The Other
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1
Welcome - 1 Corinthians - finishing the section on idolatry
We have seen that Paul encourages the Corinthians not to eat of food offered to idols, because there were some in Corinth whose consciences would be violated if they were encouraged to take part.
Last week, we saw what the root of the problem is - eating the food offered to an idol is identifying with the false god the idol represents.
But I hope that we have seen that there is so much more here than just an issue of some Corinthians being misguided about eating food offered to idols.
Because in this section, Paul has made abundantly clear that idolatry is but a symptom of a larger problem. It is the result of these Corinthians not understanding who they are.
They are Christians. They are part of the body of Christ. They have been given a very high calling as part of the body.
And they have to always identify as who they are, as we saw last week.
And we have seen that they live that out by doing all they do for the sake of Christ.
That means, they need to do what they do with each other in mind, because they are one body together. Paul will develop this idea a little more in the coming chapters.
But Paul wants them to be what they are at all times. Not just when they’re together. They need to identify with Christ when they’re in the world, and we will see today that he wants them to be identifiable as Christ’s.
We should all be identifiable as Christ’s while in this world.
Because as Paul said earlier in the letter, there is a reason we need to be in the world. God has us here for a reason. Because the Gospel has to go forth. And we are the bearers of the Gospel message - the church has been entrusted with the Gospel and the calling to bring it to the world.
This is why we - the church - are here.
But this gets misunderstood at times. Actually, I think this is misunderstood often. Because so many Christians think that our witness to Christ is limited to evangelism - to sharing the message of the Gospel. And our ultimate goal is always to share the Gospel. We need to get to the good news.
But I have some other news for you, standing on a street corner preaching, knocking on the door of a complete stranger, or the chance encounter at the ShopRite with someone you never met and probably never will again - these are not the ideal times to share the Gospel.
Because why should anyone listen?
Now, I’m not saying God has not and could not use such encounters to change someone’s heart and grant them faith and repentance. I’m saying that is not the normative way. That is not what the Bible prescribes.
If you remember, last summer I preached a series on evangelism. And the very first sermon in that series was title “Make Me Care.” And the point was that before we share the good news, we need to give people a reason to believe it’s good news.
We need to live so as to make them care about what we have to say. They need to see that we are, in fact, different from the world.
And that’s what Paul is talking about in our passage today.
We’ve actually already seen him talk about this.
Earlier, Paul talked about becoming all things to all people that he might save some. Here, Paul talks about another way to shine the light of Christ into the world that, ultimately, people may be saved.
And, quite honestly, what we are going to hear today is about a very difficult way to do that. It isn’t easy to do what Paul commands here. But it is what we’re called to.
Because Paul moves from doing what is good for the sake of each other - the church - to doing what is good for the sake of unbelievers - that they, as he says, “might be saved.”
That’s why we talked last week about the danger of having one foot in the world even though we have one foot in the body of Christ. Paul here tells us why we need to be all in for Christ: the world needs to see it.
Do we have the courage to live for Christ while we’re in the world?
Listen, we have seen in the church at Corinth that even loving each other - those within the church - isn’t easy. I know, you’re shocked that can happen because loving people in this church is so easy all the time.
Take me for example: I’m just so lovable.
We have seen that there were divisions within that church. And there have been divisions in this church.
There were those in Corinth rationalizing doing things their way without consideration for each other. There have been those that have done the same here in our church.
Do you know what that does to our witness as the church?
It gives the world every reason not to care what we have to say.
The night before Jesus, died, He gave a commandment to His disciples.
He said:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus commanded us to love one another. To not be divided. To not rationalize getting our way. To always consider each other.
And why? Because that is how all people will know that we are His disciples. That is how we will be identifiable as Christ’s.
We belong to Him. And the world needs to know.
That’s what we see here in our passage today.
My own translation, and I have chosen to translate the passage rather woodenly because it helps us understand Paul’s focus.
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23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are profitable. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up
Paul is here responding to what the Corinthians wrote to him. And if this sounds familiar, it should. Because Paul used these words against the Corinthians back in chapter six where he discussed sexual immorality.
There, he said:
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
In this instance, Paul was talking about what was beneficial to the individual. That’s why he says “lawful for me” here.
And we saw: just because you think you have the right to do something - and even if you do actually have that right - it doesn’t mean you should do it. That kind of thinking is how we become dominated by sin.
There, Paul was talking about personal sin.
Here, Paul is talking about the Corinthians as a whole - about edifying - or not edifying - each other through what we do:
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23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are profitable. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up
And Paul has already spoken about what builds up. At the start of this section on idolatry, Paul told the Corinthians that their brand of knowledge - and their rationalizations so they could exercise their supposed rights - those things puff up, but love builds up.
So Paul is talking here about love building up. Not all things build up - but love does.
But this goes beyond the mutual edification of believers. Though that is important. We are to stir each other up to love and good works. That is part of why we’re here.
I mean, it is literally why we are here. Right here at Montclair Community Church. It’s why God led you here. Whether you’re a member, a regular attender, or you are visiting today - it makes no difference. We are here for each other.
But Paul is going even further than that. He is talking about loving everyone - even those of the world. That is why we - the church - are here. It is why we are here in the world, but it is literally why God has you where he does in your life.
It is why you are going to be with whoever you are going to be with today after church. It is why you are working the job you are and are around the people you are day after day.
Remember, Paul has already said that right where you are, you are equipped and able to serve Christ. And you have the opportunity to do so right where God has you.
Here, he is saying that we are not only able, but that we are commanded to serve Christ where we are.
We are commanded to love others.
He says:
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24 No one is to strive for himself, but for the other.
This is literally what Paul says here. Nobody is to strive for themselves, but we are all supposed to strive for each other.
And you may ask, “who is the ‘other’?”
Quite simply, for me, its everyone that’s not me. For you, it’s everyone that’s not you.
And like I said, this goes beyond the “one another” of the church. This is talking about anyone who is the other.
We are commanded to strive for the other. This is a command Paul is giving. And striving means we don’t just consider the other when it’s convenient for us. That is still considering myself over the other.
We don’t just do this when it’s easy.
We don’t just do it when we feel like it. Because let’s be honest, we feel like striving for ourselves far more than we do for others.
Paul gives this command and there are no exceptions.
And this isn’t really his command. It’s Christ’s.
After being asked what the greatest commandment of the law is, Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
But He didn’t stop there. He said there was a second commandment like the first. And it is to love your neighbor as yourself.
As Luke presents it, there was a lawyer - an expert in the Old Testament - who asked Jesus this question. And Jesus turns it back on him. He’s the Bible expert, what does the Word of God say?
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
And Jesus answered this question by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. And the point is, everyone is your neighbor - every “other” - even those who might consider themselves your enemy.
That is a shocking statement. And this was told to someone who knew the Bible and what God commanded, and he didn’t realize that he had a responsibility to everyone. He thought it would just be his fellow Jews. Just those of his community of faith.
But Jesus was talking about the other - anyone who isn’t me.
But here’s the thing: I don’t think that this is where we fail, as Christians. I think we recognize that everyone is our neighbor, and that we are to do good to them. We may do it begrudgingly at times, but we do it.
No, I don’t think our failures come when we have that opportunity to help. When we have a chance to even sacrifice for someone else’s good, even if they’re not so likable.
I think our failure - when we fail to love our neighbor - is when we give in and live just like them.
Paul is talking about those of the world here, remember. I think we fail to love the other when we’re in the world, because we don’t want to be different.
Which means we want to be something other than what we really are.
And we do that, because we don’t want to ruffle feathers. I get it.
We do it because we really like so many of the world and we value their friendships - and we should. And I don’t want to make him uncomfortable by always being the one not laughing at the joke or refraining from doing certain things. It might make me seem “holier-than-thou.”
And for sure, none of us want to be the wierdo who passes on going to the movie or watching the HBO show with all the explicit sex scenes. I mean, we’d miss out on all the great conversations a bout them.
None of us want to make it difficult for the people of the world to be friends with us, right?
But you know what, when we think that way, we are not loving them. We are loving our comfort. And our ease. And our reputation with the world.
Paul’s whole point here is that we absolutely do want to be the wierdo that doesn’t do what the world does. Because we absolutely do want to prick the consciences of those we love.
We want what we do to have an effect on the other - all of the others.
We want them to see that we are different. Because we want them to see that we are Christ’s.
But how do we live that out? How do we not die on every hill and be the killjoy of the friend group that very quickly will stop inviting us to hang out and we lose every opportunity to show them Christ, but at the same time, be different like we’re called to be?
Oh, if only the Bible were that practical. If only it could, I don’t know, give us concrete examples using a hypothetical situation that may actually happen?
Well, that’s what Paul does next. He tells us we need to strive for the sake of the other - of every other - and then tells us how to do that practically.
And where he begins may surprise you.
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25 Eat everything being sold in the meat market, asking no questions on account of conscience.
Paul starts with a very important principle: don’t go looking for trouble.
If you want to find a reason not to do something on the grounds that it isn’t Christian enough, trust me, you will find a reason.
And as soon as you have a reason, your conscience will be violated if you now do it.
This goes for all areas of life.
I’ll give you an analogy. As some of you know, I don’t really like movies. I don’t like many TV shows. And it isn’t just because I have many other things I’d rather spend my time on.
Or because creativity has died and all people do is remake what’s already been done.
Or even the fact that so many actors in TV and movies are downright terrible at what they do.
I think it’s my honesty that makes me so darn likable… anyway...
No, the biggest reason I don’t watch movies or TV is because I have a personal grudge against almost every actor that feels the need to voice their opinion on anything other than acting.
Which is just about every actor.
And as soon as I know what kind of people they are, I cannot support these people with a clear conscience by watching their movies or shows.
Ask my wife. When she wants to go see a movie, she usually goes without me because she knows the actor is on my no-fly list.
And if she isn’t sure, she doesn’t ask me if I want to go see such and such a movie, she will ask me “how do you feel about...?” and then give me the name of the actor she hasn’t heard me say I won’t watch...
...yet.
But now, there are a handful of actors that I enjoy, and I do the best I can to never ever pay any attention to what they say to the media - in fact, I avoid anything written about them - because I know I’ll likely stop watching them. I don’t want to find a reason not to watch them.
Because once I have the reason, I just can’t do it.
The same is true for us as Christians in the world. If we look for something to have a problem with, we will find problems.
In fact, we are Christians, so we don’t discriminate. We’ll do this right in the church. That’s why so many Christians hop from church to church - they always seem to find a problem.
And that goes hand in hand with the misunderstanding we have about church. I don’t come here for me, I come here for all of you. And it isn’t because I’m the pastor. It’s because that is why the Bible says we come together.
Paul has made that clear. We are here for each other.
And when we’re among those of the world, it is quite easy to find a problem if we want to. But then we’re missing the point of why we who are not of the world are still in the world.
It isn’t for our sake!
It’s for the other.
It’s for those who need to see Christ. His love. His truth. His holiness.
So Paul says - “listen, you don’t want to partake in sacrifices to demons - to other gods. So don’t eat of what you know has been sacrificed to another God. Your conscience shouldn’t let you.”
And don’t forget, Paul has already said that meat offered to an idol and the idol are really nothing. We saw that last week. It isn’t the meat itself - or the wooden idol itself - that are the issue.
It is the identification with the god that’s the issue. Because we belong to Christ. We worship the Creator, not what is created.
But food, Paul says … is just food.
That’s why he says:
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25 Eat everything being sold in the meat market, asking no questions on account of conscience. 26 For the earth and its fullness is the Lord’s.
The meat offered to idols - that meat belongs to God.
Everything belongs to God.
And if we don’t find reasons not to partake of what God has given us, we should partake.
Paul here is quoting from Psalm 24. And his point - as it is often when a New Testament writer quotes part of the Old Testament - is really the whole context of the quote.
And look at the quote:
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
Everything - and everybody - belongs to God.
That’s why we don’t identify with anyone but Him.
That’s why He and He alone deserve our sacrifices and our offerings.
And that is why, if we don’t find a reason not to, we should enjoy what God has given us.
So Paul says - eat whatever you want and don’t ask questions for the sake of conscience. Because once you know something is wrong with the food, you can’t eat.
But don’t look for a reason - don’t look for a problem. Eat unto God Whose food you’re eating.
But don’t misunderstand. Paul is not giving us carte blanche to fake being naive and so do whatever we want.
If you have a conviction about not drinking alcohol, you can’t say to yourself “wow, everyone drinking the punch is acting funny, but if I don’t know for sure it’s okay to drink.”
That’s just being foolish. That’s being selfish.
And that is missing the point.
Because don’t forget Paul’s focus! Don’t forget what he says should be our focus - who should be our focus!
Paul says our focus should be the other.
We do what we do for their sake.
In his scenario, an unbeliever has invited you to break bread with him. To be in fellowship with him.
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27 If any unbeliever invites you to eat and you want to go, eat all that is set before you, asking no questions on account of conscience.
So buy what you want at the market, and eat unto God.
When you are in the world and have the opportunity to build a bridge with an unbeliever, go and eat what he serves without asking questions.
In either case, don’t look for a problem. Don’t make it so your conscience will keep you from being in the world.
We need to engage the world.
That’s part of our purpose statement as a church. We come here to meet with God. We live in community with each other. And we do that so we can engage the world with the Gospel.
And we do that by living out our identity in Christ in the world.
And if we look for reasons not to do that, we will find plenty of them.
So Paul says - don’t look for problems. Yes, eating food offered to an idol is identifying with the god. The issue isn’t the eating, it’s the identification.
And if you don’t know you are eating food from a sacrifice, you’re just eating. You’re not identifying with anyone. So while you do it, identify with Christ.
So don’t place a burden on your conscience if you don’t have to. Eat what you’re served and don’t ask questions.
(BUT!)
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28 But if someone should say to you “this is sacrificed to a god,” do not eat on account of that one informing you and conscience.
Ahhhh. Here is where the rubber meets the road. Here is where we have the chance to identify ourselves with Christ. To be different. To give them a reason to hear what we have to say.
Here is a chance to be identifiable as Christ’s.
And this is also the hard part.
Paul says: don’t go looking for problems. Don’t look for reasons not to be in the world and with those of the world.
You want to be with them. You want to love them.
So be with them, and love them.
Because when the problems reveal themselves - you will have a real chance to love them.
Paul says, eat without asking questions. But once you know the food will identify you with the false god, you cannot now go ahead and eat.
Because you can’t do things that will identify you with the world. The whole reason you are in the world, is to be different.
And note why: on account of the one informing you, and conscience.
Paul has now three times mentioned the conscience. He said don’t ask about meat you buy in the market on account of conscience. He said, don’t ask questions about the food an unbeliever serves to you on account of conscience.
In both cases, Paul is talking about the fact that a rightly formed conscience - according to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit - will not let you do those things once you know there’s a problem.
Once you know it goes against your identity in Christ.
Here, he says that once you know there is a problem, don’t eat on account of conscience.
And the problem is doing something that will identify you with the world. It would mean you were no different than the one knowingly identifying with the false god.
But here, it is on account of the one informing you - for the sake of the other - and conscience. Paul is referring to a different conscience here:
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29 And I do not mean your own conscience but the other’s.
What is Paul talking about? If I refrain from eating, is this unbeliever’s conscience going to stop him from eating the food and identifying with the false god? Will it stop him from identifying as belonging to the world?
The answer is: not if your conscience doesn’t stop you from doing it.
Do you see the point?
Paul earlier told the Corinthians not to eat the food offered to idols for the sake of weaker brothers. Because if they see you eat, and they eat, their conscience will be violated.
Here, he says don’t eat of the food offered to idols for the sake of unbelievers. Because if they see you eat, and they eat, their conscience won’t be violated.
In other words, those of the world have no reason to even stop and consider that what they do might be wrong, if they don’t learn it from us. Those entrusted with the good news. With the truth of God.
Look, it is very easy for the world to push back on Christian ethics. It is easy to lump every Christian into one group and label them homophobic or racist or misogynist. It’s easy to do when they are dealing with Christians in the abstract.
But when they know a Christian. When they have spent time with a Christian. When they know they are loved by a Christian. They make an exception.
Have you ever noticed that?
So people I know will talk about how horrible and hypocritical and even hateful Christians are. But they’ll tell me they don’t mean me. Because they know me. They know I am none of those things that other Christians supposedly are.
How do they know? Because they know I love them.
So when I disagree with them, or decline to do something they would otherwise think was fine, it gives them pause.
That’s why Paul tells the Corinthians not to eat of the food on account of the other. For the sake of his conscience. Not so your conscience won’t be pricked. Because he will see what you do, or don’t do, it his conscience that will be.
Even in the small thing, what we do matters.
People see it.
And if they don’t see us living the truth, they will never be willing to hear the truth. They first need to be affected by how we live.
And being what we are - even while in the world - is how we affect them. And it’s how we love them.
It is how we live out our faith in the most practical way.
Throughout this whole section, Paul has been addressing those who think eating food offered to idols is no big deal.
So he has told them why it is - they identify with false gods when they do, and they can’t identify with Christ and the gods of this world. And neither can we.
He has told them that they can affect their brothers and sisters in Christ negatively by encouraging them to go against their conscience. And so can we.
He has now told them that they can affect the world by helping change their conscience. And so can we.
And that is a big deal.
And Paul has now refuted what the Corinthians wrote to him - “we all know an idol is nothing, that we worship the true God, and that all things are lawful for me because of my liberty in Christ.”
He has answered them thoroughly.
And now he anticipates the objections they might have to what he said. And he has already answered them.
He says don’t look for trouble, but when you know the food is offered to idols, and the other knows you know - don’t eat.
And do what you do for the sake of the other.
For the sake of his conscience - so that he may reconsider his worldly values because he sees someone he knows, and trusts, and who is involved in his life - live differently than the world.
And he figures the Corinthians might object:
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29 “Why is my liberty being judged by the conscience of the other?”
The answer is that it’s not. It has nothing to do with your liberty. It is about your calling. What you do, you do for the other.
Or maybe they will object that those within the church have no right to judge them:
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30 “If I partake with thankfulness, why am I being reviled concerning that for which I give thanks?”
And again, this isn’t about their so called knowledge that they worship God so they can do what they want - including identify with the world when they want to.
Because it isn’t about them.
It is about their brothers and sisters in Christ and their consciences.
It is about unbelievers and their consciences.
And most of all, it is ultimately about God and His glory:
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31 Therefore, whether you eat, whether you drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.
This is verse is also taken out of context often. While the principle holds true, because we are to do everything we do for God’s glory, this is referring to something much more specific.
The eating and drinking that Paul has been talking about - the eating and drinking that identifies us with Christ.
This is referring to what we do or don’t do for the sake of the other. It is what makes us different. The reason we do the hard thing - or we do the harder thing by not doing what the world does - is because God’s glory is our goal.
It’s God’s goal, so it has to be our goal.
And that’s why we’re here. In the church, we do for each other, to do for God and His glory.
In the world, we do what we do that we may be identifiable as Christ’s, to help the world may see the truth lived out, so that we can get to the good news of the Gospel, that God may be glorified.
And we need to do this in every circumstance, at all times, no matter who we’re with:
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32-33 Be blameless to Jews, and Greeks, and the church of God, even as I also please everyone in everything, not striving for my own advantage but that of the many, so that they might be saved.
I want to notice the reason Paul concludes with here. This is about saving souls.
And my friends, when we act just like the world, they have no reason to listen to us when we claim to be different. They have no reason to even entertain the fact that there is another way - a better way - then the way of the world.
So we have to do what we do for the other - for all the others. We have to strive, as Paul began with, not for ourselves, but for every other - for the many others that we have the opportunity to impact for Christ.
We have to strive to identify with Christ and glorify God.
Whether we are with our own people, or with others, and even in the church. We must, like Paul, be all things to all people that some may be saved.
And we do that by being what we are in all situations. Only then will we be what others need us to be.
And Paul does not exclude himself from, this.
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1 Be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ.
Paul has already encouraged the Corinthians to imitate him. Because Paul lived out what he’s prescribing here.
And the point is not so much that we need to imitate Paul. Or even that we need to imitate Christ. We do, but that isn’t what we should walk away with from this.
What we should recognize, is that living out our calling - being different from the world because we love them enough to be different - it provides an example.
It provides an example and an encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And it provides an example to those of the world. They see what it looks like to identify with Christ. They see the difference, whether we realize it or not.
And that’s why Paul lived how he did, and was able to be an example.
So what will we do?
Now, we may never be in a situation where we eat food offered to a pagan god without knowing. But there are plenty of situations we face where we have that same choice - when we realize that what our friend or our group of friends is about to do, identifies them with the world.
And we have to choose in that moment to identify with Christ.
Because if we go along with the worldly agenda, regardless of how we identify, we will not be identifiable as Christ’s.
And if you have someone in your life who has never seen the difference in you, don’t wonder why they are no closer to faith than they were ten years ago. In their mind, you are no different than they are.
But if you have been different when those moment of decision comes, then they have noticed. And they get closer and closer to knowing the truth every time you do what you do for their sake and the sake of their conscience.
And every time you do, God is glorified in you.
You have no idea the impact you can have on those of the world if you heed Paul’s commands here.
Don’t look for problems. You might lose your opportunity to show forth Christ.
But if you are in the world, I promise you, you are going to be faced with problems. You are going to not only see the ways of the world in those around you, they are going to try and shove them down your throat.
And if, when that moment of decision comes, you aren’t different from the world, you have lost the opportunity to show forth Christ.
So I ask again: do we have the courage to live for Christ while we’re in the world?
Do we have the faith to do all we do for God’s glory?
Because most of us will have a chance to do just that not long after we walk out these doors.
Let us go and live so that we are identifiable with Christ.
Let us go and live striving for the sake of the other.
Let us go and live in a manner worthy of our calling that God may be glorified.
Let us go and imitate Christ Who strove in all things for us, that the world - those we love in the world - can see Him.
