Day 140, 1 Corinthians 8
Having established a pattern of “here’s the ideal” and “here’s a concession that is even better because of God’s grace” yesterday, Paul takes us a step further, and into another issue that concerned the Corinthian Church. In some ways it mirrors issues in today’s American church too.
Food offered to idols was often the only food available in a city that had no grocery stores or supermarkets. This caused no small amount of controversy in a church that followed the culture by taking sides on anything, and also trumpeted ‘freedom’ which was simply selfishness dressed in cultural relevance.
Some said you should eat freely to demonstrate freedom in Christ, others said you shouldn’t approve of idolatry by eating such foods. The messages were “The problem is amplified by our collusion” versus “Jesus has set us free from all these rigid rules.” And everyone was sure he or she was right (and others were wrong) - the source of most of our denominational divisions in Protestant evangelicalism.
Paul has a solution (of course)!
Knowledge (human reasoning) puffs up (pride) while love builds up (edifies).
And putting the needs of others ahead of our own so-called freedom is the path of love.
God is love, love is always right.
Have a great day!
Mark.