1 Cor 8 1_13.doc
GOOD ADVICE TO A GROWING CHURCH _____________________________________________
A Study In The Book Of 1 Corinthians
Dealing With The Gray Areas Of Life - 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
The apostle Paul had two great desires in life… (1) To live his life totally for God and…, (2) to help others.
This is the essence of our Christian faith.
Paul was a man who left his mark on human history because he had proper convictions and he lived by those convictions.
Convictions -- "A strong persuasion or belief.”
Everyone has some convictions; some are right, some are wrong, and some are in-between or weak.
The only way to have strong convictions is to have close and strong relationship with God.
Daniel had certain convictions…
Dan 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Just because Daniel didn’t eat certain foods… – does that mean that we can’t either?
Keep in mind that Paul is answering questions that have come to his attention.
The Bible is very definitive as to what is right and wrong… what is sin and what is not.
Some areas in the Bible are very specific and define what is right and wrong… Like…
· Adultery
· Sexual Immorality
The problem lies in those gray area… the areas left to our conscience as to whether they are right or not.
Like…
· Some people struggle at to whether they should go to the movies or not
· The type of movies we should go to
· Whether it is alright to drink or not
· Some people won’t play cards
· Some ladies feel that it is a sin to wear make-up
· Or some feel like dancing is a sin
· How about how to celebrate Halloween or not
· Should we have a Christmas tree
· Should we celebrate Christmas with Santa
· Are Christians allowed to be in Freemasons, or Shiners or part of the Masonic Lodge
· What is appropriate dress to wear or not
· How about smoking
Quite honestly… the Bible is very silent on a lot of these issues. It leaves room for us to figure it out ourselves.
The problem that the Corinthian Christians was whether or not they should eat that had been offered to idols. This was a gray area.
It becomes a matter of our own conscience.
In many Asian cultures and in Africa – this still is a large issue.
However… It was just as sensitive of an issue as some of the issues we face today.
Most of the meat that was sold in the town marketplace came from sacrificial animals that had been slaughtered at the pagan ceremonies.
· Part of the meat of each sacrificial animal was burned on the temple altar
· Part was eaten in temple ceremonies
· Part was sold in the Corinthian marketplace for consumption at home
The question at hand was this… did these rituals somehow automatically taint the food with some weird spiritual voodoo?
Could Christians eat meat that had been offered to idols?
· For some Christians, eating the meat from the temples brought back memories of their past life.
Could they go to a friend’s home and eat a meal there?
What about weddings and social events?
Rom 14:1 Accept Christians who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. (NLT)
A few weeks ago we talked about a group called the Gnostics who were in Corinth.
The Gnostics believed that your body was temporary and would be left on the earth after you die. Therefore, you could do anything you wanted with it.
This gave them a kind of superiority over other Christians because their freedom was unhindered.
The Corinthians knew that they were free in Christ.
But many of them took this to an extreme, thinking that Christian liberty was their ticket to sin.
1 Cor 6:12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
Keep in mind that we are to be salt and light to the earth…
Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Mat 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mat 5:15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Mat 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
In dealing with this issue of eating meat to idols – a gray area… Paul set forth certain principles, which are valid and useful to this day.
I. The Principle Of Liberty - 8:1-6
· True Liberty is evidenced by love
1 Cor 8:1 Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
The Corinthians had begun with the wrong premise. Paul had to correct them.
Knowledge was of great value, but they nor any of us can never solve our problems with knowledge alone. Knowledge MUST be tempered by love.
Knowledge only “puffs” up. It creates pride, intellectual snobbery, and a “party spirit.”
Love on the other hand edifies or builds up. The great Corinthian flaw was their poverty of love.
They were knowledgeable but didn’t have love.
You can sit in the same pew every Sunday for 57 years." That isn’t what God is looking for.
He wants you to develop a heart full of love towards others and towards him.
True spirituality isn’t measured merely by how good you are, but by how good you are to others.
The word edifies means to “build a home or a building, to erect, edify or encourage.”
Paul uses this figuratively to mean the building of Christian character and the church.
Knowledge alone could destroy a church. Love and knowledge together will build it properly.
Edification is the natural outgrowth of love. When you have love in your heart – you will naturally edify one another.
Eph 4:15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ;
1 Cor 8:2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
Knowledge by itself has limitation. No matter how much man thinks he knows, he still does not know fully.
1 Cor 8:3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
What really matters is not our knowledge but God’s.
We should not be known for our knowledge but for our love.
2 Tim 2:19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
Gal 4:9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Most of all... we should be known by God. He recognizes who we are. He knows us intimately.
To “be known” implies a knowledge that is complete and full. This only comes through relationship.
Dan 11:32 ...but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. (NKJ)
1 Cor 8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
1 Cor 8:5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),
Now Paul returns to the immediate question about whether they should eat meat offered to idols or not.
“An idol is nothing...” - In essence - an idol has no real place in this world and had no power. It is only an image made up by man.
As Christians, we believe that it is God who controls everything.
The Christian is not to walk in superstition and fear.
Example... Robert Fenn from India…
He was having a house built.
There were no Christian builders. All the builders in his area were Hindu.
Before starting the work the builders killed a chicken - pour out the blood on the foundation.
Also before work every morning... people bring goodies that have been prayed over to their “gods.”
He had to know that the power of Christ was larger than the power of the demons.
He couldn’t walk in fear or intimidation.
In Thailand, our missionary Kelly Hilderbrand… does some very interesting things… If a family member of their church dies who is Buddhist – the church will take food into the temple to minister in Jesus’ name.
However… I know missionaries who say to me… “Don’t even go on the property where a temple is because the demons will attach to you.”
What is right?
1 Cor 10:19-20
19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?
20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. (NKJ)
For us... it is nothing. For them... they worship the demons behind that idol.
Don’t even have any idols (decorative or real) in your house.
Ps 101:2-3
2 ... I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;... (NKJ)
Jer 10:2-5
2 Thus says the LORD: ""Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple.
5 They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.’’ (NKJ)
1 Cor 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
This is the big difference between Christians and the world.
We have a living God - we walk in day-by-day relationship with Him. He has the power over everything. He is alive!
I Jn 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (NKJ)
The central theme governing Paul’s remarks here about food offered to the so-called gods is the fact that God is one.
This is based on Deuteronomy 6:4-5, the Shema, which all faithful Jews recite twice a day...
Deut 6:4-5
4 ""Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
5 ""You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.(NKJ)
These words are so important that Jesus himself called this the first and greatest commandment in Mark 12:29-31.
Mark 12:29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: ’Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Mark 12:30 ’And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
Mark 12:31 "And the second, like it, is this: ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.
"This is important to us as Christians also because it explains that every facet of life belongs to God alone.
That is why they first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:7).
There were to be no other gods – period!
II. The Principle Of Love - vv. 7-13
1 Cor 8:7 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
Notice the word “however…”
There is another consideration. Not everyone in the Corinth church understood this liberty that Paul had.
They felt that if they ate food that had been sacrificed to idols would somehow connect them to that idol.
This person lives with guilt if he partakes of the meat.
Rom 14:23 But anyone who believes that something he wants to do is wrong shouldn’t do it. He sins if he does, for he thinks it is wrong, and so for him it is wrong. Anything that is done apart from what he feels is right is sin. (TLB)
1 Cor 8:8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
Whether you eat meat or not is not the issue. The issue lies in your heart attitude toward God and to others.
· True Love Is Evidenced by Empathy
1 Cor 8:9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.
What is empathy? According to the dictionary it is: "The capacity to identify with a person .."
In other words, it is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes--to see things from his or her point-of-view.
Paul tells us that if we have true love then we will learn to empathize.
We will give thought to how our actions affect those around us. We’ll learn to see the world through the eyes of others.
Showing love is not just about how good you are, it’s about how good you are to others.
In discussing the matter of eating food that has been sacrificed to idols, remember that Paul has already stated that it is not a sin. Then he goes on to say…
(v. 9) Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. Legalist?
“Stumbling block” – This is something that lies in the path. It is something that could an unsuspecting foot to trip or stumble.
In the spiritual, it is anything that can cause another to sin and to not walk in faith.
As a result it brings injury to his soul and Christian life.
A man who had been a Christian for several years told a pastor that his favorite form of relaxation was smoking pot. "
The pastor said, “Do you see a contradiction between scripture and smoking marijuana?"
The man said, "No. In fact, scripture allows it."
The pastor replied, "How do you see that?"
He said, "Genesis 1:29. God says, ’I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."
Now the pastor had him: "It says ’for food’. You smoke marijuana; you don’t eat it."
The man then said, "You haven’t tasted my brownies."
This guy is off base… anyone can take almost any scripture and turn it around to say what they want it to say.
1 Cor 8:10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?
Basically, Paul presents a scenario in which a person, who has knowledge (or freedom in Christ), is eating meat at some feast.
What if a “weaker brother,” who doesn’t have the same knowledge observes him?
Will this weaker brother/ sister be tempted to eat also, thus causing his conscience to feel guilt later?
The problem lies in that the weaker brother or sister’s conscience does not yet understand what you and I might understand from God’s word.
1 Cor 8:11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
“Perish” - destroy, ruin, kill, lose, be lost, perish, to put to death.
1 Cor 8:12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
It can’t be any clearer than this.
When we sin against a brother – it is a sin against the whole church and against Christ.
1 Cor 8:13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
· True Love Is Evidenced by Sacrifice
Here’s the deal…, "When someone else’s spiritual health is at stake, you are willing to sacrifice your freedom for their benefit."
This doesn’t play well, but it is biblical.
In that culture eating food sacrificed to idols was an issue. In our culture it isn’t.
But there are other "freedoms" that we should approach with caution, in order not to cause any of our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ to stumble.
What "freedoms"? …
"Does that mean I let other people control my life?
· What if someone tells me that when I play golf it causes them to stumble? Am I supposed to give up golf?
· Or what if they say that they think it is wrong for me to consume caffeine? Am I supposed to give up coffee?"
On the other hand… I’m not going to just let people impose their weak beliefs on me.
We need to make a distinction here. Paul is talking about sacrificing for a weaker seeker/fellow Christian.
If anything causes a weaker, younger, spiritually immature believer to question the validity of his or her faith, we should be willing to sacrifice that in order to prevent that person from stumbling.
Paul makes his conclusion very clear here.
For the sake of the name of Christ - I will not do anything that causes my brother or sister to stumble.
The whole issue is my “attitude.” How I respond to those people that I don’t agree with or annoy me makes all the difference in the world.
I’m not here to judge you whether you smoke or drink or use make-up.
You need to allow God to shape your convictions.
The Christian life is not a private matter. There are things I don’t do that I could do; places I don’t go that I could go within my freedom in Christ.
I could say I don’t care what others think, but I do care.
Notice that Paul uses the word “brother” four times in the last three verses. It is important for us to “care” for the weaker brother.
Bottom line - we are called to “love one another - John 13:34b
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Paul deals with this subject further in 10:14-11:1.
1 Cor 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Rom 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Rom 14:18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
