Meat Offered to Idols

So, we enter into the month of March and we know Spring is just around the corner.

Spring is a time of life and new growth.  What was dormant and seemingly dead through the dark winter months seems to miraculously come alive, almost before our eyes.  Nature itself reveals the working of God as He takes what has no life and causes it to flourish.

Paul is speaking in our text of the young, tender, life which God has caused to sprout and grow!  It is faith born in the heart of a person which has brought forth new life from what was dead.  Paul is seeking to help us understand that this new life is tender and vulnerable, and it can be overcome so easily.  Listen to his words!
 
But take care that this freedom of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.  For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, if he is weak, not be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?  For through your knowledge the one who is weak is ruined, the brother or sister for whose sake Christ died.  And so, by sinning against the brothers and sisters and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.  Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to sin. 1 Corinthians 8:9-13

Paul has been addressing the consumption of food which has been offered at an idol’s temple.  In the minds of the people of the 1st century culture, an idol can be worshiped in many ways, one of which was to eat the food which has been offered to it in sacrifice.  By eating the sacrificed meat, you are worshiping the god and imploring the blessings of that particular god in your life.

Paul has already addressed that an idol is nothing and there is only one true God, the God we know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The many religions of this world with their many gods are created in the imaginations of man and the rules and rubrics for worship are structured to meet the felt needs of a human being who is seeking to secure some type of eternity for themselves.

Because an idol is in reality nothing at all, Paul has told us that it is impossible to be actually worshiping a god by eating the sacrificed meat because you cannot worship what does not exist. In our text today he shifts to a different focus.

There is the truth, there is no god but the One true God revealed in Jesus Christ.  Then there is the deception, there are many gods which are available for worship.  When a person is brought out of the deceptions and delusions which has held their hearts captive, it can take time for this person to mature to the point that they fully understand the distinction Paul has made.

A young Christian can be weak in conscience and if drawn into activities which were part of their life before Christ, these activities can have a whole host of negative effects on their faith.  Use the example in our text.  A young man is brought to faith in Christ and is just learning the truths revealed in the Word of God.  A dinner is held, to which he is invited, and they are serving meat which was offered to Zeus.  Everyone around the table is eating, talking, and enjoying themselves, because they see nothing wrong with it.  Yet, this young man was an avid worshiper of Zeus and is convicted in his heart that his actions sitting around that table are acts of worship to the god Zeus.  Thus, he is conflicted.  Is Zeus a real god!  If so, why do I not still worship him as before? If Jesus is the one true God, then am I not being a hypocrite by worshipping Zeus?  Now this young man is filled with guilt and remorse for his sinful actions and he sees everyone around the table as crass, unrepentant sinners.  And who wants to associate with hypocrites.  So, the young man leaves the dinner, and leaves the church.  In the end, he is lost to the Lord because the actions of other Christians were damaging to his young faith.
 
Apply this to the use of alcohol or drugs in our current society.  Or how about going out to a nightclub or gambling?  There are so many activities which Christians participate in, which are not specifically forbidden in the Bible, but which are vices that can cause young hearts of faith to stumble.

Paul’s point is that while we may have the freedom to do something and know clearly that it is not a sin, if my doing it causes my brother to stumble then it has become a sin for me.  Christian freedom is not the freedom to do anything I want, but the freedom to choose what is good and right in the sight of God and for the benefit of those around me.
 
Let me end with a personal example. In my training as a young pastor, it was stressed to keep all Scripture in balance.  Speak where Scripture speaks and be silent where Scripture is silent.  In other words, don’t twist the Bible and make it say what it does not say.  So, alcohol was never seen as sinful, but the abuse of alcohol or drunkenness was understood to be sinful.   To drink a beer with a meal or after mowing the yard was never seen as an evil thing.  When I met my wife, she had been in a relationship where beer played a major factor in the mistreatment of both she and her children.  To be around someone who drank beer was fearful for her.  So, the solution was easy!  I simply made the decision to never drink a beer again!   Her peace and security were more important than the momentary enjoyment of a beer!

If each of us would take the time to examine our actions in light of how they affect those around us, then our Christian witness could be enhanced rather than hindered.  What we do matters!  Both Christians and unbelievers are watching!

Blessings In Christ,
Pastor Russ