Avoiding Offense

I Corinthians 8:1-13 

Many of the early Christians came out of various religious backgrounds that had plenty of religious rules to follow.  They had been taught that in order to please God, they had to strictly follow all sorts of rules and regulations.  Then they came to salvation through Jesus Christ, and knew that they didn’t have to follow all of these dictates in order to be saved.  Salvation is through grace, not through works.  Many Christians today also come from a former background that stressed works in order to please God and get to heaven, but then they come to know that they are under grace, not under the Old Testament Law, and are free.  They know that they don't have to follow a whole long list of religious rules and regulations.  However, what if this freedom disturbs some other new believers?  What does one do then?  The Apostle Paul touched on this topic in his letter to the Corinthian church.  Let’s see what he taught them.

The setting of this discussion that Paul had with the Corinthians was about whether it was okay for Christians to eat certain meats that were sold in the marketplace.  Meat that had been used in pagan worship was sometimes sold in the marketplaces of the cities in ancient Greece, or it was often served in social settings.  The meat was perfectly good, choice cuts, not old or beginning to rot, but the debate was whether it was okay for a Christian to eat it or not.  Some said it was fine, there was nothing wrong with it, the Christian had that freedom.  Others felt that it was wrong, as it had been offered to idols, and there was no freedom to do that.  This was causing a divide, and Paul wanted to settle the matter.  Should he take away the freedom and install a rule, or should he wound the conscience of the other?

Although idols are phony, and the rituals associated with them are meaningless, there were some Christians who had more sensitive consciences and who were offended by eating meat offered to these idols.  Paul stressed the truth that there is no other deity apart from Yahweh (vs. 6).  We do not serve one god among many.  We serve the only God.  However, Paul also stated that the more mature believer, out of consideration for the weaker, should be careful and considerate of the others.  The weaker believer felt they had sinned when they ate that meat.  Paul instructed that those who felt free needed to consider how their decisions would affect the others.

Today we don’t have any questions about whether meat has been offered to an idol.  There is though, in some Christian circles, the question about drinking any alcohol, such as wine with dinner or a beer with pizza.  Some Christians say that is wrong, others don’t feel so.  Or there is the question of clothing styles, particularly with women.  Some say bold or bright colors on women isn’t right, or women wearing slacks.  Others don’t feel that is wrong.  There is a question about TV or movies, as well.  While none of these things are explicitly prohibited in the Bible, Paul taught that when dealing with other believers whose convictions do not match ours, it is not our job to judge them.  The Holy Spirit will guide them.  Our freedom to act or not should never lead others to violate their conscience.  Knowledge, mixed with love, prevents a believer from exercising freedom that offends weaker believers, and instead builds them up.

Christian freedom does not mean that anything goes.  It means our salvation is not determined by good deeds or legalistic rules.  Some actions may be perfectly alright to do, but may harm a newer or weaker believer.  We must be careful not to offend a more sensitive or weaker believer by our example, which may cause them to sin (vs. 10-11).  There are some actions that the Bible clearly prohibits.  They are fixed and do not change.  Other convictions are based on knowledge or beliefs, and vary from person to person.  God designs a path for each person, and gives a conscience with sensitivity based upon His knowledge of that person.  Our job is to support fellow believers in their walk.

Is there an area in our life that is an obstacle to others in drawing close to Jesus?  Turn the stumbling blocks into stepping stones.  We should do nothing that may make a weak Christian defile their conscience (Galatians 5:13).  Paul did everything with the view of honoring God, winning others to Christ, and building up believers.