Let me say right out of the gate that I think the next four sermons in our series through 1 Corinthians, which will cover 8:1-11:1 may be some of the most difficult sermons, pastorally-speaking, that I’ve ever preached. I will tell you why I feel that way in a second, but let me first try to describe what seems to be the situation in Corinth that leads to Paul writing this section (8:1-11:1) in the letter.
Probably most of your Bibles have a heading at the top of chapter 8 that says something like “Food Offered to Idols.” And that indeed is the topic that Paul will deal with generally over the next few chapters. But the reason Paul is taking up this topic is because the Corinthians (so it seems) had written to him concerning this issue. I say that because if you go back to the beginning of chapter 7, Paul begins that chapter by writing, “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote” (7:1) and then he dives into issues of celibacy, singleness, marriage, widowhood, and the like in that chapter, likely quoting some throughout that chapter from the very letter they had written to him. From that point on in the letter, Paul seems to identify different topics that they had written to him about that he is now taking up by writing, “Now concerning …” or something like that. We saw that in 7:25 as he wrote, “Now concerning the betrothed.” We’ll see it at the beginning of chapter 12 as Paul there wrote, “Now concerning spiritual gifts” (12:1). We’ll see it in chapter 16 as Paul began that chapter, writing, “Now concerning the collection for the saints” (16:1) and midway through the chapter writes, “Now concerning our brother Apollos” (16:12). And we see it in the first verse of the chapter we’re looking at this morning as we read, “Now concerning food offered to idols” (8:1).
What then had the Corinthians written to Paul concerning food offered to idols? Well, we’re not told specifically, and even in our text we’re left to try to guess at where Paul might be quoting the Corinthians. But I think the translators of the ESV got it right when they identify the phrase in 8:1—“all of us possess knowledge”—as a quotation from the Corinthians’ letter (or at least a paraphrase of what they had argued) and when they do the same with the two phrases from 8:4 (i.e. “an idol has no real existence” and “there is no God but one”). But why would they be saying such statements? Well, I think we can make a reasonable guess, but before we do, let me describe the setting in Corinth at this time.
At this time in Corinth, there were temples to pagan deities, and there would be pagan religious festivals and worship services to these pagan deities. And one thing that would happen in these pagan religious ceremonies is that an animal would be sacrificed to the idol, but not all the meat would be consumed in the sacrifice. Therefore, these pagan temples would sometimes serve as butcher shops and would also double as a place for banquets and the like (where fresh meat might be served). If the meat from the idol sacrifices wasn’t consumed in the religious ceremony, or in the temple dining hall where a group might have a banquet, wedding, or the like, it was taken to the market place to be sold there.
And this reality created a real difficulty for the Corinthian believers concerning what to do with this meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. Were they allowed to eat it? Were they allowed to attend dinners, banquets, or wedding celebrations in the pagan temple and eat it there? Were they allowed to buy it in the market and eat it there? If they were invited to dinner by an unbeliever who was regularly part of the pagan sacrifices at the temple and they were serving steak that night, should the Corinthian believers ask if the meat had come from an animal offered to an idol? If they found out it was, should they eat it? Moreover if they had gone to the market and were eating a dinner that night, could they in good conscience eat meat from the market when there was a chance it could have been part of an idolatrous sacrifice? Should they just abstain from meat altogether to be safe? You can see the difficulty of their situation.
Moreover, it seems that there were very likely (at least) two groups in the church. There was one group that said that eating meat to an idol was no big deal because an idol has no real existence and there is only one true God. Therefore, it’s not like there’s some pagan god in the meat that will get inside of you if you eat it. And there were others who were bothered, thinking it would be terribly wrong and were troubled in their conscience just thinking about eating it. And it seems that the first group (the one’s arguing it was okay) were the ones who voiced their stance toward Paul in the letter that he is now responding to.
One commentator has provided a suggestion concerning what their letter may have sounded like, and I think it’s a very reasonable guess based on these chapters and is helpful for us just to begin to wrap our mind around why Paul might say certain things. He proposes that their letter might have read as follows:
Some members of the church are upset because others have accepted invitations to dinners held in idol temples and freely eat food that has been sacrificed to idols. But we all possess knowledge and … know that an idol has no real existence since there is no God but one. So there is no such thing as “idol food”; just food. The others, however, are frightened and upset about what we eat and question our right to eat any food we want. … We have explained to them that eating this food commends us to our neighbors. We’ll be worse off if we do not eat it and better off if we do since we will offend our friends and neighbors … if we snub them by rejecting their invitations or their food … [and cut off] opportunities for outreach and advancement. Those other believers, being weak, think that we are actually condoning idolatry and encouraging them to participate in it as well.1
So what then does Paul say to these believers who are arguing that they have the right to eat this meat because they have knowledge that idols aren’t real and their weaker brothers need to get on board with them? Or, applying this text in our present context and in situations in which we presently find ourselves, what do we do in regard to doing things that we think are good and okay and we have liberty to do while others think is unwise at best and sinful at worst? I hope to guide us through answering that question over the next four sermons through 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1.
But I hope you can get a glimpse of how difficult pastorally it is to answer that question and perhaps some pitfalls that need to be avoided. Let me dive into one arena briefly before looking at how Paul begins to answer this question in 1 Corinthians 8. Let’s consider alcohol. This is where many of us tend to go when we think through issues like I’ve just described, so let’s think through it a bit. Pastorally, it is so difficult to speak about this issue publically because in this one room there are so many of you in so many different places. In fact, if we were writing a letter to Paul in our own day, this issue would probably be included in our letter.
Let me tease out the difficulty of this topic for a second. The Bible doesn’t treat the drinking of alcohol as a sin, per se. We’re told in Psalm 104:15 that the Lord made wine to “gladden the heart of man.” Jesus turned water into wine John 2. And the drinking of wine seemed to be commonplace in the taking of the Lord’s Supper so that the Corinthians were getting drunk on it. Nor will it do to suggest that wine in biblical times was of lesser alcohol content because even if it was, it was still an intoxicating beverage and drunkenness was possible (and apparently a concern enough that the Bible condemns drunkenness as a sin). So, the Bible condemns drunkenness and not simply drinking of alcohol per se. There are some of you who have been waiting your whole life to hear someone say that from the pulpit (so there you go), and you joyfully partake of alcohol, some of you in the privacy of your home and others both privately and publically, while some (approving of alcohol) abstain for various reasons.
On the other hand, there are some of you for whom taking one drink of alcohol would be sin. For some of you it would be sin because you’re under twenty-one years of age, and the law is that no one under twenty-one can consume alcohol. And the Bible commands us to be subject to our governing authorities except where it would be sin to do so (Rom 13:1), and I can assure you that in this case the government is not asking you to sin in forbidding you to drink alcohol. So, it would be sin for someone under twenty-one years of age to drink. For others of you it would be sin to drink alcohol at all because you’re part of an institution or an employer and have entered into a contract pledging to abstain from drinking alcohol. This applies, I believe, to all students enrolled at Union University, students enrolled at one of our Southern Baptists seminaries, perhaps any employed through one our Southern Baptist agencies, or in a number of other institutions, associations, or employers. If you’re in that arena, then drinking alcohol would be sin for you because you voluntarily entered into that agreement and would be violating your word to go against your contractual obligation.
For others of you it would be sin to drink alcohol simply because you’re a bit torn as to whether it would be okay to drink alcohol or not (or are perhaps convinced it would be sin). And if your conscience convicts you on something and you do it, you’re sinning, whether doing the action is sin in and of itself. Let me show you what I mean. Paul writes in Romans 14:14, “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean,” and he adds in 14:23, “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” That is, any action at all, if you’re unsure whether it’s sinful or not (or think it is sinful) would be sinful for you to do because you can’t do that action knowing that you’re walking in faithful obedience to the Lord. Therefore, for you to drink alcohol, if you think it may be wrong to drink alcohol or are convinced in your heart it is wrong to drink alcohol, would be to sin.
And for others, it seems at best unwise for you to drink alcohol because you’ve been prone to the abuse of alcohol. Perhaps you’ve never taken up alcohol except to get intoxicated, and it was a means for sinning in your life. Maybe it was something you painfully let go of when you became a Christian, and it would be unwise to try to take it up and not sin because you would be flirting with something that has had you in its bondage.
Then, there are some of you who love the liberty you’ve found in recognizing that drinking alcohol is not sin per se, but you’re abusing it and need to stop. You’ve turned license into sin and liberty into sinful captivity.
And there are still others who would ask, “Why would anyone drink alcohol at all?” and think it unwise for all believers because you’ve watched loved ones destroy their lives with alcohol and have lost others through drinking and driving accidents. And your position is, “If we never drink, we’ll never risk getting drunk. Therefore, abstaining is what Christians should do.”
Now, I don’t know if I got everybody with those descriptions, but even if not, that’s a really diverse group, and I think I could find members of this church to fit into every category I’ve just listed. I’ve taken one issue—drinking alcohol—and shown a number of diverse categories in this church, diverse opinions and some held very strongly, all existing in one church. That’s who we are, and we’re supposed to walk together in a Christ-honoring way. And I’m supposed to pastor and preach through these issues in a God-honoring, Christ-exalting, church-edifying way. You can see then why topics like this are difficult pastorally to preach about, and why I am saying that these next four sermons may be some of the most trying sermons for me to preach and for you to hear.
But let’s come back to the question at hand. What does Paul say to these believers at Corinth who are arguing that they have the right to eat this meat because they have knowledge that idols aren’t real and their weaker brothers need to get on board with them and perhaps stop condemning them? After all, this is the question I think chapter 8 begins to answer. It doesn’t provide all of the answers. We need to get to 1 Cor. 11:1 to get to the end of this section alone, and then we can study texts like Romans 14 as well. But this morning, I want us to focus on this text and see what Paul says, and we can apply these principles to ourselves and our situations along the way. First, Paul wants the Corinthians to see that:
I want to show this to you in the first six verses of our chapter. Paul opens the chapter by acknowledging what was most likely a quote from the Corinthians’ letter when he writes, “We know that “all of us possess knowledge’” (v. 1). Now, what knowledge is he talking about? Most likely the knowledge that Paul lays out in verses 4-6.
In verses 4-6 Paul notes that they’ve argued that an idol has no real existence and there is no God but one. And he agrees with that statement. Although you have pagans making idol statues and worshiping false gods, there aren’t really others gods in the world and those idols are nothing. Again, Paul acknowledges this, writing in verse 5-6, “For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
Paul acknowledges that they’re right. That’s an accurate statement. When Tom and I went to visit Andy and Laura Pettigrew in Botswana a couple summers ago, we went and visited a Hindu temple. And as we walked around there were these little statues of men with fruit in front of them, and it was pathetic to witness. I thought to myself, “People are dedicating themselves to a so-called ‘god’ that they have to carry around, dress, and put food in front of that he’ll never eat because he’s just a statue, and there’s no real god he represents.” Paul says that’s right. That’s accurate information.
That’s what certain Corinthian believers were saying. We know the idols down at the temple aren’t real. They don’t represent real gods. There’s only one god. Therefore, the meat isn’t infested with some god. And Paul says, “That’s right.” But then he challenges them on their claim to have knowledge. It’s as if Paul says, “Not so fast.”
He writes of their knowledge, “This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone images that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God” (v. 1b-3).
That is, all kinds of people can claim to have knowledge, even knowledge of Christian truths. However, if your knowledge doesn’t contain love and doesn’t drive you to love, then you don’t really have knowledge. And you may even show yourself not to be known by God. If you’re the kind of guy who has all the right answers but doesn’t love, the knowledge you have is probably at best a half-truth, and you may be showing yourself not to be a Christian.
Now, this isn’t my way of saying that knowledge is bad or even that knowledge isn’t essential. It is essential. The Bible is written so that we might understand much. You must know who Jesus is, what he did to save us, and that he demands faith if you are to be saved. Moreover, the Bible is a theological book that is complicated at points, and it demands study. So, this is not Paul saying that knowledge is not essential or saying that trying to gain knowledge is a waste of time that will leave you corrupted. But he is saying that if you claim to have a bunch of knowledge and don’t have love you’re just deceiving yourself.
If you try to convince everyone of the right theological convictions but don’t love them, then your supposed ‘knowledge’ is just a cheap imitation of true knowledge. True Christian knowledge is filled with love and drives us to love. So, that’s the first thing Paul wants us to understand. Second:
Paul says to the Corinthians that it’s not enough that they can say, “We know these idols aren’t real.” They must ask where their brothers are and what they think. He notes in verse 7, “However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.”
You see, remember earlier when I noted that anything you do if you think it’s sin, is sin? So, if for some reason you were convinced in your heart that wearing a cardigan is sinful then you better throw away that coupon in the paper that says cardigans are fifty percent off at the local department store because even though wearing a cardigan is not sinful in itself, if you wear one, you are wearing one, feeling in your heart that you’re rebelling against God, and you’re therefore sinning. Even if you aren’t sure and are waffling on whether it’s sin or not—stay away from the cardigan! You’ll defile your conscience, even if it is weak and needs to grow in understanding that there’s nothing sinful about wearing a cardigan per se.
Well, that was where some were in the church. Their past was characterized by idol worship, and for them to eat meat sacrificed to an idol was to eat something that they really believe had been sacrificed to something real, something that had held them in sinful bondage. Therefore, Paul reminds the brothers wanting to eat that eating or not eating doesn’t make them better or worse off (v. 8). So, eating meat isn’t something they desperately need to do.
On the other hand, something they do need to do is to care for their brothers. Paul adds in verse 9, “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” What Paul means by stumbling block is something that tempts them to sin. He shows us that through the scenario he paints for us in 10-11.
Let me describe it to you before we read it. Paul asks us to imagine that one of you who thinks it’s okay to eat meat sacrificed to an idol is down at the temple for some dinner eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol the day before. Then, your brother walks by who’s thinking it is sin or maybe thinks it’s sin to eat that kind of meat. But he sees you there and is emboldened to say, “Well, if he’s eating that meat, so will I.” Except in his case, he’s violating his weak conscience, doing something he believes is sin and therefore is sin for him. And by doing that, he hardens his heart and is sucked back into a rebellious life of idolatry that once characterized him and runs toward hell.
That’s what Paul is describing when he writes in verses 10-11, “For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.” “Thus,” Paul adds, “sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ” (v. 12).
Paul is saying, “Don’t just think about yourselves. Don’t just think about your rights. Don’t just think about what you’d enjoy. Think about your brothers.” And we could add, especially if you know you could potentially tempt your brother to sin, why would you risk hurting a brother for whom Christ died? Why would you willingly sin against one over a piece of meat?
Simply put, because we are Christians, our decisions no longer revolve around ourselves only. They also must consider the good or our brothers and sisters. We belong to one body now, and we must show love even to brothers who may be a little weak in conscience, perhaps even thinking something is sin when it is not.
Yes, we want such brothers to grow in knowledge. Yes, we want their consciences to grow stronger. But we don’t do that by disregarding them when we make our decisions to exercise our liberties. We don’t do that by doing something that might tempt them to violate their consciences. And as the Lord continues to add to his church, know that we’ll always have brothers and sisters with weak consciences among us through former sinful associations they’ve had in their lives. So, we must filter our decisions through love for our brothers. And finally:
Paul ends by going a bit broader than the particular situation he has addressed. He declares in verse 13, “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”
Why does Paul say this? He says it because he’s going to end this section in 11:1 by telling them to imitate him as he imitates Christ. And Paul knows that if Christ died for a brother, Paul would be willing to give up meat if a brother’s soul was at stake. He goes big with this application to show what our hearts need to be like. And we need to have the same willingness.
So, this morning, I’m not going to lay out specific regulations about how we must handle situations regarding every liberty we have. I don’t even know if that would be helpful because what’s more important is our hearts. Maybe we’ll dive into more of these things particularly over the next few weeks. After all, next week we’re going to see Paul argue for something he has a right to do, and then argue for why he is willing to give it up. So, we’ll continue to tease these things out over the next few weeks.
But I will say this now: I want every single member of Cornerstone Community Church to have a heart that says, “I would give up any right I have if it would help others love and obey Christ more, especially if it might keep my brother from hell.” Let us hold on to nothing more tightly than holding on to our commitment to love Christ who lived, died, and was raised for us and to love our brothers for whom Christ died as well. I pray that will be the statement of our hearts as we come to the table. Amen.