1 Corinthians 8 -- What We THINK We Know

Paul was having to address other matters the Corinthians had written to him about.  There are matters today which Paul would never have dreamed about, and though meat sacrificed to idols sounds silly to us, it’s just another example of questionable areas of Christian life.

The Corinthians already thought they had cornered the market on knowledge and they argued from logic to support their position, which in this case seemed to boil down to “no harm, no foul”, so far as eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols.  My commentary explained that in that day meat could be purchased either at regular markets or at temples where meat had been “offered” to idols.  The butchered and unused meat was sold to support the temples.  With zero cost, it was thus much less expensive.  The strong Christians, who knew idols were only the equivalent of art objects and had no power logically saw a way to save money by purchasing less expensive meat at those temples.

But many new Christians had been saved out of idol worship.  It was therefore offensive to them to even consider touching or consuming something so evil.  They wanted to completely remove themselves from what had been a part of their old lives.

The strong Christians saw this as silly and a  restriction on their spiritual freedoms.  But Paul said in effect, “Hey, wait a minute!  How is that showing love for your fellow believers?  How is that helping them grow?”  After all, in the minds of the weak Christians, these strong Christians appear to be walking right into sin.  And as Romans 14:23 says, “Anything that is done without believing it is right is a sin.”

Paul told those who thought themselves super spiritual that they had to back down from their spiritual pride for the sake of those who were new Christians.  They couldn’t push their rights to the detriment of newer believers.  That wasn’t love.

Father, remind me often of just how much I don’t know, so that I won’t be tempted to be puffed up, believing I’m right and what anyone else thinks doesn’t matter.  Instead, help me to love other believers enough to give up what I might consider freedoms in order to help them to grow in Christ.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford