Daily Bread 2010 - 1 Corinthians 8
Daily Bread 2010 - 1 Corinthians 8
Food Sacrificed to Idols
1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.[a] Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.
4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
We know that in Corinth there were many pagan temples, where idols were worshipped. Part of this worship involved offering sacrifices to these idols, including animal sacrifice. As part of this sacrifice/offering those participating, and the priests who mediated such an event, would eat the meat that was offered to the false god.
As people in this culture became Christians, this represented their past so that when meat was sold in the market as leftovers from these feasts, they did not want to eat it because they thought they would be compromising their newfound Christian faith. The believers wrote Paul about this issue and asked for his advice in this matter.
In his response Paul clarifies that an idol is nothing at all. Meaning there is no literal power in an idol, it is nothing like the real and living God. But nonetheless since the pagans worshipped these idols, they gave them spiritual power and there were demonic attachments in the spiritual world because of this false worship.
So Paul declares that even though there is no power in this kind of worship, other than what these people have given it, there are still some in the church who associate eating this meat with previous pagan worship. Therefore for those who have “weak consciences”, meaning when they eat this meat offered in marketplace to an idol, for them it feels like the wrong thing to do, it is a spiritual issue. For this reason, Paul says that those in the Christian community who are stronger (meaning there conscience is not so sensitive and more secure in what they have in Christ) should honor those with weaker consciences so as to not cause them to stumble.
What does all this mean? If we know a brother or sister in our church community struggles with a particular issue (lets say alcohol or overeating) even though these things are not wrong when enjoyed in the right context, we should be sensitive to our brother or sister who is struggling in this area.
Okay let me drill down a little more. Let’s say someone is having a real problem with an unhealthy attachment to food. Even though eating a huge ice cream sundae is not wrong for most people, it might cause the person who struggles with overeating to crave it and stumble. For the sake of our brother or sister we might pass on this when in their presence. Or another example, let’s say a brother or sister struggles with sexual addiction, we might not want to go into an area of town for dinner where there would be all kinds of temptation for this person to trigger their addiction.
Of course situations change with each person’s particular struggle, but the principle is that we should never do anything that, though it might be okay for us, might cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble in their relationship with Christ. In this way we honor the saying, “you should bear each others burdens”. We can use our freedom Christ to love and serve someone else.
Let’s pray. Gracious God we know there are many temptations in the world around us to worship other idols than you the only true and living God. Help us to know the others in our faith community so that we might be sensitive to not use our freedom to cause another brother or sister in Christ, in Jesus’ name, Amen
Food Sacrificed to Idols
1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.[a] Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.
4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
We know that in Corinth there were many pagan temples, where idols were worshipped. Part of this worship involved offering sacrifices to these idols, including animal sacrifice. As part of this sacrifice/offering those participating, and the priests who mediated such an event, would eat the meat that was offered to the false god.
As people in this culture became Christians, this represented their past so that when meat was sold in the market as leftovers from these feasts, they did not want to eat it because they thought they would be compromising their newfound Christian faith. The believers wrote Paul about this issue and asked for his advice in this matter.
In his response Paul clarifies that an idol is nothing at all. Meaning there is no literal power in an idol, it is nothing like the real and living God. But nonetheless since the pagans worshipped these idols, they gave them spiritual power and there were demonic attachments in the spiritual world because of this false worship.
So Paul declares that even though there is no power in this kind of worship, other than what these people have given it, there are still some in the church who associate eating this meat with previous pagan worship. Therefore for those who have “weak consciences”, meaning when they eat this meat offered in marketplace to an idol, for them it feels like the wrong thing to do, it is a spiritual issue. For this reason, Paul says that those in the Christian community who are stronger (meaning there conscience is not so sensitive and more secure in what they have in Christ) should honor those with weaker consciences so as to not cause them to stumble.
What does all this mean? If we know a brother or sister in our church community struggles with a particular issue (lets say alcohol or overeating) even though these things are not wrong when enjoyed in the right context, we should be sensitive to our brother or sister who is struggling in this area.
Okay let me drill down a little more. Let’s say someone is having a real problem with an unhealthy attachment to food. Even though eating a huge ice cream sundae is not wrong for most people, it might cause the person who struggles with overeating to crave it and stumble. For the sake of our brother or sister we might pass on this when in their presence. Or another example, let’s say a brother or sister struggles with sexual addiction, we might not want to go into an area of town for dinner where there would be all kinds of temptation for this person to trigger their addiction.
Of course situations change with each person’s particular struggle, but the principle is that we should never do anything that, though it might be okay for us, might cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble in their relationship with Christ. In this way we honor the saying, “you should bear each others burdens”. We can use our freedom Christ to love and serve someone else.
Let’s pray. Gracious God we know there are many temptations in the world around us to worship other idols than you the only true and living God. Help us to know the others in our faith community so that we might be sensitive to not use our freedom to cause another brother or sister in Christ, in Jesus’ name, Amen
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