Faith Informed Choices

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.

Congregations can be a lot like families. One day peace and joy abound, the next day you're driving each other crazy. Sometimes congregations are a lot like families. And that means congregations create conflict. Debates, disputes, disagreements are an unavoidable part of congregational life. Years ago when I started at my first church the congregation just started “singing off the wall” as one person said. A new projection screen had been recently installed at the front of the sanctuary and when it was lowered it covered the cross. You can imagine the debate that ensued. “The cross of Jesus is central to our faith, how dare we cover it with a screen!” And others, “Now finally I can sing with my head lifted high and without a book in my hands so that I can raise them when I praise!” I can honestly say it took at least two years before that conflict receded into the background.

What to do when Christians disagree? How does Faith inform our choices?

The apostle Paul and the leaders in the Corinthian church are at odds over yet another issue. “But Andrew,” you say, this is a non-issue, isn't it? This text seems to be so far removed from my day-to-day experience that I have a hard time understanding it. This talk about eating food sacrificed to an idol and eating in an idol's temple just doesn't intersect with my world."

Now that may be true for many of us, but not all of us....I’m sure there are some among us this morning for who this is a familiar issue. In many parts of Africa and Asia, eating food that has been sacrificed is very real. When I was visiting the country of Oman several years ago, I visited a Hindu temple in Muscat. And I saw many people bringing food to a Hindu god, food that later would be sold and eaten. The same kind of thing happened in this temple in Vietnam.

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But it’s true for many of us here in N.A., this issue seems miles and or years away from our own experience.

And so, though we don't really have to face the issue of eating food sacrificed to idols, the application of this passage is widespread.. .in fact it touches down on almost every issue over-which Christian brothers and sisters debate and disagree.

"Now about food sacrificed to idols" begins Paul. This begins a new section in the letter and the section doesn't really conclude until ch. 11:1. It might be worthwhile taking some time today to carefully read all the way to 11:1 to try and follow Paul's train of thought. In chap. 8 he talks about eating food sacrificed to idols, and he comes back to it in ch.10. But he does have something specific to say in the passage that we read.

And if we're going to understand that, then we should try to reconstruct some of the cultural practices of the Greek culture that Paul was writing into. We already know that Corinth was a colorful city. We even know of two temples in particular that were built in that city. The temple of Aphrodite, built on top of the large rock formation, and the temple of Asclepius, located in lower Corinth. Well in actual fact there were many temples in and around the city of Corinth, some large, some small.

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Pausanias, a 2nd century Greek geographer and historian of ancient Greece, he mentions at least 26 temples dedicated to so-called gods or idols. And most of these temples were furnished with dining halls. In the temple of Asclepius, the god of healing, there were three dining rooms, but in the temple of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, there were 40 dining rooms. In fact, dining rooms, in temples were as common as restaurants in our day.

And it was common practice to share a meal with a group of others in the dining room of one of these temples. Well in the Corinth of Paul's day, meals shared with others to mark a whole variety of special occasions were often held in temple dining rooms. Listen to some of the invitations to cultic meals that we have found in ancient manuscripts: "Diogenes invites you to dinner for the first birthday of his daughter in the Sarapaeum (a temple) tomorrow which is Pachon 26 from the eighth hour onward." (P.Oxy 2791) OR "The god invites you to dine at the table which will take place tomorrow in the temple of Thoeris from the 9th hour."

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Now while it's true that these meals played an important role socially, there was also a significant religious component to them. At these meals, there were various rituals involved in how the meat was prepared, certain prayers were offered, the god was invoked in some way, sacrifices were made.. . and all of this was a regular and accepted practice of public life. This is how one scholar puts it: "Since these meals were characteristic expressions of Greek public life, it is altogether understandable that the Corinthian Christians would desire to be involved in them, at least to the degree they considered permissible. It’s not hard to image ex-pagan Christians having many social obligations from family or business (marriage, funerals, puberty rites) which would have involved sacrificial meals, normally in or near the temple grounds. Participation would be an expected part of family and social duty." (Willis, Idol Meat in Corinth p. 63). (https://www.sebts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/STRIssue9.1_Naselli.pdf)

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In other words there was all kinds of business and social and family pressure to continue going to these meals.

When I was still working at Ford, a Catholic friend of mine [Ian Licari] who had married a woman of Hindu background told me of the struggle he went through around their wedding ceremony. He was and still is a very committed practicing Catholic. His wife was not an observant Hindu, but her family insisted that she have a traditional Hindu wedding.. .complete with a variety of religious observances that went on. Well my friend struggled over whether or not this would be ok. Is this something that this passage is trying to address?

So what exactly is Paul's concern here? Is it about eating food, particularly meat, that had been sacrificed to a god or an idol? Yes but it was more than that. Is it about eating food, particularly meat, that had been sacrificed to a god or an idol, IN the temple of that god? YES.. . in fact a good number of scholars today feel like that was the primary issue Paul was addressing in this passage. Paul was concerned about the practice of some of continuing to participate in cultic meals in the temples of pagan gods or idols.

But you know what? Paul's concern actually went much deeper than that. Paul's issue was with an attitude that existed among leaders in Corinth about knowledge. And he wanted to reshape that knowledge with love, with love that builds bridges, with love that’s self-giving, with love that’s self-sacrificing, with love that is willing to give up something for the sake of another.

He sets the stage in w. 1-3. ". . .now, about food sacrificed to idols...we're waiting for a word about this food.. .and Paul says.. . "we know that we all possess knowledge." Actually here Paul is most likely quoting them. Kind of like, "yes you're right, we all possess knowledge, just as you say, BUT knowledge puffs up while love builds up." There's that word again, "puffs up". . .do you know it's only used 7 times in the NT, and 6 of those occurrences are in this letter. It's an important word in this letter, it probably gets at an essential issue in Corinth, that of "pious pride" or "spiritual superiority". Paul says this, "If you think you know it all.. .then you really know very little, but when we finally realize that God knows it all, and we are to love God more than knowledge, that's when we start to experience true knowledge." He goes on to say, "You are quite correct when you say that an idol is really a nothing.. . he may well have added that the prophet Isaiah calls them bags of wind.. . an idol is really nothing at all, and these so-called gods are really nothing either.

“God alone is God." The people Paul takes issue with are saying, "Paul we have this knowledge, knowledge about food.. .I mean food doesn't bring us near to God or far away from him.. .how can food affect our relationship with God? And we have this knowledge about gods and idols.. . gods are really nothing, and idols are simply empty ideas.. . so if food doesn't affect our spirituality one way or another, and idols are really nothing.. .what's the big deal.. . in fact, why not enjoy the food in these temple dining halls, and enjoy the cultic celebrations that go along with them, and more than that, if we can enjoy them so much, then these other new believers should be invited to join in as well." That's the gist of the attitude that Paul is addressing.

And here is the trouble: others in Corinth are clearly uncomfortable with this practice. They have grown up being so accustomed to idol worship at these cultic meals that even if people are arguing based on knowledge that they're not really doing anything wrong, inside their spirit they feel as though they are sinning. They feel that their participation is not fitting their new life in Christ. And what does a church do in those situations....what do we as the family of God do in those situations.

Some years ago I remember speaking with a gentleman who’s very dear friend was part of the First Nations community, but also a Christian. When he became a Christian he made a clean break with his past participating in certain dances, in smudging ceremonies, in sweat lodges. Why? Because those practices for him were loaded with a spirituality that was not Biblical or Christian. But there are other First Nation Christians who see those ceremonies and practices as important cultural expressions, so they look for ways to incorporate them into their Christian practice.... they infuse them with meaning that is Biblically rooted.

We might imagine those who want to include those cultural expressions in their Christian worship saying something like: “these expressions don’t have to be rooted in an unbiblical kind of worship or spirituality…what’s the harm in repurposing them for a Christian setting?” We might call those people, the Strong, or the knowledgeable ones. And we might imagine others saying, “no, those customs conjure up an unbibilcal spirit…they are bringing idol worship into the church.” We might call those people, the Weak.... or the uniformed ones.

And Paul comes down on hard on the arrogant attitude of some that their superior knowledge makes them justified in doing what they are doing.

Paul, in this passage is not so much concerned about the practice, Paul is far more concerned about the attitude. He is far more concerned about the attitude of some in the church that good Christian behavior ought to be based on knowledge alone. "I know that this and this is true and therefore I may do this!" OR "I know that this and this is true, therefore you may not do so and so." Some in Corinth have a very mistaken attitude towards knowledge.

Some in the Corinthian church have based their behavior of participating in cultic meals on knowledge alone.. .food doesn't affect one's relationship with God, and idols are really nothings...so why not eat. But the fact that their brother or sister in Christ was being led into sin on account of their behavior didn't come into the picture at all for them. In other words, and this is the heart of the issue for Paul, their behavior was not first and foremost based on LOVE towards others. Behavior based on what we think is a kind of “superior” knowledge makes us spiritually puffed up says Paul, but behavior based on love towards others, builds others up.. .it edifies them.. .it strengthens their spiritual muscle… and in turn it builds up the whole Body of Christ.

Perhaps we can think about what Paul is driving at as a debate between those who are let’s call them PERMISSIVE on one end, and LEGALISTIC on the other end. And regulating behaviour is always easier on either end of the extremes. On the permissive end.... “let everyone make their own decisions and do what they feel is right for them”....that’s easy..... or on the legalistic end.... “let’s create clearly stated do’s and don’ts so that every one knows how to behave....that’s easy too.

Both ends of the spectrum are problematic and destructive to communal life in the church. I like how one Bible teacher helps us understand this. He uses the phrase “the Strong” to describe people on the permissive end - STRONG in the sense that their superior knowledge helps them reason away their freedom and permissiveness. And he uses the phrase “the Weak” to describe people on the legalistic end because they need all kinds of rules and prohibitions to help them know they are living the right way.

Listen to what this Bible teacher writes:

“Through fear the Weak would have forced the community into a self imposed ghetto. Through a destructive use of freedom the Strong would have committed the church to a pattern of behaviour indistinguishable from that of its environment. If either group had prevailed, the identity and mission of the church would have been gravely compromised. Paul's response was to focus the vision of the Corinthians on their roots in Christ and on their responsibility to each other and to a wider world. His passionate prudence is a perfect illustration of “love builds up”. (Jerome Murphy-O’Connor) (cf. Blomberg, 166)

You see it’s easy to regulate behaviour on the extremes.....do whatever you think is right..... this is what you can and cannot do......But Paul is saying that our primary consideration in how we live together in our differences is our love for each other. To pick up on what Paul writes in v. 11

1 Corinthians 8:11 NIV

11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

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We must be careful that our weak brother or sister for whom Christ died, does not get destroyed by our knowledge.

[Talk about the topic of this weekend’s conference.... “Faith, Sexuality, and Gender Conference”]

Before I say more about some of what we heard and discussed on the weekend, I think it’s important to state clearly that the Bible does say that some things are always wrong. Murder, theft, sex outside the bonds of marriage, gluttony are just a few examples. The Bible also has a clear and foundational teaching about marriage.

Having said that, as we talked about the matter of faith, sexuality and gender this weekend I know that all of us, I know I certainly was, were challenged to hear what Paul is driving at in our text.....let not our sense of what is right, and our knowledge be a stumbling block..... Let’s be sure in all things to practice love that builds up.

Andrew Marin book “Us Versus Us”

[Blank]1700 LGBT people inteviewed

almost 20,000 additional LGBT people were surveyed

Of all the people who participated in the study:

83% were raised in the church

51% left the church by the age of 18

3% left for theological reasons

the number 1 reason why people left was because they did not experience a strong relational connection with other people in the church

Understanding, listening, building relationship,

thinking carefully about language..... words or phrases that we use, which can be “othering” or which can create distance .....

Story of man who shared his feelings about the call to celibacy.... “Who will take care of me when I’m old?”.......

. . . whenever our behavior towards others comes out of a kind of "I'm right!" way of thinking OR a kind of "I need to get my point across" way of thinking.. . it's behavior controlled by knowledge and that puffs up. But when we disagree with someone and go the extra mile to understand them, to listen to them, to see where they are coming from.. .etc. that's behavior controlled by love.

Later Paul will write, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:2-7,NIV)

[ Story of John 8.. . picture of Christian behavior based on knowledge vs. behavior based on love.. . . Teachers of the law and Pharisee's drag a prostitute to Jesus, she was caught in the act.. .and she had to be stoned.. .they were absolutely right.. .that's what the law demanded.. .but Jesus responds differently.. ..let him who is without sin cast first stone, if they do not condemn you than neither do I, go and sin no more."]

Just as we are not being called to throw knowledge out of the window, but are being called to surround it with love, Jesus is not throwing punishment out of the window. He knows that soon he will take upon himself this woman's punishment. In the same way we know that he has taken our punishment upon himself, and the punishment of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And so it is on that basis that we must let love surround all of our knowledge.

Let us remember all our sisters and brothers as those for whom Christ died.......

Knowledge without love puffs up.. . but love is the most excellent way.. . in a most basic sense, all Christian behavior is rooted in faith, hope and love.. . but the greatest of these is love.