Dwell in the Word 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Think on these questions as you dwell in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13:

1. Paul addresses the issue of food offered to idols in the Corinthian church. While this may not directly apply to us today, what broader principle can we glean from his teaching about considering the spiritual well-being of fellow believers in our actions and conversations?

2. Paul emphasizes the importance of not causing others to stumble in their faith, even if it means refraining from activities that are not inherently sinful. How can we apply this principle in our modern context? Can you think of any situations where this might be relevant in your own life?

3. The underlying message in this passage centers around love and concern for the spiritual growth of others. How can we actively cultivate a mindset of building up our fellow believers and being sensitive to their spiritual needs? Can you share an example from your own experiences where this principle played a significant role in your interactions with others?

Transcript:

Well, this is another passage that we've read that has you wondering what all is going on in the church in Corinth, right? Clearly, a bunch of problems have been occurring there, but now we come to food offered to idols. Now, we don't have this as a category. We don't have to worry about whether or not we eat food that's offered to idols, but clearly this was a huge issue, or Paul wouldn't have brought it up, in the church of Corinth.

And so, what Paul is saying here is, is that we need to address this issue because obviously you are concerned about it. And so, he starts out, uh, kind of talking about knowledge and he says, we know that all of us possess knowledge. Now that's sort of a sarcastic way of saying it. It's like, yeah, Paul's saying, yeah, we all think we know best.

But he's saying that we need to instead of thinking that we know what's best We need to remember to love because love builds up and notice what Paul says here but if anyone loves God, he is known by God. God knows you God has given you the gift of faith God has blessed you and so let's worry about him instead of what others are concerned with We want to be concerned about what God wants.

Now Paul gets more specific he says, as to the eating of food offered to idols. Now, we don't know what exactly this looked like. Um, we can kind of imply from some stuff that's maybe said a little bit later on, because in verse 10, he mentions eating in an idol's temple. Um, but we don't know if this is people who maybe get their food from a market where they sell food.

That has been sacrificed to idols Or if people were still going to some of these pagan rituals and they were involving themselves in the feasts. We don't know Paul is saying, you know, really there are no other, you know gods Uh, there are no other, you know truthful deities and so this is foolishness, you know, they're just basically sacrificing to nothing.

And so, if you understand that, if you know that there is one God and Father, if you know that there is just one Lord Jesus Christ, this is, you know,  this is really not going to affect you, right?  But Paul is concerned about the people who are weak people who maybe don't understand this don't have this truth These people are struggling.

They're seeing people eating this meat that has been sacrificed to an idol and that it's causing them to stumble thinking That maybe, um, maybe there's some truth to these sacrifices or all kinds of issues. Again, this is something that's happening in the first century and we struggle to understand what it is.

But you can see maybe how this would cause people to stumble. That it would cause people who were weak to think that they could go back to their old ways.  And so, what Paul says, he says, you know, You feel that you have knowledge that this is not true. There is no other God and this is just, just meat  that you've, that you've gotten.

It isn't really being sacrificed to an actual deity. So it's not necessarily, you know, cursed or anything.  But if you are making someone's faith  stumble,  then, then maybe You shouldn't worry about that. Why? Because Christ died for that person. You want them to be able to stay in the faith. You want them to be willing to, to continue to pursue Christ and, and not go off and, and going back to these idolatrous ways.

And so, Paul in verse 12 says, thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. You don't want to cause someone else to stumble. This is important. We don't want our feelings of liberty that we actually do have to cause someone else to stumble. And then we see in verse 13, therefore food makes my brother stumble.

I won't eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. So, Paul is going to, is saying that he would avoid eating these, this meat that has been sacrificed to idols if it's going to cause somebody to go back to their pagan ways or if it's going to cause them to sin in some way. So what do you and I do with this passage?

We, we don't have these categories.  But we do, um, have some things in our lives where maybe we, um, understand, you know, who God is. We understand the freedom and liberty that we have in Christ. And there are things that are not sinful, but there maybe are some new believers who, who see us doing these things and they're confused.

You know, I thought I couldn't do this. And maybe you're discussing Christian liberty with them. Something that isn't sinful. They don't understand because of where they came from. Um, that, you know, maybe they're immature. Um, maybe they had some bad situations in the past. I don't know what it would be. I'm not even having any type of an example in my head right here.

But, if what I say, or my doing it in front of them causes them to relapse, or to go back.  I should consider not doing that in front of them. I should consider not talking about it with them. I should consider moving away from that when, when it's, when it can cause them to stumble. And so, we need to think about that.

How is the way we talk, the things that we do, the things, uh, the things that we might say to other people, how could we cause people to stumble who maybe don't understand the freedom that we have because, because of Christ.  May we think about that. May we remember that we're to build our brothers and sisters up.

I think that's the big point for us today, right? That we want to build up our brothers and sisters in Christ, not cause them to stumble. So may we find ways to build up our brothers, may we build up relationships with people who are young in the faith, who need to be built up in faith, that we might help them to grow and not cause them to stumble.