1 Corinthians 8

And now for something completely different… For this chapter and the two chapters that follow, the Apostle Paul gives instructions concerning a very obvious issue in Corinth which is not at all an issue for us today, at least not in the specific that is brought to Paul in the letter he received from the church in Corinth: Are followers of Jesus Christ allowed to eat meat sold in the public meat markets when that meat was originally a part of pagan rituals? Are followers of Jesus allowed to eat food at the pagan rituals themselves? These are two of the questions that Paul will address here.

We should not presume that we can immediately move on to the eleventh chapter, since we do not necessarily live in a culture where our food comes to us through any particular religious ritual. God has not wasted His words. There are principles here that will held us address many issues that we do face and that we will face as we attempt to live faithful lives in a world that has a very different value system than that of the Lord Jesus.

We see this immediately in Paul’s opening remarks concerning knowledge. In this age while we wait for the fulfillment of the resurrection kingdom, there will always be moral and practical dilemmas for the church that we will have difficulty solving. Some of these cannot be ignored. Decisions on some matters are required. As we wrestle through the thorny issues that can unnecessarily divide the church, we will probably come to our own conclusions. There are times when our study and prayer concerning some matter yields not only a conclusion, but also some unwarranted confidence and enthusiasm for that conclusion. We forget that we had to wrestle hard to come to any conclusion, and we become impressed with our knowledge, and wonder how anyone could be so foolish as to have a different answer than we have come up with for the question at hand.

We may also believe that God has revealed the solution to us so clearly, and that anyone who sees this in a different way is simply being disobedient to God. Knowledge has puffed us up and will soon tear others down. What we need is love. Love will humble us and move us to build others up. This is the only way for the followers of the Christ who died on a cross. As we practice the discipline of preferring the love of Christ and His beloved above our personal devotion to our own right answers, we can cultivate a new habit that will ultimately work well not only for our love of people, but even for our love of the truth. Those who love the truth best learn that loving people as if they were Christ Himself in our midst helps others to have a more open ear to the truths that matter most.

We think we know more than we do. Our knowing so many right answers is not nearly as important as the fact that we are known and loved by the One who truly knows and who is most worthy of our love.

With that said, Paul begins to address the particular thorny dilemma at hand. It is true that the Father and the Son are one God and one Lord, and that all food ultimately comes from the one Triune God. The right answer is that there is no food that is inherently evil. Yet again there is the matter of love. Some people have only recently escaped the slavery of worshipping false gods. When they eat this good food, they have a bad conscience about it, because they cannot shake the feeling yet that they are doing the wrong thing.

There is no food that can truly make us holy, and there is no avoidance of food that can truly make us holy. But the conscience is a tender gift of God, and it must be handled with care. Our love for others in the church will help us to consider that others may not feel right about what we think is our true freedom and joy. Why do we need to bring up this matter in front of them? Why do we further need to do this thing in front of them? Why is it so important that we do this thing at all? Have we thought about others? Is this food so important, is this drink so important, is this story so important to tell, or is this joke so important to share? Will we lead others into behavior that they may think is loose and even sinful? Will that be the best thing for them? Will that be the best thing for the church?

When Jesus came as the one who was both righteous and loving, He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). We need this heart and mind in us. His way is the only right way for the church. He did not come to make His beloved children stumble, but to build them up in love.

We must not despise true knowledge. Knowledge is a great thing, and truth is absolutely essential to faith. But knowledge must be made to serve the Lord of love. Knowledge without love is not the way of Christ. It is not the way of truth.