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground. 19 I will plant trees in the barren desert— cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine. 20 I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means—that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it.. Isaiah 41:17-20

God calls us to himself to receive wholeness in life, pictured here by the images of water in a dry place and trees growing from barren land. Receiving his fulness, however, requires that we admit we are inadequate and needy, unable to control our lives without Him.

Here in Isaiah, It reminds us about the scene at the well with the women. Jesus says you should seek a living water where you will never thirst again. And it’s one the can only come from His heavenly father.

Verse 7, but not everyone possesses this knowledge some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food I think of it as having been sacrifice to God and since their conscience is week. It is defiled, but food does not bring us near to God. We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. The Corinthians may have had correct knowledge that the the idols were nothing, but not everyone had that knowledge. For some, they were so accustomed to idols that when they saw someone eating the sacrifice meat they only saw a pagan worship. If someone believes that eating the sacrifice meat was worshiping a pagan god, then for them it was idolatry.

The question of loyalty to God becomes a requirement and confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior replaces all other cultural underpinnings (1 Corinthians 8:7-13). Worship of idols is a foreign concept to most people but in the postmodern world, most church members are affiliated with certain clubs and fraternal orders which also demand their loyalty. In this passage, Paul warns against such practices because they become modern forms of idolatry in a culture that claims Christianity as its religious identity.

In a political world, Christians find themselves attracted to subcultures such as the National Rifle Association, political parties, and sororities to which their loyalty is demanded. It would be a great topic in a Sunday School class to discuss whether we see ourselves being called out by Paul. In what ways do these clubs align themselves with our faith in Jesus Christ?

In what does this chapter challenge our Christian faith and rethink on our allegiance to many other subcultures?

Instead we live our Christian life by showing love to one another. Having all the correct knowledge of what is permissible for a Christian is not the determining factor of your spiritual maturity. But rather how you act based on your knowledge can help determine if you’re spiritually mature.

Do you use your knowledge to show love to your Christian brothers or as an excuse for doing what you want, but remember food will not bring us closer to God, nor does abstaining from food and the same goes for other issues of liberty. Now before we go on Christians use the word liberty a little different than the culture does for the culture the word liberty is used to describe what level of freedom a person has. Can they vote? Does their vote count? Is there freedom of the press? Is there freedom of religion? but when we find liberties mention in the Bible, is that what we’re talking about not exactly Christian liberty is still about freedom but not for tyranny or government overreach. It’s about when we ask the question is it OK for me to and then insert anything you might want to do. What kinds of things? Well, the most common ones today are drinking alcohol, watching certain movies, or shows or listening to secular music at least in the US. Every culture is going to have their own. Is it OK for me to…?? kind of questions and here is where most of us stumble when it comes to liberty we assume one stance or the other is a sign of greater spirituality well, I am more spiritual because I don’t watch rated R movies well, I’m stronger on my faith because I can watch them.

Verse 9. Be careful, however that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling Block to the weak listen you may have superior knowledge, but are you just using it in a way that causes your brother to stumble. Jesus died for our brothers and sisters do not lay down our liberties that they cost pain when we do something that violates our brothers or sisters conscience we sin against them.

While Paul was not addressing this, or any particular modern issue, the larger ethical principle that he espouses remains relevant: take care that your own liberty does not become a stumbling block to others (verse 9). This principle applies in any number of scenarios where faithful followers of Christ might otherwise disagree: on consuming alcohol, on the use of profanity, on styles of clothing, and other personal choices. While these matters are culturally different from the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols, Paul’s instructions nonetheless remain timely.

1 corinthians 8:12-13  And when you sin against other believers[c] by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 13 So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.

Paul is clear our actions and choices can never be based on what we know to be right for ourselves. We must take into consideration what is right for our brothers and sisters in Christ. The issues being discussed here, or when we could cause a brother to stumble. Paul does not allow for this passage to be used by legalist to make demands of other believers who walk in liberty. Those who aren’t tempted to sin in an area, but make demands of all believers are not who Paul is talking about here to the legalist, Paul would say out of love I won’t do something that will tempt you to sin, but if it doesn’t tempt You and you’re simply being legalistic about this. I have no worries upsetting your legalistic code

Closing

Everyday when I leave my home I pray that I work on my actions so that they won’t hinder or discourage a believer or a prospect for Christ. When I post comments and complaints, that It do’t cause someone to stumble. Remember we are not place on this earth for our own goals and wants, but rather from God who sents us to help our brother save this world.

Paul is truly one of the most amazing apostle

Being a member of the church is not hard, its a choice. What’s hard is giving up some of our liberties for Christ.