The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 16: 1 Corinthians 8:1 - 13; "Knowledge Puffs Up; Love Builds Up"

The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 16; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 “Knowledge Puffs Up; Love Builds Up” One of the most important things a mother wants for her kids is that they love each other. That they get along with each other. That they at least speak civil to one another. No snarky speech! This was Kitty’s number 1 prayer when our 4 were growing up. Even though our kids are grown it is still high on her prayer list. How fitting it is for us to be looking at this passage today, with today being Mothers’ Day? Whether a mother has had children naturally, or adopted them or are even considered the neighborhood mother, to see your kids get along well is very important for you, isn’t it? It is for fathers, too, I might add. And it’s important to the heavenly Father as well. How many of us have not heard Jesus telling his disciples of the importance of love between spiritual siblings? The one who said “he who has seen me has seen the Father?” And “I and the Father are One,” also said in John 13:34-35, “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.” In today’s passage, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Paul in essence says, “love is what you as Christians need to be about.” Throughout this chapter, Paul tells the Corinthian Christians how to love one another, and it goes something like this: “When you differ with your brother about non-essential things, give him a lot of grace.” No snarky talk. No force feeding the issues. Walk with your brother, your sister at a pace that is right for him, or her.” What is Paul talking about here? He highlights it in v.1: Now concerning food offered to idols. The Corinthians had a religious question they needed Paul to answer. Now, we don’t know exactly how the Corinthians posed the question, but once again apparently Paul detected there was some disunity. Let’s read vv.1-3 to discover it: 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. In a nutshell, Paul sees a religious tug of war among the Corinthian believers: knowledge and love. Paul detects here that some have things all figured out when it comes to food offered to idols, and that it is their moral duty to tell others what they should believe about these things. But Paul gives the antidote to knowledge used as a bludgeon destroy relationships, and that is love. Overcoming knowledge of the puffed up kind with love of the divine kind is the key to unlock what is going on in this chapter and we will see that as we go along. Though meat offered to idols is the question, Paul sees a bigger issue, again, unity. I can just hear God’s apostle saying under his breath, as he writes his answer, “Can’t you guys love one another?” We are going to see Paul patiently working with the Corinthian believers in the fine art of loving one another as he answers the question of what a Christian is supposed to do regarding meat which has outlived its religious purpose. It was used by worshippers of pagan religions as part of their religious practices. To partake or not partake of this meat? That is the question of the hour for the Christians in Corinth. So today we are going to see 3 aspects of how Paul instructs them to love one another in truth in this chapter: knowledge vs. love in vv.1-3, the truth of the matter in vv.4-6, and applying the truth in vv.7-13. I mentioned a moment ago that Paul detected a certain degree of arrogance when it came to some of the Corinthians regarding the matter of food offered to idols. In v.1 he agreed with them about the heart of the issue that Paul will unpack later on in the passage: knowledge of who the true and living God is. Some of the Corinthian Christians took to the truth like a duck to the water. They drank in everything Paul taught them about the nature of only true God. I can imagine these believers. When they first heard Paul present the truth about God and the gospel of Christ, they immediately turned to the Lord and never looked back. These brothers were the kind to stand strong against those who worshipped Apollo, or Aphrodite, or the Caesar Nero himself. They all had temples, and they all had pagan rituals, which included offering food to their statues. And what these brothers discovered was that Christ fulfilled their hunger for reality. The apostles discovered it in the days of Jesus’ ministry. Remember the time when Jesus fed 5,000 men and women and children besides? Though he fed them, he also told them truth that was in their words, “hard to listen to” and literally thousands walked away from him. Jesus asked the disciples, “you don’t want to go away, too, do you?” And Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” So for these Corinthian believers, because they know the only true God, none of the religious practices they so diligently performed when they were pagans now meant anything to them, to include offering food on pagan altars. So, in the marketplace, these Christians bought perfectly good cuts of meat even though they were used in pagan rituals, because to them, meat is meat! That’s one side of these committed Corinthian believers. But we all know that when a person has a strength, there is an accompanying weakness. How many know what I’m talking about? You have a daughter who is so very compliant as she grows up. She is a model kid, head and shoulders above her brothers. Now, her brothers are not nearly as compliant as she. And in typical sibling rivalry fashion, they say to each other, “If I hear Janie say ‘yes mother, dear’ one more time, I will do her harm!” And time marches on. Janie grows up, and so do her brothers. But when she grows up, Janie’s compliance turns into extreme uncertainty about life. And she cannot make a decision on her own, precisely because her mother told her exactly what to do and she said, “yes, mother, dear” over and over again. And how many boys do you know about, or perhaps have one yourself where his will is stronger than iron? You can’t wait til he leaves the nest! But as he goes on in life, he becomes an extremely strong leader, and his will of iron has become his ally. Well, the brother with knowledge about the true nature of God has a lot of zeal. Some of it is because the Lord has profoundly changed him. And some of it is because he naturally has a forceful personality. So much so that in his zeal he often steam rolls over one who has as Paul describes “a weak conscience.” And by the time “brother knowledge” gets through with “brother conscience,” there can be, and often is, a real mess in the church. Got the picture? Well, Paul begins to pull brother knowledge up close and personal. They have, as it were, a real come to Jesus meeting. A sharp rebuke. In essence Paul says, “brother, though you know the truth about the Lord, you have lost focus. It’s not knowledge you need to zero in on but love. For knowledge -- misused -- puffs up, or produces pride. But brother knowledge, love is the key. Love builds up -- the other person. And, brother knowledge, the foundation of even our relationship with God is not knowledge about him, it is a love relationship with him. This is to be the motivation, and the foundation, upon which you relate to your brother, your sister in Christ.” Love. The word is agape. It can be described as a loyalty to the other person; a commitment to helping a Christian brother or sister to meet his or her needs. It is always showing the character qualities of patience, kindness, integrity, rejoicing in what is true, and so many other things found in the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. With Paul reminding the Corinthian believers that love, rather than a so-called misused knowledge as the foundation for their unity, Paul now walks them, again, through the truth of who God is and what it means in answer to the question they asked him about in vv.4-6: 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. In this section Paul affirms the truth brother knowledge clung to and zealously promoted. Paul reminds them just what and idol is—or isn’t and that of God and his Christ. Here is the truth: idols have no real existence. No God but one. There are many objects which people point out as worthy of worship--they are even called “gods” and “lords.” Let’s stop here for a second and take this in. Herein lies the truth about the nature of God. There is 1 God. Alone. Any religion which claims there is more than 1 God alone is a false religion. A false object of worship, regardless of how sincerely one believes this false object is true. Paul tells us in Romans 1 in essence, when a person does not worship the Creator of all things, he worships an object the Creator created. Romans 1:18–23: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. The truth is we all either worship the Creator or some aspect of creation. And so Paul is affirming brother knowledge. But let’s go farther, even more exclusively into the nature of God. Let’s look at v.6 again: 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. What is Paul saying? There is one, and only one God. The creator of all things. Everything and everyone owe their very existence to him. It’s great to contemplate the glory of the one true God. Several religions claim to worship only 1 deity: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. And they all make different truth claims. For example, Islam denies the Trinity--Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They believe that Allah is 1 person, 1 god. Judaism holds to the idea that a Messiah is going to come and make all things right at the end of the age. But Paul goes farther. There is one Lord Jesus Christ, God of very God, who is co-eternal, along with God the Father. So what is Paul driving at? Paul preached the truth and the Corinthians now possess it. Of the multiplied thousands in Corinth, of the thousands who worship at the many temples and offer many sacrifices in the city, the only one truly worthy of worship is the one Creator God and his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. So, brother knowledge must feel pretty good about where he is. Paul affirmed him and his position. He has the truth. And he lives it out. His conviction is since idols are nothing, he has no scruples about buying this meat from the marketplace, which as everybody knows the pagan temples are the sole supply chain. Enter brother conscience. This follower of Jesus has been radically saved, just like brother knowledge. He too, has turned his back on his old ways. But there is a huge difference between brother conscience and brother knowledge. Whereas brother knowledge has a strong personality as I mentioned, brother conscience has a more sensitive orientation to life. And brother conscience is perhaps more sensitive to spiritual things than is brother knowledge. Brother conscience is very aware of the spiritual world and the power of evil forces. But brother knowledge is so enamored with being set free from the bondage of evil, he sort of forgets the evil he at one time was taken captive by. Brother knowledge has a weakness--he is prone to personal, spiritual freedom at the expense of others in the body of Christ who are not like him. He is so free, and forceful, that if he sees others not enjoying the freedom he has, he pushes his agenda, without regard for where the other person is. Do you know anyone like that? Brother conscience sees things just as vividly as brother knowledge. But he is more hesitant. All those times he worshiped at the altar of a false god haunts him even as a Christian. The reality of evil is just as real in the mind and heart of brother conscience as is salvation in Christ. Every time he sees the people worship in the many temples in Corinth, he has a visceral reaction. Every time he sees the displays of meat in the marketplace, knowing where it came from, memories of how he offended holy God come flooding back. And so when his more forceful brother invites him over for dinner, guess what brother knowledge serves? You guessed it: the best steaks money can buy. And you can imagine what kind of evening these two brothers would have together. But because brother conscience wants to be friends with brother knowledge because they are both Christians, does he refuse the meat? Nope. He eats it, but his self awareness, his sensitivity to sin comes into a huge clash with what is on his plate. Brother conscience imagines he is actually engaging in pagan worship because the meat was offered to a pagan god. What to do with this? This may have been part of what prompted the question the Corinthian believers needed Paul to answer. In v.8, Paul continues his answer, and it is a simple, straight forward one: Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. As important as fellowship around the table is, think about the food rules if you lived in the first century in Corinth. If you were a believer with a Jewish background, you had all the kosher laws. And again, if you were a gentile believer who came out of pagan background, this issue of meat that was used as part of pagan religious rituals loomed large as you ate with fellow believers. So, this I would imagine would be liberating news: though we take it for granted, God really does not mind what we eat--Christ declared this when he explained his saying about “it’s not what goes into one’s mouth that is important but what comes out,” in Mark 7:18-19. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) But in vv.9-12, Paul now warns brother knowledge. 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. So, what is Paul’s warning? In a nutshell, he says “brother knowledge, you have freedom in Christ to eat meat that was associated with pagan rituals. You are correct in your conviction that there is only 1 God, and so yes, your understanding of worship is warranted. But when you choose to exercise your spiritual freedom, you need to remember that you have a brother who is more sensitive than you are about this matter. And especially when you try to break him out of what you might see as a spiritual prison, you are destroying your brother. You are wounding his understanding of what walking with Jesus is all about. You are sinning against your brother. And when you do this, brother knowledge, you are sinning against Christ. He is the one who died for you and him. He set both of you free. With your strong personality and stance, don’t be so quick to try to convince him to your way. Because the Lord Jesus does not take too kindly to those who sin against his people-to include his fellow servants. It was about a week before Jesus went to the cross. As he and his disciples walked the temple grounds, Jesus’ disciples were in awe and pointed out the temple and all of the beautiful buildings. Jesus said, “Matthew 24:2: “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” The disciples asked him, “When will this take place, Lord?” And Jesus described for them what we know as the Great Tribulation. It is instructive for us to hear Jesus’ 2 commands in this passage: Don’t be deceived. Be ready. No one knows when he will return--and at that time, even he, in his humanity, did not know. But he told them to be ready, beginning in Matthew 24:45–51: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Matthew 25 records 3 parables that the Lord told describing to them, and us, what it means to be ready for his return: The parable of the virgins-telling them what it means to be wise, the parable of the talents-telling them what it means to be faithful, and the parable of the sheep and the goats-telling them of what it means to be one of Jesus’ true servants. Matthew 25:31–40: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ A question: Who are the least of these Jesus refers to? His brothers. And who are Jesus’ brothers? Members of God’s household. In our way of saying it, fellow Christians. In other words, the sheep are those who treat their fellow sheep well. Paul gave to brother knowledge a much needed course correction. He told him, in essence, “you want to prove you are a sheep? You want to be ready when the master comes? Treat your fellow servant, brother conscience with the same love and respect you would treat the Lord Jesus.” And in v.13 Paul now gives not only the motivation but also an example of what it means to treat the one who Jesus describes as the least of these in a manner that pleases the Lord: Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. In other words, Paul says, “I will never go to the market, I will never purchase meat again for the sake of brother conscience because when I serve the least of Christ’s servants--his sheep, I have served Christ. Because I love the Lord, therefore I will love my brother, and if need be, to limit my freedom in Christ. It will be my privilege to serve brother conscience. So, what are we to make of this passage of inspired Scripture today? I don’t know about you but I can’t tell you the last time I went to a meat market that was supplied by a temple representing a pagan religion. Let me apply this to our lives today. First, the principle is clear: love is the foundation in the church of Jesus Christ between believers. We are to love our brother. Our sister. Christ is the Lord and we are in the family because he allowed us in by his grace through faith. Every person who has repented of their sin and believed the gospel is related by blood—the blood of Jesus. That means simply but profoundly, that we are not allowed to love everybody . . . except her. Or everybody but that one. No matter how much of a personality clash we have with one another. The same God who saved you saved the one you have an issue, or issues with. Second, differences of opinion abound. That’s a no-brainer. But how many of us live that way? That we expect that my brother, my sister will have a differing opinion about things? Or do we automatically assume we will share the same opinion? Now, it’s great when we have the same opinion about things. Most of the time. Or would it be? What would life be like if we were cloned? A real living, breathing clone? How quickly would life turn no so pleasant? Third, it’s an old statement but it is true nonetheless: all ground is level at the foot of the cross. We need to see one another as equals all standing, or kneeling, at the cross of Jesus. And that especially goes for when we have differing opinions about things that are not the absolute essentials of the Christian faith, but we have definite reasons for believing the way we do. The God who allowed you to come to your conclusion about issues that are near and dear to your heart is the same God who allowed me to come to my conclusions. In other words, we are to treat others with love and respect, always seeking to understand the Scripture, and therefore, the Lord better. Briefly, let me give you just 2 of the many doctrinal issues that have divided Christians over the years and even today. The first is which day of the week is the proper one on which to worship the Lord? There are 2 camps: those who believe in Saturday worship and those who believe in Sunday worship. Those who worship the Lord on Saturday do so because of the conviction that the Lord has not done away with the 4th Commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. Also, God rested on the 7th day from his creative work. And since we are made in his image, we are to rest and worship on the Sabbath. And try as one might, there is no way we can change Sabbath to Sunday. Sabbath is Sabbath. On the other hand, Paul said in Romans 14:5: One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. And of course, the main reason the vast majority of Christians worship on Sunday is because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. So, which is right? Did God rescind the 4th Commandment? Or should we worship on Saturday and Sunday? Or do we follow what Paul said? And how do we act when another brother or sister strongly confronts us about this? Do we fight back or break fellowship, or do something else? What would be Paul’s counsel here? What about one’s view of the last days, especially the rapture of the church? Some believe very strongly that the rapture—the catching away of the church will happen before the 7 years’ tribulation. After all, God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation as Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:9. Some strongly believe that the rapture will happen at the mid point of the 7 year tribulation period. God’s people will be out of here before it gets really bad. Others believe just as strongly that the rapture will happen at the end of the tribulation—kind of like a yo-yo: Christ will come in the sky, and those who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds—only to come right back down to earth. There are a couple more, but you get the picture. Who is right? And what do we do with fellow Christians who believe strongly but are like brother conscience and change their position based on who they are with, because they believe they need to love other Christians and the issue of the rapture divides people? Or what do we do with those who very firmly hold to a pre-tribulational rapture view and practically see those who don’t agree with them as not even Christians? All have very strong views. But what is most important, according to Paul? 1 Corinthians 8:1: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” John the apostle was one of the original survivors. He went through horrendous things, not the least of which, according to church tradition, he was boiled in oil and lived to tell about it. John went by several names and titles, to include, “the apostle of love” for a couple of reasons. First, John mentioned love more than any other New Testament writer, to include Paul and Paul wrote about half of the New Testament. John wrote a gospel, 3 letters and the book of Revelation. The second reason he was called the apostle of love was in how he pastored the church in Ephesus. When people would come to him with issues, John simply said, “children, love one another.” And the Holy Spirit inspired him to actually refer to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Not, the disciple who loved Jesus, mind you. So as we finish the message today, if you have a mom still around, communicate to her that you love her. If your mother, or even mothers have gone on ahead of you, give the Lord thanks for the years he gave you to have a relationship with your mother. And even if you were orphaned and don’t know who your mother is, give the Lord thanks for the one who adopted you, took you home because she chose you out of all the people on the planet, she is your mother. And finally, give thanks to the heavenly Father. He is the one who invented families, you know. Fathers and mothers made in his image to reflect his likeness. May we speak truth one to another because God is true. May we speak and live love because God is love, for the sake and glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the son of God.