1 Cor 10:23-11:1 Do Everything for the Glory of God
Finally, we have come to the end of the discussion on eating food offered to idols and the need to exercise self-control and not stumble another.
• Paul wants the Corinthians to watch our conduct so that everything can be done to the glory of God.
1 Cor 10:23-11:1 ESV
23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbour. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience — 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
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• NIV 23“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything"—but not everything is constructive.
• KJV 23All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
If I combine the words used in the various versions, the line will go like this:
• “All things can be lawful but not everything is necessarily helpful, builds up, beneficial, constructive or edifies.” Not everything lawful edifies.
• So besides saying, “This is my right,” and “This is the right thing to do,” we are to ask one more question: “Does it edify?” Would what I do builds up someone?
“To build up or edify” has been Paul’s recurring theme.
• We first read of it in 1 Cor 8 when he tells us not to stumble a weaker brother and reminds us to love him because love builds up.
• Here in 1 Cor 10 he says all things are lawful but not everything builds up.
• Going forward we will find this word used a few more times in 1 Cor 14 when Paul tells the Corinthians to use their gifts to build up one another, to edify the church.
• And do that out of love, not pride, and hence we see Paul breaking in with a long passage on love in 1 Cor 13. Love obliges us to act in a way that benefits our brother.
10:24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbour.
Principle 1: SEEK THE GOOD OF OTHERS
A theme we have seen repeated since 1 Cor 8. Don’t stumble your brother. We are to seek the good of others.
• This is the example of Christ and therefore the lifestyle of Christians, His followers.
• This is a challenge to us because it is not our most natural inclination. We don’t usually think of others. We have to exercise “self-control” or discipline our minds to do that.
• We have to “train” ourselves not to look only to our interests but also to the interests of others (cf. Phil 2:4)
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Paul went on to paint a situation which has been raised likely by the Corinthians.
• He uses it apparently to illustrate the need to be conscious of the need of others and to seek their good.
It is about eating food in the home and not knowing where the meat comes from.
• If we are to “flee from idolatry” and not eat the meat offered to idols in the Temple, then what about the meat our unbelieving friend put before us?
• That meat might have come from the marketplace but was used in the Temple as sacrifices to the idols.
25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
In the earlier section (10:14-22) we have Paul warning the complacent Corinthians not to participate in the Temple feasts.
• Now he talks to those who are on the other extreme - who are paranoid and overly sensitive about eating meat even outside the Temple, in the home of a friend.
• Should we not find out the origin of these meats, where they had been before they reached the market, and whether it has been used in the sacrifices in the Temple?
• Should we not investigate and find out the true source of these meats?
• If someone puts meat before me, I think the only question I have is: “Is this cooked?”
Paul’s answer is simple - the true source of the meat is God.
• 25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
• “Relax and enjoy the food! If you are invited to a home, even an unbeliever’s home, and do not know where he gets the meat, just give thanks to God and eat whatever is set before you. Enjoy his hospitality.”
• He quoted from Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof…” which is a line the Rabbis use to give thanks over every meal.
If the ultimate source of “this meat” is God, then it is irrelevant whether it had been sacrificed or not.
• We do not need to make an issue out of it, nor raise any questions to investigate.
• Just appreciate what our friend has prepared and enjoy the food.
Paul then changes the scenario in the next two verses 28-29a:
28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience — 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his…
• The situation changes if someone says it openly that the meat has been used in the sacrifices. When that happens, then do not eat it.
• Not because eating the meat will defile the Christian; it doesn’t, but for the sake of the conscience of that “someone”.
We do not know who this SOMEONE is. It could be the host, the unbeliever informing his guest, or a brother in the faith who is also at the meal.
• If he said it, then it must be an issue to him, otherwise, he would not have raised it. He finds it important to inform his guests of the origin of the meat.
• In that case, the Christian should refrain from eating the meat. It is not about his conscience, Paul says, but the conscience of the one who informed him.
So as not to offend that person because of his expectations of Christians - and precisely because eating or not eating the meat is not an issue to us - we can choose to refrain from eating and not hurt his conscience.
• 1 Cor 8:8 We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.
• Personal freedom is conditioned by the rule of 10:24 “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbour.”
• We seek to edify others and not gratify ourselves.
Don’t make food an issue because there are more important matters of concern. Don't pick issues over small matters and lose sight of more significant concerns.
• Paul issued two rhetorical questions suddenly in 10:29b-30 to stamp his point.
• 10:29b-30 29…For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
• The big question is WHY? Why am I doing this? To whose benefit am I doing this?
Paul concludes with these important lines in 10:31-32.
• It is not just the conclusion to this section but the whole of chapters 8 to 10 – the long discourse on the freedom to eat food offered to idols.
31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. 11:1Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Principle 2: SEEK TO GLORIFY GOD IN EVERYTHING WE DO
So the “freedom” we have does not mean we can do whatever we want with no regard for others.
• Instead, we are to do everything for the glory of God and for the sake of the Gospel, the salvation of the lost. In order words, for the good of others.
To ask, “Do I have the right to eat this or that?” is not the right question to ask.
• The question to ask is whether the things I do glorify God and benefit others.
• 32Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God… Paul is totally others-centred.
Ultimately it is our witness that matters. We do not want to do anything that stumbles others or hinders them from knowing Christ.
• Paul says that in everything that he does, he seeks not his own benefit but for the good of many, so that they may be saved (10:33). It is for the sake of the Gospel.
• He seeks to act in such a way that can best facilitate the Gospel and the salvation of the lost, and not hinder it.
• He said it in 1 Cor 9:19-22 “19For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”
• Notice the emphasis on "winning them" to Christ.
11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
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So finally we have come full circle and conclude today on this subject of food offered to idols. We seek the good of others and glorify God in everything we do.
Let me summarise the lessons we have learned from chapters 8-10:
• Watch our conduct even in our freedom because onlookers can be stumbled by our actions. Exercise self-control for the love of our fellow brothers.
• We can set aside our “rights” like Paul so that the message of the Gospel can be proclaimed well without hindrance.
• We flee from idolatry and temptations of all kinds, seen and unseen. Any participation in idolatrous activities is inconsistent with the Christian life.
• We seek the good of others. We do everything for the glory of God and for the sake of the Gospel.
Dr Eleanor Chestnut arrived in China in 1893. She was a missionary doctor serving under the American Presbyterian missions board. She built a hospital, using her own money to buy bricks and mortar. The need for her services was so great that she performed surgery in her bathroom until the building was completed.
One operation involved the amputation of a labourer's leg. Complications arose, and skin grafts were needed. A few days later, another doctor asked Chestnut why she was limping. “Oh, it’s nothing,” was her terse reply. Finally, a nurse revealed that the skin graft for the patient came from Dr Chestnut’s own leg. She operated giving herself only local anaesthetic to remove her skin.
Dr Chestnut was martyred for her faith in the Boxer Rebellion of 1905. Decades passed and people in that place still talked about the foreign doctor whose loving concern for others made them think of Jesus.
Her conduct makes people think of Jesus.
Let us live like Jesus and seek the good of others and glorify God our Father.
