Proceed With Caution

Paul is continuing to answer questions from the church at Corinth.

The discussion returns to something Paul has brought up before, Christian freedom its privileges and responsibilities.

This week the issues in question - eating food sacrificed to idols yes or no? Again, we have touched on this before but Paul takes us on a different track this time.

1 Corinthians 8:1–13 (CSB)

1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by him. 4 About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing 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 there are many “gods” and many “lords”—6 yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him. 7 However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat. 9 But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? 11 So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. 12 Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.

There is an important reason to ask the question about eating food sacrificed to idols.

Idolatry and pagan sacrifices was prevalent and one could hardly escape contact with the pagan practices and their influence - sounds like today huh?

The meat offered on pagan altars was usually divided into 3 portions: one was burned up, a second was given to the priest, and the third to the offerer.

If the priest didn’t use his portion it was taken to the meat market where anyone could get it.

Some questions the Christians may have faced - was the meat spiritually contaminated? Did the pagan god actually have an effect on the meat? If one person didn’t worry about it what could their consumption do to a fellow believer who did have a problem with it?

While eating eat sacrificed to idols isn’t a concern of ours today we do face questions of how we are to act in a non-Christian world.

We don’t know as much as we think we do.

We know things we are supposed to do and not do.

We have to be careful in our assumptions in what God may want or not want.

The issue becomes when we depend on simply knowing something - we never know all we ought to about a subject.

There are many false gods but only one True God.

There are so many things in life that we either exalt as an idol or treat as god.

Think about the things that take our time, attention, resources, etc.

We should be living for God and God alone.

We must be careful not to cause someone to falter in their faith.

There are things that in an of themselves are not an issue, but they could be an issue for someone else.

Paul is talking about the meat sacrificed to idols - there is nothing wrong with the meat - we know the false gods have no power therefore they can’t hurt us but no everyone believes or has the knowledge we do.

If we do things in our life that cause a brother or sister to sin then we are guilty of a double sin - 1. sin against the brother or sister and 2. sin against Christ because we are wounding the conscience of those who belong to Christ.

We have to love others more than our own desires.

If something I am free to do and want to do causes someone else to falter then I must be willing to never do that thing again.