Offending Meat

1 Cor. 8:12-13

Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

 

The principle is this: Don't make my brother stumble by anything that I do. Even though I know that there is one God and no other gods, and even though this fact gives me freedom to eat food offered to idols, I mustn't eat it if it makes a weaker brother stumble. No freedom on my part is more important that a weaker brothers' relationship with the Lord.

 

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. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

 

Paul is calling for a change of perspective, instead of looking to the world [horizontal], I need to look toward eternity [vertical] and not dwell on the here and now. If I persist in this freedom, then I am sinning against my brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, I sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. Paul reduces it to a black and white issue. If I wound a brother's conscience, I am sinning against Christ! Who would want to do that? Not me. Therefore, I agree with Paul's conclusion. Food does not commend me to God, and if my focus is on pleasing God, then it should be no problem for me to give up this offending food. It should be of no consequence in my life. The spiritual must override the fleshly.

 

Father,

Reveal to me any areas in my life that are causing offenses. Give me grace enough to keep my eyes totally focused on Christ and not on my flesh. Grant me to walk worthy of the calling to which you have called me, to grow to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

In Jesus name,

Amen