“All to the Glory of God”
(1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1)
Series: Chaos & Correction(1 Corinthians)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
•Take your Bibles and join me in 1 Corinthians, chapter 10 (page 772; YouVersion).
This morning we are concluding a section of material that spans from chapters 8 through 10, a section of material on a question raised by the Corinthian church. Remember that the Apostle Paul founded the church at Corinth during his second missionary journey, spending a year and a half there at Corinth before moving on. The Christians at Corinth then, have gotten word to Paul, asking certain questions with which they were grappling as a church trying to be salt and light in the Graeco Roman world.
So Paul writes this letter from Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8) in about the year AD 55, answering a number of their questions. This most recent question, addressed for the first time in chapter 8 and verse 1, is about whether it was appropriate for Christians in Corinth to eat the meat of animals that had been sacrificed to false gods, eating idol meat.
Not a pressing concern for most of us, right? Did any of you receive an invitation last week to eat at somebody’s home and as you sat down to eat, your friend said, “Oh, by the way, this steak came from a cow that was sacrificed to a false god?” Probably not.
But of course the Word of God is rich and wide in its application. We ask of a text, what does this mean? What is the author’s point, here? We note the context, we note the historical context, too. And then we ask now how does this apply to my contemporary situation? And of course, the Word always applies.
And so, we have this principle that surfaces, a general principle that says, whenever the Bible does not specifically address a questionable activity—whether that activity is right or wrong—Christians are generally free to do as they wish. If, however, their doing of the questionable activity in some way pushes another person away from Christ, then the Christian will not engage in that questionable activity.
We spoke before of the metaphor of running a three-legged race. We do not run alone. There are others we love who are running beside us. I’m going to live in such a way, then, that we both advance forward without stumbling.
•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake;
26 for “the earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness.”
27 If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake.
28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness.”
29 “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?
30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
•Pray.
Introduction:
If you’ve ever built a house of cards or played that old-fashioned game of pick-up sticks, or if ever you have set up a line of dominoes in order to knock them down, then you know that removing one of those cards, or picking up one of those sticks, or knocking down one of those dominoes affects the other cards, sticks, or dominoes. The action of one affects the other.
Our actions have a direct and indirect impact upon the lives of others. We do not live in isolation of others. Our decisions, our actions, our words, our everything affects others.
Jesus once was asked which was the greatest of all commandments in the Old Testament. He provided the top two. He gave a twofold summary of the Law. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength—and what?—love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).” He said the entirety of the Law may be summed up in those two commands, love upwardly and outwardly.
In this passage of Scripture, we note the same two directions. Upward and outward. And if we’ll take them in reverse, we’ll see that Paul teaches the importance of our living for others and our living for God. Let me share with you these two imperative statements that I wrote down in my study this week. First, this passage teaches that we must:
I. Live for the Good of Others (23-30)
Living an others-focused life is a challenge to most of us. Our first concern, too often, is ourselves. But a life that has been changed by the power of the Gospel is a life that is re-oriented outwardly. We look at others differently than we once did. Right?
Some of you have shared testimonies about how it was that when you got saved, you changed. You suddenly had a love for others you previously did not have. You’re able to forgive others, your parents, your enemies, your co-workers, your spouse. You just have a love because you have a new nature. God has placed within you this new nature and the Holy Spirit resides within you so that you can live outwardly, living for the good of others.
So let’s go to the text. Paul has been talking about Christian freedom. He has taught that this matter of eating meat that had come from animals sacrificed in pagan temples, that this eating of meat was on the one hand not really a big deal. Christians are free to eat as they wish. But he stresses in the previous verses—verses we looked at last time—he stresses that the exception would be if a Christian were participating in an overtly pagan religious ritual. In other words, no Christian should be knowingly participating in the worship of idols. That much is certain.
But otherwise, Christians are free to eat as they wish. They could buy meat from the butcher that had been prepared after an animal was sacrificed. They could dine with their friends. This was all permissible. The catch was not so much what the Christian was free to do, as it was whether the Christian’s actions might negatively affect others.
If another person, someone else, were hurt in some way by the Christian’s eating of meat that had come from pagan temples, then the Christian should restrain his or her freedom. He or she should live for the good of others.
In the words of William Barclay:
Many a thing that a man may do with perfect safety as far as he himself is concerned, he must not do if it is going to be a stumbling-block to someone else. There is nothing more real than Christian freedom; but Christian freedom must be used to help others and not to shock or hurt them. A man has a duty to himself but a still greater duty to others.
So our first point is, Live for the Good of Others. Look at verse 23:
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
See what he’s saying? I may be free to eat this particular meat, but it may not be helpful to others. It may not edify (or build up) others. Take it to the now: I may be free to drink this at the company picnic, but it may not be helpful to others. It may not edify others. Live for the good of others. Verse 24:
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
Time out! Look at your life last week. How many of your days was spent seeking your own and how many seeking the well-being of others? I’m looking here at verse 24. “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.”
Unlike Cain in Genesis 4, yes, you are your brother’s keeper! Yes, Christians care about how our actions affect other people.
25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake;
26 for “the earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness.”
Paul stresses our freedom here. You are free to eat this meat, he says. He even cites the psalmist, Psalm 24, verse 1. That’s the reference there in verse 26, “The earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness.” In other words, every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). It’s as if Paul is saying, “Look, you really are free. Don’t trouble yourselves with fussy and over-scrupulous questions. Enjoy life. Chill.”
27 If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake.
By the way, note this in verse 27, “If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner,” note this! Paul assumes Christians are going to be eating in the homes of non-believers. How can you share the Gospel with a non-Christian if you don’t go around non-Christians? Paul assumes we’re going to be salt and light, living among the lost, pointing them to Christ! We’re not to withdraw from the world and never talk to a non-Christian. “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without somebody telling them (Romans 10:14)?”
Paul teaches in verse 27 that Christians are free to eat whatever is set before them. Don’t worry about it. But then, verse 28:
28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake;
See, Paul doesn’t lay down this legalistic rule, you know. It’s not as though he says, “Here is a religious rule that applies to every situation. He says, rather, here is a principle that generally works this way, but it bends depending on the situation. And the bottom line is a question, “How do my actions affect others?”
There are some actions we may be free to do that negatively affect ourselves, maybe harmful to ourselves.
Alistair Begg tells about Billy Nicholson a well-known Irish evangelist of an earlier generation. Nicholson used to do question and answer sessions. And in one of these sessions a man stood up and asked, “Mr. Nicholson, can a Christian smoke?” And Nicholson replied, “Yes ye can, ye dirty pig!”
So we must take into account how a behavior in question affects ourselves. And yet Paul is stressing here that a Christian should take particular interest in how his or her behavior affects others.
Paul teaches that a Corinthian Christian was free to eat whatever he wished—unless his eating might offend another person. That’s the idea here in verse 28. If anyone says—and this could be anyone—an unbeliever or another Christian—if anyone says, “This was offered to idols,” then Paul says, “Do not eat it.” Do not eat it “for the sake of the one who told you,”—for the sake of the other person—and “for conscience’ sake.” That is, the conscience of the other person. Paul makes that clear in verse 29:
29 “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?
Paul’s point here is, Look, “Your conscience may not be troubled by engaging in a particular activity, in this case eating meat that had come from idol worship. So your conscience may not be stricken, but the conscience of another may be stricken. It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it may be for the other person. You are not thinking about this action as having any religious significance, but the other person is. And for that reason, you will refrain from engaging in that particular activity.”
It may not bother us, our consciences may not be bothered, at all. Paul asks at the end of verse 29, “For why is my liberty (or freedom) judged by another man’s conscience?” In other words, “My own conscience may not be troubled in the same way another man’s conscience troubles him.” That stream of thought continues into verse 30:
30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?
In other words, “If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it (NLT)?” Or, “If I am not thinking of idols and I am just enjoying this food, thanking God for providing it, knowing that the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, and I’m simply enjoying His provision, I should not be condemned for this.
But the point is, “While I know that I am free to act in a certain way, I will restrain my freedom when I know that my actions will cause another person to stumble, when my actions don’t lead a person closer to Christ, but push a person further away from Christ.” That’s the bottom line. I must live for the good of others.
So if I know that certain things I am free to do may not be in the best interest of others, I will not do them, whether that has to do with drinking, seeing or not seeing a particular movie, listening to or not listening to certain music, attending or not attending a certain event. And we’re not talking about only those things that are immediately recognizable as questionable activities.
For example, two-thirds of you won’t be back tonight for evening worship. This is no guilt trip. We’ll make allowances for those who cannot be back for worship because of work or taking care of Aunt Suzy, and so forth.
Now, I wonder have you ever thought whether you’re not coming back for worship may cause another to stumble? Here’s a young Christian, someone who has just come to Christ and is so excited. He comes Sunday night and Wednesday night. He’s at the fellowship meal, but he starts looking around and he thinks, “Well I didn’t realize this was optional. I mean, Frank isn’t even here, and he’s a big Christian guy. He shares in Sunday school every week. And Marsha isn’t here, either. Well, maybe I don’t need to come as much as I thought. I guess all that matters is that I’ve been baptized and that I come Sunday mornings.” I’m merely asking us to think this through as sensible people.
Philippians 2:3-4, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Live for the Good of others. Secondly:
II. Live for the Glory of God (31-11:1)
Here is a great summary statement, verse 31:
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
This is a good verse, but I fear too often we are prone to compartmentalize it. We decide to engage in some particular activity and then sanctify that activity by saying we will do it to the glory of God. So we say, “Well, I’ll play football, but I’ll do it you see, to the glory of God,” as though somehow were doing God a favor by doing this and that somehow this is extra-special, our playing football to the glory of God.
Well, of course you’ll play football to the glory of God; you’re a Christian! You do all things to the glory of God. You eat, you drink, you walk, you talk, you breathe to the glory of God.
You find your greatest satisfaction not in the passing pleasure of sin, but in the all-satisfying joys of God. He is most satisfying to your yearnings and so you treasure Christ and live for His glory.
God, remind me that I am here for You! I live to make Your name glorious! I worship You! I love and adore You! I make decisions by first running them by You! Be glorified in my job, my family, my thoughts, my marriage.
“In my life, Lord, be glorified, be glorified!”
32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks (non-Jews) or to the church of God,
Here’s the point: Don’t live in a way such that your behavior causes anyone to stumble—anyone!—whether a Jew, or a non-Jew, or a Christian. Don’t cause anyone to stumble, being pushed further away from life in Christ.
There’s an evangelistic impact and effect in our living to the glory of God. Christian, get this down. People are watching you. Make choices that gently draw people closer to Jesus. Don’t do anything that causes anyone to stumble spiritually—anyone!—a believer or an unbeliever. And particularly, the unbeliever now in verse 33:
33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
It’s much as Paul had said before in chapter 9, verse 22, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”
So, “Paul tries to lead as few into sin as possible, both outside and inside the church, but his most basic underlying motive is the salvation of as many as possible (Craig Blomberg).”
Here are some questions, write these down:
WRITE THESE DOWN AND ASK YOURSELF:
1) How “others-focused” Am I really?
2) Is my goal the salvation of as many as possible?
3) Am I truly living for God’s glory—in everything?
4) How can I show others what Christ is like?
This fourth question comes from the first verse in chapter 11. The first verse of chapter 11 really goes along with all that precedes it. Paul sums up all of his teachings on this subject by saying, verse 1 of chapter 11:
11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
Do people look at you and see Jesus? Can they tell readily that you are one of His? That you are a follower of Christ? Do you look like Him? Do you bear family likeness?
How can I show others what Christ is like? Those people sitting to the left and to the right of you. How can you show them what Christ is like?
Younger Christians or weaker Christians, brothers and sisters are also looking at us, taking their cues from our behavior. They are learning how to witness—or fail to witness—by watching us, watching how we talk to the server at the restaurant, are we sharing our faith with others? What example are we providing?
Non-Christians at work are learning about Jesus by watching you and by listening to you. How are you leading them by your actions?
Have you laughed at something that’s crude? Have you spoken harshly and without compassion?
Dads, can you say, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ?” Our sons are learning how to love their wives by watching us. Daughters are learning how to love their future husbands by watching their mothers. Little boys and girls are watching us each day, learning how to be moms and dads by watching their moms and dads.
What are you teaching your children about the sanctity of marriage?
Imitation is powerful. Imitation is scary. And it requires our constant dependence upon God.
Let’s go to Him for help right now.
•Stand for prayer.
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