Sermon on 1 Corinthians 8:13
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The words of Paul in our text (8:13) are well known. The decisiveness of his tone and the firm conviction that are obvious from his statement, never cease to impress us. Never again, Paul says, will I eat meat if it makes my brother stumble! In the beginning of verse 13 he generalises the issue of eating meat. The issue of discussion in the chapter is the meat offered to idols, but Paul expands the rule. Not only meat, but any food that would cause his brother to stumble he will never eat. And so he gives us a general rule concerning the attitude that we should have towards each other in issues of Christian ethical choices. He gives us a principle to help us determine what we should or should not do in the relationships we have with each other in the communion of saints in the church of Jesus Christ.
Usually we clarify this rule in accordance with Romans 14, which deals with the strong and the weak in faith, and we conclude that we should not offend each other. And this, of course, is very true. Offending each other in any way is wrong and sinful. But is this in fact what Paul is saying here in this chapter, 1 Cor. 8? Is Paul saying that we should all do the same thing in the same situation, all make the same choices? Or let me put it differently: how far does this ‘not offending each other’ and ‘not making each other stumble’ actually go? I’m sure that that question will cross your mind when you read this chapter of Paul’s letter. Let us try, this morning, to find a answer to that question.
But first we must make sure that the actual issue of 1 Cor. 8 is clear to us. In vs 1 Paul speaks about ‘food offered to idols’. In vs 4 he uses the same words. In vs 7 however he speaks of eating food offered to idols. In vs 10 he again uses different words, namely ‘eating in an idol’s temple’. And, finally, in vs 13, as we said, he speaks about food in general. So, what exactly is Paul talking about?
The key of the answer to this question lies in vs 10, ‘eating in an idol’s temple’. That is what Paul writes about, actually from ch 8:1 all the way to chapter 10:22. From 10:23 he begins to write about a closely related issue, namely the meat offered to idols that is sold on the meat markets. He says that this can be eaten at home, if no one there objects to it. But from chs 8 and 10:20 we learn that Paul strictly forbids going to idol’s temples, and eating the meat that was offered there to that idol, because this means a participating in the idol’s worship.
The question raised in our chapter is this: why does Paul forbid this? To be sure, in ch 8 he does not explicitly forbid it; even more, vss 8 and 9 seem to indicate that he does not disapprove. He seems to say that if it does not offend your brother, it is all right to go to an idol’s temple. But no, ch 10 teaches us otherwise. Paul does forbid it. And he does so for two reasons. Firstly because it might make the weaker brothers or sisters stumble and secondly because idols may not possess any reality of themselves, but the demons who hide behind them certainly do! Therefore the Corinthians should not participate in the idol’s cult.
Our interest this morning is in the first reason of Paul’s prohibition. We must not cause each other to stumble through anything we do. This reason of Paul directly concerns the relationship we have with each other in the communion of saints. In this chapter Paul teaches the church of Corinth that our fellowship should be determined by Christian love. Thus we find the theme and points for our sermon:
Christian love is fundamental to Christian fellowship
- Knowledge gives freedom
- Freedom creates the opportunity for love
- Love sets boundaries to freedom
1. Knowledge gives freedom
How does Paul come to speak about food offered to idols? Well, he is probably answering a question the Corinthians have asked him in a letter. As in ch 7:1, where he clearly says he will write on an issue they have put before him, ch 8 addresses an issue the Corinthians had trouble with in their church. It is important to know this because in our text we notice that Paul sometimes quotes from their letter. This explains some apparent contradictions in our text, like vs 1 where Paul quotes the Corinthians saying that ‘all of us possess knowledge’ while he himself says in vs 7 that ‘not all possess this knowledge’.
Like I said before, the issue was the eating in the temples of the idols. In our time we can hardly imagine such an issue. We don’t have idols anymore, not like the people in Paul’s days anyway. And we certainly would not consider worshipping them by participating in a cultic worship to an idol! Therefore, to understand the issue we have to realise that idol worship played a large part in every day life in Corinth. There were many idols like Isis, Serapis or Asclepius. And they were publicly worshipped at many different places and on many occasions. Part of their worship often was a sacrificial meal. An animal would be killed, part of the meat would be burnt on the altar, part would be given to the priests to eat and to sell to the meat market, and a part would be eaten immediately at a sacrificial meal. The temples and the meals served there were almost as common as restaurants are in our days. They played a major part in the social life of the city. So the issue in Corinth was not exceptional or surprising at all.
Now we learn from vs 1 where Paul quotes from their letter, that the Corinthians felt that they could participate in those sacrificial meals because they had knowledge. Knowledge was very important for the Corinthians. We learn that especially from chs 2 and 3. The Corinthians felt that their knowledge about God and about idols justified their participation in these sacrificial meals. Knowledge gives us freedom, they said. And indeed it does. Knowing Jesus Christ means receiving his gifts, living in the light of his love. And knowing that idols are in fact non-existent (vss 5-7) strengthens your faith in God’s holiness and uniqueness. There is no God but our God, and no Lord but our Lord Jesus Christ. So, the Corinthians said, if we know that there is no other God but God, then why not participate in sacrificial meals? They are meant to worship idols. But if there are no idols, there is nothing to worship and the meat eaten at these meals is free from harm! This is the freedom knowledge gives!
But Paul does not grant this argument. Indeed, knowledge gives freedom, but that does not mean that you can use that freedom to do whatever you like. He says so in vs 9: “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” In other words, do not misuse the freedom Jesus Christ has given you to do whatever you please, unconcerned by what consequence it might have for others. The Corinthians valued their knowledge so much, that they made of it the principle that determined their actions and attitude. But Paul says that their knowledge is not as good as it appears and that it should not be used to determine your actions. Real knowledge, Paul says, is knowledge of Christ’s love. Knowledge about God is not just theological knowledge, knowing facts or figures. Knowledge of God is loving God and Jesus Christ for his work and grace for us. It means knowing God with your heart, not just with your head. It means living in a close and living relationship with him. That is real knowledge.
And so, their knowledge should not determine their actions, Christian love should. Love builds up, but knowledge puffs up. That does not mean that knowledge is not important. We too should know the facts of Reformed doctrine. In fact, we spend many years of our lives and a lot of energy in learning all of these things. Still, without love all of this knowledge is useless. Our common basis in church does not lie in having lots of theological knowledge, it lies in the life giving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not knowledge as such, but that we extend the love that Christ has shown us, that is fundamental to Christian fellowship. This we will see in our second point.
2. Freedom creates the opportunity for love
This was exactly what the Corinthians were missing. Their lack of love caused the weaker in faith to stumble. There were among the Corinthians Jews who had become Christians and Gentiles who were converted to Christianity. Especially to those converted Gentiles the eating of meat offered to idols was participating in idolatry. Whoever did such a thing, to them was an idolator. So they kept themselves far from it. Once they were converted they kept their distance from everything that had to do with the worship of idols. For that is where they had come from!
But now they were put under pressure by other Christians to again participate in those sacrificial meals because, they said, idols don’t exist anyway. And so the Corinthian Jewish Christians misused their freedom to make room for their own desires while it should give room to love one another and care for one another in the Christian church.
But then, someone may ask, why make such an issue out of it? For if it is true that idols don’t exist (and they don’t!), then why be afraid that someone with a weak conscience would start worshipping them again. Since they don’t exist, there is nothing to worship. They might think that they’re worshiping an idol, but in reality, since there are no idols, their so-called worship can hardly be called sinful!
But Paul says this is exactly the kind of knowledge that disregards Christian love. There is a difference between objective and subjective truth. This is what Paul says in vs 7: “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.” To new Christians of weak conscience, the idols were still very real! After so many years of worshipping them, they still felt very real! Worship of the idols played a major role in every day society, as we said earlier. So one can hardly expect them to break free from their past instantly. They would need some time to come to the objective knowledge that in reality there is no other God than the triune God.
The freedom that Christ gives should not be used to take the wind out of each others’ sails or to force your opinion on someone else, even if it is the indisputable truth! If your example would tempt someone else into doing something that is wrong in their eyes, then you should not do it. Listen carefully brs and srs: something wrong in their eyes, that is the operative word here. Even if you know for sure that the things you are doing are not wrong, you should still not tempt or persuade others to do the same thing if you know that they think it is wrong.
As a matter of fact, the Corinthians were quite wrong and naive regarding the worshipping of idols being an indifferent thing. In vs 8 Paul says that indeed the eating of different kinds of food is indifferent to God. But in vs 5 and in very much so in ch 10:20-21 he makes clear that worshipping idols is not an innocent thing. Idols do not exist, but demons do, the devil does! Sacrificing to idols is really sacrificing to demons, for demons hide in and behind everything that tries to draw people away from God. Yet another very good reason not to participate in sacrificial meals of idol worship!
But now this of course raises the question of how far we should go in not offending our brs and srs. Romans 14 and 15 speak of this matter very clearly and in more detail. In our chapter it is evident that we should not set an example that would cause others to fall. Doing a thing like that would not only be unloving towards our brs and srs, it would also be sin against Christ. In vs 11 Paul says that Christ died for us all. Again, Christ’s love is fundamental to our fellowship in church. Whenever we speak about specific issues in our communion of saints, this must be the first thing to realise: we all live and breathe in the freedom that Christ has obtained for us. We all enjoy this freedom through God’s Holy Spirit. Let us then make use of that freedom responsibly and with love for one another.
At the same time, this does not mean that we all have to make the same choices and all do the same things all the time. This we will see in our last point.
3. Love sets boundaries to freedom
Once again I say: the freedom that God has given us should not be misused to do whatever we please. Our Lord Jesus himself warned us of the consequence of such behaviour. He says in Mt 18:6: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea.” That is a hard word of our Lord. God does not look mildly upon those who tempt his children into doing something sinful.
But on the other hand, brs and srs, the words of Paul in vs 13 can also be misused in another way. Some could suggest that since we should not do anything that offends others, we should all make the same choices and do the same things. If we did that, we would have no problems applying these words of Paul. But this is not what he means, brs and srs. God has set us free. He has given us freedom and room to live in, and we all have our personal responsibility. Paul says in Gal. 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Freedom can be abused by those who want to do whatever they want and by those who want to impose their views and choices on others. On the one hand there is the danger of unlimited tolerance, on the other hand there is the danger of legalism. The only way to escape these two extremes is to walk the middle way of Christian love.
Let us remember though, brs and srs, that Paul is only referring here to things that are not clearly commanded or prohibited by God in his Word. We are not to give each other the freedom to murder or to lie or to gossip. We are also not given the freedom to tempt others to sin or to even make them stumble. Paul refers to so-called indifferent things. We do not have to agree on all issues.
For example, should we or should we not have televisions. Should we or should we not allow our children to go on Facebook. Should our children have mobile phones or not. Should we allow our children to go to school balls. Or think about going to the cinema. Answers to these questions differ between families, cultures and even times we live in. We know that we have different opinions on these matters, and we are allowed to. And that is not a bad thing as such. It is evidence of the room the Lord has granted us. And rather than seeing these as bad things, we should see them as tests and opportunities to demonstrate to ourselves and the world around us that we can live in love and respect with each other despite different views and choices. They are a test for us to see if we can tackle these issues in the love of Jesus Christ. Instead of arguing we should welcome these opportunities and walk in the ways the Lord has shown us, in such a way that we can give account to God with a clear conscience for the choices that we make.
Conclusion
Maybe, at the beginning of this sermon you expected or hoped to hear a few simple rules that we can use when it comes to issues of the choices we make. But Paul doesn’t give us an extra set of rules and regulations. God gives us a principle: the principle of Christian love. Paul shows us the way to deal with these issues: it is the way of Christian love that is fundamental to Christian fellowship. In Rom. 15, in a similar context, Paul directs our attention to Jesus Christ. He did not only give us freedom, he also showed us the way how to deal with that freedom. There he says in vs 7: “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Christ left us an example. In his love he himself died for us. The guideline for our fellowship is not the knowledge we (think we) have, but the love for God and for each other. In 1 Cor. 13 Paul says: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way.” That is exactly the opposite of what the Corinthians were doing. Let us remember then the love of Jesus Christ and act like he did. Then we will live in loving harmony in the midst of the communion of saints. Amen.