Free to Serve

Introduction

I heard once of a church planter in India who planted a church in a village that commonly used gongs in their pagan worship. As the church was established, God blessed it greatly to the point that a large portion of the village had left their paganism and been baptized. Now, because of their pagan background, the members got rid of their gongs. The pastor was wise, and encouraged his flock to follow their conscience and get rid of the instrument which for them was a symbol of false religion. However, over the years the pastor gently and consistently instructed his followers that no instrument, including a gong, was evil in itself, and that they could all be used for the glory of God. He patiently waited until he saw that the congregation was very mature in this issue. Then he began to introduce gongs slowly into the worship service until the whole church felt confident enough to use the instrument as they sang hymns of praise to the Lord Jesus.

This story illustrates one of the truths of this text, the principle Paul starts with here. Nothing in itself is evil. No instrument, food, drink, or item is evil or demonic in itself. I do not believe that demons possess articles themselves, although they may well show their power in connection with an item if the person believes it to be possessed. All of creation is under the authority of Christ, and therefore everything in creation is clean. The obstacle is not the thing itself, but rather our own maturity and understanding.

And yet, there is a more critical principle in our text which Paul would have us learn; the purpose of our Christian freedom. Although Paul sides with those of ‘strong’ faith in theology, he instructs them much more strongly than the weak in the church, since their strength puts them in a position to help the weak. This unveils for us the centre of the issue here: while Christians have freedom in what we eat or drink or use in this world, this freedom does not exist for the purpose of self-indulgence and worldly pleasure. Instead, we are free in Christ so that we may serve Christ and his Church faithfully and without hindrance. In this way, we find the heart every Christian of understanding should pursue: a gentleness, patience, and serving attitude towards that weak so that the whole Church may be strong and blessed in Christ.

Principle 1: Nothing is Unclean

Again, we see that Paul agrees with the stronger brothers and sisters on the issue at hand, that nothing is unclean in itself. This is clearly told to us in verse 14, and Paul does mention this to instruct the weaker Christians who are listening to the letter, so that they may know the truth of the matter. Paul explains this in more detail in

1 Corinthians 8:4–6 ESV

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.

God is the creator of all things, whether they be foods or drink or the materials used to make false gods; the wood, the stone, the marble, the gold, whatever it may be. Ancient peoples often thought that certain objects could be defiled by evil spirits. While the participation of pagan worship is a participation with demons, Paul says later in that passage, the objects themselves are not defiled because God is the creator of everything those materials, whatever they be fashioned into or used for, exist only in the will and power of Christ. His authority assures us that nothing in the created world is inherently evil, and therefore no food can defile a person as Jesus taught us.

However, it is not mainly to the weak brothers and Paul is speaking to. They are informed by this, but that is not the point. Instead, Paul states his case very clearly in verse 13 that a Christian must never do anything to cause another Christian to stumble into sin, nor may a Christian play God and judge them. We saw last week that each person much consider their own standing before God and not be occupied with the way other Christian view these secondary issues. We know that the church must be on guard against clear sin and heretical false teaching, but that’s not what Paul is talking about. When it comes to these issues that do not affect the Gospel, the most important thing is the unity of the Church expressed through brotherly love, not through forced conformity.

Principle 2: Anything is Unclean for the One Who Considers It So

And so we move onto the second principle in this text: namely, that while nothing is unclean in itself, it is unclean for the one who thinks of it as unclean.

How can this be? If the thing is clean objectively, is it not clean for all? No, because as Christ taught us, uncleanness comes from the heart of man. Therefore, while something itself is not unclean, the human heart and the weak conscience may make it so. Sex is not unclean, the marriage bed is holy, we are told. However, it can be made unclean by the human heart. Chrysostom speaks of hypocritical Christians he knew who would not pray after being intimate with their spouse because they thought it was unclean. He rebukes them on this and reminds them that true uncleanness comes from a heart that is not devoted to the Lord Jesus.

So uncleanness, rather than being objective, is subjective since it comes not from a created object, but from the heart of the individual. This is what makes these things unclean to those who are convinced they are unclean.

1 Corinthians 8:7 ESV

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.

Their conscience is defiled because, in their mind and heart, they believe they are participating in unclean foods which bear an association with the idols they were offered to. In their mind, these things are unclean and displeasing to Christ. So if they go ahead and partake of them, perhaps through peer pressure from stronger Christians or carelessness on their part, they have knowingly defiled themselves, not from the food itself, but from their own violation of their conscience. A Christian saved from a life of drunkenness goes to a bible study and sees the brothers around him drinking a few beers feels not like he is in the church but back in his old parties with his old drinking pals. The beer itself is not defiling, but they are wounded by the sight and their feeling of safety and holiness in the church is polluted.

This does not make it a rule of the lowest common denominator in the church, as if Christians must cease anything that just might potentially offend another believer. Some are offended simply because they are proud and want to force other Christians to act as they do, not out of weakness and vulnerability. Paul would circumcise Timothy in order to not offend the Jews, but not Titus because he would not give in to the demands of the heretical Judaizers who wanted to force circumcision on everyone. There is a difference between someone offended because they are weak and someone offended because they are arrogant. Therefore, the one who is offended must remember that they are the weak one, not the strong; that they are wrong in their estimation of things, not right. It is not right to destroy Christian freedom to please a tyrant, but at the same time the warning here stands. If you know that something will bring a weak Christian into doubt and grief, that must be treated seriously and with great care.

Principle 3: Christian Freedom Exists That We May Serve

This brings us to the third principle, which is the central point on this text. Why should my freedom be ruined by another person’s weakness? After all, isn’t their weakness their problem? To answer this, we must ask, what is the point of Christian liberty? Why is it that God has freed us from commandments concerning what we eat or drink or when we worship and so on. Is it so that we may eat and drink and be merry? Is it so that we may indulge our flesh and let ourselves have everything our hearts desire so long as it is not technically sin? Many Christians who claim to be strong and wise do not have any wisdom on this issue, because this seems to be what they think. Again, Paul in

1 Corinthians 8:1–3 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.

It is possible to be technically correct and also very wrong. These who claim to have ‘knowledge’ have only a knowledge that puffs up, not one that brings holiness or godliness. Paul continues

1 Corinthians 8:9–12 ESV

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.

The sin here is not whether or not you eat the food, as we see in verse 17 of our text. The reason we have Christian freedom is not so that God can spoil us, but rather it says something about the nature of the Kingdom of God. It is not affected by why we put into our body, but rather by the purity of the heart consisting of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” A Christian in good conscience can eat pork ribs with a craft beer and do so in thanksgiving and holiness, because God has made these things and they are good. But the purpose of our freedom is so that we may serve others. If, then, my exercise of freedom causes another brother to stumble, I have negated the whole point. If I am free to serve, but I disturb a weak brother, I am now not free but a slave once again to my passions and fleshly desires. I sin.

Our freedom means I can do anything and become anything to anyone for Christ. I can have a glass of wine with some Christians in France, then the next day drink water while I fellowship with recovering alcoholics without judging or boasting in my freedom. I can eat pork with my family, eat halal chicken while I witness to my Muslim neighbour, eat vegetable curry while I encourage a new believer from a Hindu background, and have a Kosher meal with Jewish believers all in the same weak. That is the purpose of Christian freedom. The Gospel is not limited to a certain culture, people, tradition, or religious background. Our freedom liberates us to thank God for anything and limit ourselves in any way so that we may serve those Christ calls us to serve. Verse 22 tells us that our freedom, the faith we have to enjoy freedom, we keep between ourselves and God without boasting and publicizing it to create controversy and stir up debate. We are free to love and we live that love in such a way so that, as far as we are able, we are beyond judgement. So while the weak believer must not judge the strong, he cannot partake without full conviction. If in the back of his mind it still feels wrong, he cannot eat or drink in faith verse 23 tells us. He is eating in doubt and fear, and so in violating his faith in God and sinning. The strong must be sensitive to this. You are part of the same body; their weakness is yours to care for. We must not be like Cain who claimed he was not his brother’s keeper. That is the attitude of hate and murder. Instead, the command is “love your neighbour as yourself.” The strong has a faith they keep privately between themselves and God, and they think first with sympathy of the weak brother before they enjoy their freedom. The weak, without proud or arrogant judgement,

Conclusion: Free to Walk in Love

See how Paul used his freedom in Christ in 1 Cor 9:19-23

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 ESV

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

As servants of Christ, our freedom is given to us so that we may serve all the more. The chains are removed so that we may work more effectively and efficiently, not so that we may run around and do whatever we please. Christians have a commitment to the law of Christ, which we saw is the law of love. Let us abandon a view of Christian liberty that is self serving, let us abandon judgemental condemnation for anyone who partakes in what is lawful but which we personally do not approve, and in all this let our aim be the unity of the body of Christ. In love, some may eat and others not, some may drink and others not, some may celebrate the Sabbath and others not, but in all of it there is unity in love. Next time we will dive deeper into this theme, for it is one we must hear again and again to digest it. Let our eyes be on ourselves, our freedom be between us and God, our conscience be honoured in faith, or heart towards one another be compassion, and in all things let the glory of Christ be displayed in the freedom that we have in him.