No Stumbling

1 Cor. 8:11-13

And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 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.

Paul taught a hugely important principle in this chapter. In those days it involved eating food offered to idols. The reasoning was this. Idols are nothing because there is only one God. So the food offered to these idols would be fine since it was food offered to a non-entity. Consequently, many believers enjoyed this freedom of eating food offered to idols. But the problem was this. What if a brother younger in the Lord, a brother for whom Christ died, did not have this same freedom and was actually very bothered by this practice? If the younger brother happened to see the more mature Christian eating this food, it would become a huge stumbling-block to him. Paul's point is this. Nothing is more important than destroying a younger brother. In fact, it becomes sin. By a brother's act of freedom, a conscience is wounded or destroyed. Love for one another should supersede any freedom no matter how right that freedom is. Paul's resolve was to never make a brother stumble. 

Today there might be other issues. Perhaps drinking alcohol, going to R rated movies, dress styles, words or phrases in our speech, or activities we are involved in. Whatever it is, love for our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord should be more important. It should never be our desire to hang on to a freedom at the cost of someone else's spiritual growth. Sadly, some Christians have gone the other way with this. They have valued their freedom so much that they have created divisions and separations between believers. Where is the love? Where is the care for those for whom Christ died?

Father,

Open my heart and examine me. Are there things I am hanging onto? Reveal them to me. Grant me repentance. Grow my love for my sisters and brothers in the Lord.

In Jesus name,

Amen