6.8.48 10.24.2021 Identity Politics 1 Corinthians 8

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Entice: If ever there was a skippable chapter for the modern preacher, that chapter would be 1 Corinthians 8.

The issue it discusses has not been pertinent for 17 centuries.

When preachers update the issue to make it relevant the sermon often ends up full of trivial technicalities or trite moralisms do not do justice to essential qualities of congregational life. As odd as it seems to us this was significant to Paul and the Corinthian Church.

Despite an issue which we don't understand, and beyond our temptation to ignore the text, under-interpret it, or over interpret it we have an obligation to understand it as they understood it then and discover what made it such a burning issue in the Corinthian Church-so that we might use this text to inform our life in Christ, in Grayville, 2021.

1 Corinthians 8:1–13 ESV

1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. 4 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.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 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. 7 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. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 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? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Engage: You may not know what to think about a passage such as this. We are so far removed from a pagan, selfish, un-equal, imbalanced culture that it does not seem relevant. Or does it? The idolatries may have changed but they still exist. We still live in an economically imbalanced world. Selfishness? Narcissism? Special pleading for my rights as I understand them? These issues are still live.

Expand: We need to understand a bit about the social background of the city, the church, and the issue at stake.

Corinthians liked their idolatry almost as much as sex. Many, many temples. There was wide variety of Roman, Greek, and Asian Gods along with the flourishing mystery religions.

Like the city, the church had an economic imbalance. One way this manifested itself was in the acquisition of basic necessities. They, like Grayville, did not have a Borowiak's. Much of the meat, if not most, came from the abundance of Pagan shrines. Some was consumed in the dining halls of those temples, the rest sold in attached markets.

Like the issue of lawsuits the impact of "eating meat sacrificed to idols" was not experienced by every Christian in Corinth in the same way. Moving in different circles and maturing into the faith at different speeds meant that there were mature, immature, wealthy, poor, Roman, Jew, Greeks, "Barbarians", cultured, hayseeds, educated, and uneducated in the congregation(s) that made up the Corinthian Church. The issue at hand did not create these divisions…it exposed them.

Excite: The Church today is mixed. We have some of the same issues. To ignore this passage may seem comfortable but it is the coward's way out. What Paul said then, needs said now. We need unity. We need commonality. We need grace and love to overcome the cultural inertia of disunity and conflict.

Explore:

We must be less obsessed with our selves and more obligated to others.

Explain: Paul addresses three issues we are still addressing in the contemporary Church

1 The risk. vv. 1-3

1.1 Knowledge not balanced by love.

1.2 Knowledge not tempered by humility.

1.3 Knowledge not softened by relationship.

2 The reality. vv. 4-7

2.1 Theological: Idols are always empty.

2.2 Practical: Not everyone understands this.

3 The responsibility. vv.7-13

3.1 I am responsible for not offending the conscience of my brother.

3.2 I am responsible for regulating my use of freedom.

3.3 I am responsible for choosing rightly.

Shut Down:

It's not so much the action as it is the attitude. Not the issue, our response. Not my rights, but my responsibility. Our care for one another is not a mere formality.

Our love and affection for one another is what differentiates us from every other organization on earth.

We must be willing to face the not only the risks of our culture but the risk our always growing faith. We should understand the reality of the mixed nature of the Church with theological rigidity and practical flexibility. In the end we are responsible for each other and to God.

That my dear ones, is always relevant even if you've never had a steak sacrificed to an idol.