“The Power of our Influence”
(1 Corinthians 8:1-13)
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 8 (page 771; YouVersion).
We have noted that 1 Corinthians may be divided into three sections: In Chapters 1-4 Paul addresses division in the church. In chapters 5-6 Paul addresses disorder in the church, and in chapters 7 to the end Paul addresses difficulties in the church, theological difficulties, specific questions raised by the church members at Corinth.
So this third section begins there in chapter 7 at verse 1 where Paul writes, “Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me,” and Paul answers the churches questions, beginning with the first question, a question about whether the Corinthians should marry, divorce, or remain unmarried. And we have spent the last few weeks in chapter 7.
Now in chapter 8 Paul answers their second question. It’s a very different question. In verse 1 of chapter 8, Paul writes, “Now concerning things offered to idols,” and Paul answers a question the Corinthians raised about whether it was appropriate for Christians to eat meat that came from an animal that had been sacrificed to a false god.
I’m guessing this question of the Corinthians is probably not a daily concern for most of us. After all, how many of you struggled this past week with whether you should eat a meal that may have come from an animal that had been sacrificed to a false god?
All the same, Paul’s answer to the question provides us with a number of applications to our contemporary situation. And so, as always, the Bible addresses matters on the hearts of Corinthian Christians as well as matters on the hearts of Kentuckian Christians.
•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and see if you can discern how this passage may apply to our current lives today as Christians living in the year 2014.
1 Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
7 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.
10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?
11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
•Pray.
Introduction:
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to compete in a “three-legged race,” then you know how challenging it can be. Just in case you don’t know, the three-legged race is a favorite at picnics and community events. The left leg of one person is tied together to the right leg of another person and then these two run together as one. Pairs of these competitors run a short sprint to see which pair can get to the finish line the quickest.
The three-legged race is a tremendous challenge that calls for cooperation on the part of the two who are running. If they don’t communicate with each other, they’ll try to put the wrong foot forward first or they’ll try to run at a different rate of speed—and they’ll stumble over.
So the race calls for each person to work together. One guy can’t say, “Well, I’m going to do my thing and you do yours!” Not going to work. Each person’s actions affect the other. Each person, then, must consider what the other is doing and work in such a way as they together advance forward.
In this chapter the Apostle Paul calls for each Christian to consider how best to help his brother or sister advance forward in the Christian race of faith. No Christian is simply to run with no regard for others. Our actions affect others. Our actions will either help them run more effectively or—our actions may cause the other to stumble.
We’re going to talk this morning about the power of Christian influence. Each of us influences others all the time. Without even thinking about it we are influencing others. Our actions have the powerful effect of either drawing people closer to Jesus in strengthening their walk or pushing them further away from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now before we walk through these verses again, let’s take a moment to consider the historical background. We’re reading this morning about a situation in ancient Corinth where you had these pagan temples all over the city. And there were pagan priests at these temples who offered animals there as sacrifices to the various pagan gods worshiped by the people of the Greco-Roman world.
Incidentally, one of the things we noted in our theology group that meets here in the sanctuary on Wednesday evenings, one of the things we noted just last Wednesday from our discussion of John Stott’s book, The Cross of Christ, is that animal sacrifices in the Old Testament were markedly different from animal sacrifices in the pagan world.
Pagan religions are very man-centered, a human invention, involving man’s attempt to appease some false deity by sacrificing an animal to placate the vengeful false god.
Animal sacrifice in the Old Testament, however, was not a human invention, but a system of worship given by God to man. God gave to man the sacrificial system of Old Testament worship in order to teach man about God’s love and God’s forgiveness. Every Old Testament sacrifice was what the writer of Hebrews calls a “shadow” of a greater sacrifice to come, not the sacrifice of some greater animal, because animals cannot adequately substitute for man; man is more valuable than an animal, but a sacrifice of God Himself, God substitutes Himself for us as the God who takes on flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ and dies on the cross for our sin.
Now I said earlier that probably few of us in recent days struggled with this issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols. It is not a pressing concern here in our neck of the woods. At the same time, however, it is a pressing concern in other parts of the world today. A couple years ago when our team was in Thailand, I participated in a Q&A panel before a number of Thai and Laotian pastors and was asked specifically by some of the Lao leaders whether it was okay to eat certain kinds of meat given their cultural understandings about some foods being prohibited for consumption.
And in Paul’s day you had these pagan temples all over Corinth and pagan priests were there sacrificing animals to some pagan god. Just a small part of the animal would be burned on the pagan altar in worship and then the rest of the animal would be eaten. The folks running the temple got their share and then the rest was either eaten there by others at the temple, sort of like a restaurant or a banquet hall, you know, you could dine right there in a dinning room attached to the temple. Or, parts of the animal might be sold right there the same way a butcher sells meat today, right there on the spot. Pieces of meat might be purchased by a buyer and re-sold out in the public marketplace.
So the question was, “Hey, is it okay for us to eat this food? I mean, given that the meat came from animal sacrifices used in pagan temple ceremonies? If I’m going over to my neighbor’s house for dinner and he’s got the meal spread out and as I’m sitting down I see there in the kitchen wastepaper basket wrapping paper that came from the Temple of Asklepios, is it okay to eat that meal? Is the food somehow tainted simply by the fact that it has come from a pagan temple? And what am I to do about that wedding invitation, you know, the reception is going to be at the dining hall of that new pagan temple down on Main Street?”
In this short chapter Paul answers by giving a few principles that govern such decisions. And while we may not struggle with whether to eat meat that has come from a pagan temple, we may struggle with other issues that are not directly addressed by the Scriptures. We sometimes call these issues the “Grey areas” of living because they are not addressed in black and white.
To be sure there are some matters that are clearly addressed in the Bible. For example, murder, adultery, stealing—these are things that are clearly wrong. But what about behaviors not specifically addressed in the Bible? Eating meat that came from animals offered in worship to pagan deities had not been previously addressed in the Bible. We might add other areas from our day and time—what of drinking alcohol when such drinking doesn’t lead to drunkenness? What of using tobacco products? What of playing the lottery when proceeds are used to fund education? What of listening to certain kinds of music, watching certain kinds of television shows or movies?
There are a number of issues we may discuss. And we won’t solve every problem this morning. In fact, Paul will teach more fully on these matters of Christian living in the following two chapters as well. For now, let’s consider three main actions that surface from this passage. These actions are to be taken by every Christian given the power of our influence. Number one, let’s:
Learn about Love (1-3)
Paul teaches that our decisions on these matters should be governed by love for others.
1 Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
Paul says, “We know that we all have knowledge.” Other translations have this phrase in quotes, “We all have knowledge.” It was probably another Corinthian slogan like the ones we have noted previously, slogans like those back in chapter 6, “All things are lawful for me (1 Corinthians 6:12),” or, “Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods (1 Corinthians 6:13).”
This phrase then, “We all have knowledge,” was apparently spoken by those who knew that idols really are nothing in and of themselves. These were the persons who were opposite those whom Paul later calls the “weaker” Christians, not weaker as though less spiritual, but those whose consciences were very sensitive and were troubled by the very idea of eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods. These are Christians considered in contrast to those who may be considered “strong,” not strong as in better or more spiritual, but those whose consciences were not troubled by eating meat that came from a pagan temple.
Paul will say later words to this effect: “Look, there is nothing to these so-called gods and so, on the one hand, it’s no big deal eating meat that comes from these temples. It’s not like it’s a sin in and of itself.” This is the “knowledge” that the “stronger” Christians had, those whose consciences were not needlessly troubled by considering these things.
But what Paul says first is, “Aside from whatever ‘knowledge’ you may have, don’t act like an arrogant know-it-all. See that your knowledge is governed by love—real, sincere, genuine love. He says at the last part of verse 1, “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” Love builds others up.
2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
There are some people who are so full of knowledge that are equally full of themselves. They speak and their tone of voice just conveys arrogance. And yet while they claim to know so much they are, because of their arrogance, very ineffective speakers.
Philosopher and writer Thomas Carlyle, several years ago after listening to an eloquent speaker said, “You know, if that fella had anything to say he could certainly say it!” There is a kind of speaking that is just a show, just words that spill out everywhere but don’t really communicate because, the speaker doesn’t identify with his or her listeners. There is no empathy, no love.
This is contrasted with the speaker or teacher who teaches knowledge in love. We have a number of teachers here in this congregation. You know what it is to teach in such a way that your love shines through. So the teacher says to me in the 1st Grade, “Now Todd, what is 3-2?” I say, “Well, let me think about that.” Then she comes over with a basket of apples. She smiles as she sits down next to me and says, “Look, I’ve got 3 apples here. You take two away from me.” So I do. And then she says, “Now what do I have left?” I say, “Well, you’ve only got one.” She smiles and pats me on the head. Why did she take that time to teach me this way? Because she loves.
That’s the kind of behavior Paul calls for here in the church. So he says in verse 3:
3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
As Paul will say later in 1 Corinthians 13:12, writing of a future day, he says, “…I will be known even as also I am known.” If anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
Jesus says in John 10:14, “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”
So, Learn about Love. Knowledge without love is of no help to anyone whatsoever. It is knowledge with love that matters. Learn about love. Number two:
Live for the Lord (4-6)
Our decisions and actions should be governed by the Lordship of Christ. Verse 4:
4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
This is similar to what Paul will say later in chapter 10. He’ll say an idol is nothing at all (1 Corinthians 10:19-20) and that it’s okay in principle to eat whatever is sold in the meat market because “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness (1 Corinthians 10:25-26).”
He’ll qualify that teaching a bit when he warns against eating at the very temple, arguing that the Christian’s very presence there at the temple suggests that he approves of the worshiping of the false deities.
But for now, Paul’s larger point is that there is but one God. Verse 5:
5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
So Paul acknowledges that many Corinthian citizens believed that there were thousands of so-called gods, gods with a “little g” and thousands of so-called “lords,” lords with a “little l.” But, he writes, we know better. We know that there is—how many Gods?—just one. Verse 6, “One God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him,” that is, “We live for Him.” We exist for Him, for His good pleasure. “And one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”
So we live for the Lord, the One and only. And all our actions, our decisions, our words, our behavior—all our actions are to be governed by the Lordship of Christ.
Learn about love, live for the Lord, number three:
Limit your Liberty (7-13)
As Christians our actions are to be governed by a desire to restrain our Christian freedom when the restraining such freedom is necessary. Let me say that again. As Christians our actions are to be governed by a desire to restrain our Christian freedom when restraining such freedom is necessary.
And what Paul does here is, in essence to say, “While there’s nothing to these so-called little gods, and while eating meat that comes from pagan temples is not a sin, still, while I may be free to eat it, I’m not going to do so if my actions cause another Christian to stumble.” That is, I don’t want my actions to cause another Christian to offend his conscience and so cause him to sin because his actions do not flow from faith (Romans 14:23).
So we’re back to the three-legged race again. I know I’m not running this race alone. There are others I love who are running beside me. I’m going to live in such a way, then, that we both advance forward without stumbling. So Paul writes in verse 7:
7 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
See, there were some Christians were troubled by this matter of eating meat that had come from pagan temples where idols were worshiped. These Christians, even though they were not worshiping the idol, felt that by eating the meat that they were somehow engaging in worship of that false god.
In other words, while on the surface they knew there was nothing to this, their consciences troubled them. They just weren’t comfortable with it. They could not separate their current Christian experience from their past non-Christian experience. They were still so close to their former lifestyles that they could not separate their being “in Christ” from their lives “before Christ.” If they ate that meat, their current Christian experience would be overshadowed by unhelpful and unhealthy remembrances of past sins.
It’s a bit like the new guy at the AA meeting. He picks up a white chip and sits down and listens to the old pros talk about how they used to get drunk many years ago, but all he can think about is how he got drunk just last Saturday. Rather than being helped, he is tempted to lapse back into alcoholism.
It’s like many of us when we initially come to faith in Christ. There are certain things we just can’t do because they take us backward rather than taking us forward. There is certain music we can’t listen to. Other Christians may listen to it. Their consciences are not troubled by doing so. But we know ourselves. And certain lyrics remind us of our lives before Christ. Certain movies or video games or books may have the same effect. And while some Christians are not troubled in their consciences, some are.
And these behaviors—whether engaging in them or refraining from them—do not, in and of themselves, make us any more or less spiritual. Verse 8:
8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
We are not accepted by God on the basis of our performance. We are accepted by God on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. So whether we engage in certain behaviors that are not expressly encouraged nor forbidden in the Scripture does not make one any more or less spiritual.
A family is not more or less spiritual just because they homeschool their children or just because they place their children in public or private school. People are not more or less spiritual just because they listen to certain kinds of music or refrain from listening to other kinds of music.
Some Christians abide by lists of behaviors that they feel make them more spiritual. You know, “Don’t put a Christmas tree in your house because it is rooted in paganism! Don’t hunt Easter eggs because its rooted in paganism!”
By the way if those same persons were consistent they would also refrain from using the days of the week since our calendar days are rooted in paganism. Sunday is the day of the sun. Monday, luna, from which derives our English lunar, Monday is the day of the moon. And don’t use the months of our calendar because January derives from Janus, the Roman god and March derives from Mars, the Roman god of war.
But you see, Christians can tend toward legalism, creating lists of dos and dont’s. These are “on” the list and these are “off” the list. And so everything is regulated: movies, music, television, internet, books, alcohol, tobacco, video games, and what’s allowable on Sundays. I read recently where in some places in Africa and India it is considered nearly sinful for the preacher to not wear a white shirt and tie, thanks to Western missionaries!
People are not automatically more spiritual simply because they don’t listen to certain music, watch certain programs, use tobacco products or drink alcohol.
Now don’t go reading too much into these statements. There may be many reasons why some refrain from certain activities, health concerns, and the impact of those activities upon our own Christian growth. For example, I know there are certain movies I just can’t watch without their affecting me in unhealthy ways. I’m not telling you that you can’t watch them. I’m talking about how they affect me. Certain kinds of music has the same negative affect on me.
But while there are good reasons why some of us may refrain from certain activities, Paul is mostly concerned about limiting our liberty when our actions affect other Christians in unhelpful ways. Verse 9:
9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.
Please note the way Paul addresses his concern to those who may consider themselves the more “knowledgable,” or the “stronger” Christian whose conscience is not troubled. Paul says, “I’m talking to you. I’m telling you to beware of the way you use your Christian freedom.”
Paul doesn’t address the “weaker” Christian here. He doesn’t say, “Now, come on you weak Christians! It’s okay to eat this food for crying out loud. Get with the program!” No, rather he tells the “stronger” Christian to so live, to so make decisions in such a way as to show true love for others. Live in such a way as you honor the weaker brother or sister.
In the next chapter Paul will use himself as an example of one who forfeited his liberty, or gave up his rights, in order not to cause others to stumble. We’ll look at that later in the next chapter.
But again, Paul is saying, “Limit your liberty.” Don’t allow your Christian freedom to cause another to stumble in some way, to cause another person to have his conscience troubled by your behavior. He sees you, for example, eating in a pagan temple and he thinks, “Well, maybe I should do this, too” and what happens is his conscience is stricken and, because he is doing what he feels is wrong, he is actually sinning. Again, it is helpful to compare this passage to Romans 14 where Paul says that any action that does not flow from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
It’s not whether some people are annoyed or offended by our behavior because they regard themselves as somehow “above it.” That’s not the kind of person Paul has in mind here. He’s talking about those Christians whose consciences are troubled by certain behaviors and he’s cautioning us against causing these Christians “to stumble.”
This is Paul’s point in the last few verses, verse 10 and following:
10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?
11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? (that is, should he be so harmed by his sensitive conscience?)
12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
So if you say, “Look, I can do whatever I want,” and you don’t care that your actions may cause another brother to stumble in his faith, to be hurt in someway by his conscience such that he doesn’t advance forward but falls backward, Paul says then you have “sinned against Christ.”
Wow. How many of you think that’s a big deal, to sin against Christ? So Paul concludes in verse 13:
13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
So William Barclay reasons, “(Paul’s) final argument is that, even if a thing is harmless for you, when it hurts someone else, it must be given up, for a Christian must never do anything which causes his brother to stumble.”
And that statement has far reaching implications. Where there are grey areas in Christian living, we don’t need legalistic lists of so-called acceptable or unacceptable behavior. We simply need to think of others.
So if I know, for example, that my drinking or my using tobacco products will cause another person to stumble in any way, then I must choose to refrain. It’s just that simple.
Paul isn’t asking this behavior of everyone…
He’s just asking it of Christians.
•Stand for prayer.
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