How to Get Along With People Who Are Different From You

How toBased Get Along WithYou People Living on What Are, Who Are Different From You Not on What You Used to Be 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 August 2, 2018 June 24, 2018 THE BIG IDEA: In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul calls Christians who disagree about whether some things are right or wrong to be thoughtful and loving toward each other, finding unity in Christ. Jesus is the One who did all that is necessary for us to be right with God, the One who sets us free from man-made rules of Christian behavior, and the One who made us so free that we will sometimes refuse to express our freedom out of respect for a friend. The Background Issue: “Where do you shop?” • There were two “parties” in the Corinthian Church: o The Progressives: they were the “permissives” and their primary concern was personal freedom. The pit they fell into was license. o The Conservatives: they were the “restrictives” and their primary concern was personal morality. The pit they fell into was legalism. • These tensions are timeless. Modern-day legalists see everything as black and white – there is very little “gray” in life. Modern-day libertines also see very little “gray”, because almost everything is “white” – permissible and acceptable. 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 (ESV) 8 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. Truths to Take Away From this Scripture: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Putting the Scripture Into My Life: § 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, Life is not only about the “should’s” and “ought’s”, but is frequently filled with the “can’s” – “Can a Christian do this?” Knowledge should always be exercised and guided by love or the knowledge leads to pride. There is foundational spiritual knowledge that all of us should grasp: ü There is only one true God (v. 4) ü All things that are came from the will of the Father (v. 6) ü We ourselves exist for God. ü Jesus Christ is the One Lord and all that is in the world came through Him, including us. Food will not make us closer to or farther from God (v. 8) My “right” to do something can be exercised in a way that causes a Christian brother or sister to stumble. Sinning against a fellow Christian is also sinning against Christ. (v. 12) There are times when we should be willing to give up what we “can” do for the sake of someone else’s walk with the Lord (v. 13) § § § § § § Is my knowledge of God and His Word accompanied by love (agape)? When I see a Christian brother or sister doing something I think is wrong, do I question their salvation or Christian sincerity? Am I using my freedom in Christian to indulge or over-indulge in things that I don’t really need in my life? Am I becoming so separate from the world that I have no chance to be “salt” or “light” as Jesus commanded? Do I understand that my exercise of my “personal” freedom is never completely personal – that others are always affected by my actions? Do I remember that I am saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone? Am I willing to examine my “convictions” to see if they are Scriptural or cultural in basis?