1 Corinthians 8:4-13
4 So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. 5 There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. 6 But for us,
There is one God, the Father,
by whom all things were created,
and for whom we live.
And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things were created,
and through whom we live.
7 However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. 8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.
9 But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. 10 For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? 11 So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer[b] for whom Christ died will be destroyed. 12 And when you sin against other believers[c]by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 13 So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.
But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.
In this passage, Paul is responding to a specific challenge in the local church. There are people who are eating food in temples which has been sacrificed in honour of another god. Paul does not criticise their activity or disagree with them that the gods in the temples are not truly gods at all. However, he says that the should refrain from eating the food because it may make others stumble. For Paul, the argument was not that he has the freedom to do whatever he wants. It was that his freedom should never come at the expense of other Christians. His sense of duty counterbalances his freedom.
Most people do not think this way. For most of us, we think about what we want or are entitled to for ourselves. However, our freedoms can undermine our community. Whether it is our relationship with time management, alcohol, generosity, serving, hospitality or other things in the cycle of church. Our freedom is never at the expense of others.
