1 Corinthians 8:1-12
Paul starts in by talking about food worshiped to idols. Ok so here's the scoop.
Back in the day there were actual idols, like a golden statue they thought could control stuff.
(Actually, kind of ridiculous to think about, like going to the mountain lion in front of the library and asking it to help your Mom with cancer. Yeah, I know right. Actually, we probably do that now, we just call it "luck," by smacking a sign that says "Play Hard" before taking the court, or rubbing the mountain lion by the field as you take it. I guess it's kind of the same thing.)
But they would sacrifice different types of meat to these statues/idols so that they would have a good harvest, good health, etc. After they symbolically sacrificed these animals to these statues and idols, they weren't just going to leave all these dead animals laying around, so they shipped them off to the marketplace. So many of the animals in the marketplace were symbolically "sacrificed." So some of these new believers, we'll call them "freshman Christians," were worried that by eating some of this meet that they were participating in some form of idolatry worship. I could see this as a valid point, if they had previously believed in these statues, and participated in this type of worship, then to have anything to do with it might seem like a "slip up" or that they still want to be part of it.
Paul understands that way of thinking and just brings a new perspective on it and says: "Ok, so, we know that there is one God. Only one. Others say there maybe some on earth or in heaven. But we know there is One God, and everything is from Him. right? (pauses for agreement) Then if God is the controller of the universe, than those "gods" have no power or control, and that they really are just a clump of scrap metal made into a statue. It doesn't really matter how the food was killed because killed to eat or killed for a pile of junk, the killing is not the point. Food doesn't bring us closer or further from God. It's not what he desires."
That's his first point that the rest is based off of. Jesus said the same thing in Matt 15:11 "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean.' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'." Kind of the whole "it's not the input, but the output that occurs that matters."
But now that we've got the initial background setting of how things worked and the issue that was being addressed, Paul talks to the upperclassmen about how we should deal with it. He says, "So you know that it doesn't matter, but be careful, because those who don't know that, may think your sinning and it cause them to sin. I know it's inadvertantly, but still we need to be aware. If someone, who Jesus died for, see's what you're doing, and they fall because of what you did or are doing, you just sinned against God."
Ben Parker says in Spiderman, "WIth great power comes great responsibility." Along those same lines, replace power with freedom. Paul says, "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Gal 5:1), so it's not that we're not suppose to be free, but that with Freedom comes great responsibility.
At first I thought, well this is bogus. Finally free, and now held down by responsibilities. Then God showed me it's the same thing in college. We're free from our homes and our parents restraints, free to do whatever we want, but we still have responsibilities. Actually now, we have more. Responsible to make sure we eat enough each day, get enough sleep, responsible to do our homework when we need to, responsible to make sure you plan classes so you graduate, responsible to check to make sure you have enough flex dollars, or enough money in the bank when you go to wal-mart. We're responsible for keeping our rooms clean, for doing our laundry, for changing the sheets, filling up the car with gas. Lots of responsibilities with all of this freedom.
So Paul notes this freedom and says. Don't be selfish, you have freedom, but if your freedom is going to cause someone else to fail, to fall, to sin, then your stupid and selfish to go ahead in that. Not only that, be you will be sinning against God. Jesus, "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin." (Luke 17:2)
It's not a self-defeating view, it's a others-centered view. We as upperclassmen, as more mature Christians need to live a life as an example, thats living with freedom and responsibility. Ft note in bible about 8:10-13 "Some actions may be perfectly alright for us to do, but may harm a Christian brother or sister who is still young in the faith and learning what the Christian life is all about. We must be careful not to offend a sensitive or younger Christian or, by our example, to cause him or her to sin." and here's the kicker of it all. "When we love others, our freedom should be less important to us than strengthening the faith of a brother or sister in Christ."
What are some of those things/sins that I do/could do that possibly young Christians could see as a stumbling block.
-having a drink
-missing church once or twice?
-skipping class
-freedom of speech
(with the freedom to say whatever you want to say, what are you saying? how are you using that freedom?)
-speaking in tongues (we have the freedom to, but sometimes it's beneficial for those around us to not)
-spending the night in a room of the member of the opposite sex over night (especially if you're dating), not having sex but how others will assume and then follow your example.
-"cussing" - certain words aren't in the Bible, but some people view as wrong when others don't.
What this does not include is: (the Bible is against for everyone)
-getting drunk
-sexual or perverted joking
-having sex with someone your not married with
-not going to church
-using God's name in vane
Look what I'm giving up...
You may think, well this is stupid. Why am I giving up everything I can do. Maybe I want to do it. I have the right to do it. True, Yes, yes you do. But this life isn't about you. Paul keeps on writing in 1 Corinthians 10:23-33 about our freedoms and how we use them. He pretty much hits the essence of this here: "'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." (1cor10:23-24). Nailed it son. "For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." (v33b). How much of a humble servant is Paul. He lives not for his own good, but simply for the betterment of any of those around him.
We shouldn't come at this with super-sensitivity and paranoia, but with an awareness of others and a willingness to limit what we do when there is a real possibility of misunderstanding and offense. (It's like the first part he says don't cause someone to sin with your freedom, and here he's taking it a little further and saying only build each other up with your freedom.)
Well, I'm offended...
As Christians we should hate sin. But we need to be careful as upperclassmen (mature) Christians, we're not always being offended. "Christians should not make a career out of being the offended people with oversensitive consciences." Many Christians tend to throw their thoughts and standards on someone else rather than the Bible's. We need to be careful that in continually being offended we can quickly become just judgmental of others and then become the "pharisees."
Final point:
It comes down to Love. How you Love others and how they Love you. Sometimes the best way to Love others is by doing, not doing, calling them out on what they're doing, or loving them in-spite of their downfalls (as many people have for us.). It comes down to how do we love people best?
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