Paul's answer

We've been discussing a question that the Corinthian church had apparently asked Paul: “can we eat the meat after it’s been sacrificed to idols?” (See 1 Corinthians 8:1)

Some said that since idols were nothing, with no power, they were free to eat that meat. Others said eating the meat caused them to think back to their own idol worship and they didn’t want to eat the meat.

Who was right?

Paul gave them an answer they may not have expected. In verse 9, he asked that those who were free not becoming a stumbling block to the weak. He places some labels in the verses to follow: those who exercise freedom and those with weak consciences.

Maybe you think that Paul has now announced who is right in this controversy. But he hasn’t.

Instead, he admonished those in freedom to care for their weaker brothers. "When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ." (1 Cor 8:12)

Some in the church understood that gods are nothing. But when they were seen eating the meat, they put a temptation before their weaker church members. Those who did not know that gods are nothing could be drawn back into their idol worship.

Paul did not declare, in this chapter, which side of the controversy was correct. Instead, he urged each side to be considerate of the other side. The issue for Paul wasn’t the food, but the heart of the church.

Notice what he declared for himself: "Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall." (1 Cor 8:13)

In America, we believe in individual freedom. But Paul was urging the believers to set aside their individual freedom when it caused another to fall. That’s a challenge to Americans but we need to hear Paul’s words.

He was willing to give up that which could cause another to stumble. That’s love for others above love for self and that was his answer to the Corinthians’ question: love others above your own knowledge and rights.

On the other hand

Kerry cringed everytime she saw black leather. She’d once been part of a gang that wore black leather jackets while they held ugly satanic ceremonies.

After Kerry left the gang, she had been afraid for a long time and now she wanted nothing to do with black leather. It reminded her of the gang and their false gods.

When her sister mistakenly gave her a black leather purse for Christmas, Kerry threw it away.

“But it was a purse,” her sister protested. “And an expensive one, too. It had nothing to do with your old gang.”

“It makes me think of that old gang and I don’t want to,” Kerry said.

We can be sympathetic to Kerry.

Paul was faced with the problem of Kerry vs. Mtoto, so to speak, in Corinth. We've been discussing the dilemma this week.

There were those in Corinth who, when seeing the meat from the sacrifices to false gods, remembered their old gods and, like Kerry, wanted nothing to do with it.

There were those who, like Mtoto, knew the meat had not been tainted because the gods were nothing.

Paul made a fascinating statement in 1 Cor. 8:8: "But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do."

Were the Corinthian believers worse off if they avoided the sacrificed meat? Were they better off if they ate the meat? No, in both cases.

Isn’t this puzzling? The first time I read this chapter, I wanted to know which side Paul was on. But he reveals his answer to the Corinthians at the end of the chapter and we’ll look at that tomorrow.

They are nothing

When the little statue of the god fell from Mtoto’s shelf, he was terrified to see that the head snapped off as it hit the floor. Sick to his stomach, Mtoto knew he had cursed himself and his family.

Should he hide the statue? He knew his father would notice that it was missing.

Mtoto sat for a long while staring at the broken clay pieces and then a thought came to him. Surely if this god could protect his family’s crops, it could heal itself.

So Mtoto carefully picked up the two parts of the broken statue and put them back on the shelf, tenderly nestling the head back onto the body. He felt excited to think that the little god would soon mend itself.

But as the days went by, and no curse came upon the family, Mtoto noticed that the crack in the statue remained.

The little god had not healed itself. Mtoto came to learn what Paul told the church in Corinth: an idol is nothing at all. (1 Cor. 8: 4)

We opened a discussion this week about a question from the Corinthian church regarding eating meat sacrificed to idols. Paul opened the discussion of idols in 1 Cor. 8:4-6.

Paul, in verse 5, referred to idols as "so-called" gods but made it clear that there was only one true God.

Other gods had no power because they did not exist. There is no God but the true God and false gods are nothing, Paul said in verse 4.

That may appear to be Paul's response to the Corinthians' question about eating meat sacrificed to false gods, but there's more still to come. We'll discuss that tomorrow.

"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." (1 Cor 8:6)

The debate

I might have organized a debate if I’d been given the question that Paul was given.

It seems that the church in Corinth wanted to know what the right thing to do about meat that had been sacrificed to idols. (1 Cor 8:1-3)

In those days, the pagans would kill animals before the gods, to try to placate their unpredictable nature so they didn’t do something bad to the people. Then the meat was sold in the markets at a greatly-reduced price.

The question for Christians was this: could they buy and eat this meat? There had been debate within the church and so they asked Paul.

Those who said “No” argued that they wanted nothing to do with false gods and would not eat the meat. When they ate the meat, they thought about the false gods and felt defiled.

Those who said “yes” argued that false gods were just that: false. There was no god but the true God. Something that didn’t exist couldn’t defile the meat.

Who was right? That’s what the church wanted to know.

But while I’d be organizing the debate, Paul re-defined it. In verse 1, he revealed his viewpoint: “Love builds up.”

That might seem like an odd answer to the question. Paul started talking about knowledge and love instead of just answering the question.

Well, the Corinthians wanted knowledge all right. They wanted a straight answer: “yes” or “no” on the meat thing.

By verse 3, Paul had returned to his point: want to be known by God? Then love others.

Since that wasn’t even what the Corinthians had asked, his answer undoubtedly puzzled them. And us.

And we may wonder what meat in the first century has to do with us.

But we’ll look at this some more tomorrow, because it has a huge impact for us today.

Navingating the traps

The traps were all set, with sharp teeth gaping open ready to snap, and scattered all over the platform. There stood Nathan, a blindfold covering his eyes.

His instructions were simple: to walk through the maze of traps and get to his father.

The problem was also simple: he couldn’t see any of the traps.

And there was a complication. Anyone could give Nathan advice, and many were already shouting out instructions. Nathan didn’t lack advice. How would he get through?

He relaxed when he heard his father’s voice. He didn’t know who else held good advice, but he trusted his father.

It was slow going, but Nathan heard every direction from his father and he got through the minefield.

Life is sort of like that field of traps. We have to get past many things that could reach out and snap us. And we can’t even see the traps. We have to trust other hands and voices to get us through.

Paul told the Corinthians (1 Cor 2:6-16) that they had a voice they could trust. God had chosen to place his Spirit within each of them. That voice explained and interpreted God’s ways to them.

The Corinthians were getting a lot of advice from a lot of people who seemed to know a lot. How could they know who to listen to?

It matters which voice we take note of. Choosing the right voice got Nathan through a complicated field. Choosing the right voice will do the same for us.

"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?"
But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Cor 2:16

Working together

A big issue in last fall’s election among Christians was whether to vote. Some said they could not vote in good conscience for either presidential candidate and so didn’t. Others said that withholding a vote was in reality voting for the candidate who was ahead in the pools, maybe not the best choice for Christians.

We won't know what we could have done if we'd worked together as believers.

This isn’t the first time Christian groups shot each other in the foot.

In Colorado, we had an amendment on the ballot to define life as occurring at conception. But the two most prominent pro-life groups in the state couldn’t work together on promoting the issue.
We move forward slowly because of the infighting.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, addressed the same problem there. The church was debating which hero to follow. Paul? Apollos? Cephas? Christ?

Paul appealed to the church so that “all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Cor 1:10)

Earlier, Paul had asked the Corinthians to be holy, which means they would be set apart from the others in Corinth for God’s purposes. Now Paul asks them to be united with one another.

Separated from the world, united with fellow believers.

That was Paul’s hope for Corinth – and one that we still don’t have down today as followers of Jesus.

Paul’s fear was that “the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” (1 Cor 1:17)

Our challenge today is to encourage healthy discussion among believers but to avoid the angry divisions that divide us. Our goal should not be to win but to be sure the cross of Christ is expressed in power and authority.

In the light of that, our opinions don’t matter nearly so much.

What God did

Yesterday, we saw how Mike wrestled with giving some of his income to orphans.

Mike started sending money the orphanage every month and the raise at work didn’t come immediately. He’d kind of been expecting that or maybe a gift from a generous uncle.

Instead, he had to drive a little less because he didn’t always have enough money for gas. He started walking to work and that’s when he met Serena. She was walking to the shop where she worked, close to his job, and, after a few weeks of walking together, he invited her to his youth group.

Two months later, she responded to an invitation to follow Jesus.

When Jenny sent out a new e-mail trying to get ideas for Christmas gifts for the orphans, Mike got a bright idea. He sold his iPod – surprisingly, it sold fast and for top dollar – and financed a special party with treats and gifts for all the orphans.

The photos Jenny sent ended up on his screensaver so he could watch the delighted kids whenever he used his computer. A crayon-colored thank-you letter from one of the little girls at the orphanage was stuck up on his wall beside his desk. He really liked the part where she said God had been good to her.

After a year, Mike still didn’t have his new Xbox. But, oddly, he didn’t care so much.

“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” (2 Cor 9:13)

Saving up

Mike was expecting a raise at work. He’d done all they had asked but his boss told him that business was slow and he’d have to wait for a raise.

He was still stewing about how unfair this was when his older brother, Jeremy, called him. “Hey, bro’, just got an e-mail from Jenny.” Their cousin, Jenny, was working with an orphanage in Haiti.

“What’s up?” Mike asked.

“She’s trying to get a birthday club started for the kids there. She wants people to sign up to buy a birthday gift. I’m gonna sign up and I thought you’d want to know, too.”

“I can’t afford that,” Mike said. “The boss didn’t give me a raise. I got expenses, you know.”

“Hey, man, we’re rich compared to those kids. And you could send a little bit every month and never even notice it.”

Mike was silent. He’d already spent his raise in his mind, planning on saving for an Xbox 360 Elite. Now Jeremy wanted him to have less than he’d had before. This was going backwards.

But Mike had been reading in 2 Corinthians. And this verse popped into his head: “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor 9:11)

Was Jeremy right? Was he rich? Not according to what he wanted to buy. But he’d seen Jenny’s pictures of those kids. They owned nothing. Even their clothes weren’t their own but went back into the clothes box when they outgrew them.

Well, this would be a great chance to see if God could keep his promises, Mike thought. I am kinda rich, maybe, and I wonder what would happen if I was generous? What would God do?

“Hey, Jer,” Mike said. “E-mail me the info. I’ll give it a try.”

Tomorrow: what God did

Cheerfully?

Danette was a single working gal, paying her bills every month but not much more. But when a need came to her, she’d always pray: “God, if you want me to give to this, just send the money my way.”

She said it was surprising how often money came in from some unexpected source. And she always sent it on.

In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul described his plan to pick up an offering for the poor living in Jerusalem. The Corinthians had pledged to give and Paul wanted them to give cheerfully.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor 9:7)

Why? What’s the big deal about giving cheerfully? Isn’t it enough to give? Do I have to enjoy it, too?

Paul makes it clear. Each person should give from his heart. Notice that Paul didn’t say, “each should give what he or she decided after looking at how much money he had left” or “each should give according to how much money he or she can earn in the next month.”

In other words, Paul wanted them to give as God had asked them to give. What did their heart tell them?

Danette gave to many worthy causes – joyfully. And we can have the same joy if we don't sweat our budget and instead let God lead our heart.

No big deal

Jim was part of a mission team going to Paraguay, needing to raise about $5000 in six months.

While his team members sent out letters and held car washes to help raise the funds, Jim put it off.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “If I need to, I’ll just take out a loan.”

That’s what he did, too, when the time for turning in money for the trip came. He was the first to have the full amount, because he’d just signed the loan papers and had the money in hand.

But three weeks before the team was to leave, their director got an interesting phone call. A donor wanted to finish out the funds for any members who didn’t yet have their full funds.

Most of the team members were close to having enough money for the trip and this donor gave them the rest of their funds.

Except Jim, who had chosen to get the money his own way. He got nothing from the donor.

Paul wrote, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor 9:8)

Think of what we miss when we do it our way.

Unity?

We were in that heady twenty-something time when we were proud of our spiritual humility and confident of our spiritual insights.

So when we sailed into the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, we knew Paul had crafted this text for one purpose: to give us the material to determine our spiritual gifts. Why else would he write? And, out of the 31 verses in that chapter, he'd dedicated nine verses to gifts. So we spent six weeks studying all the ramifications of those gifts, including analyzing our own giftings.

We came out of the study properly pigeon-holed.

The other 22 verses of 1 Cor 12 did get a quick glance. Pity.

What we missed in our youthful visions of personal grandeur now haunt me, for Paul was talking about unity within diversity - and he'd spent several chapters in his letter to Corinth building to that point. Paul didn't write about how to discover my true potential, but how to value unity while recognizing diversity. It's no easy theme, and our American churches have stumbled badly on this issue.

Paul acknowledged diversity. There are many parts of a body, he said. There are many gifts. But his point wasn't the parts but the whole.

"Look at how the body works together. Don't be thinking you don't need the unsightly parts or the weak parts."

Consider this amazing statement: those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. (1 Cor 12:22). Not many churches that I've known get that statement.

Whether the weaker parts are simply misguided or unable to participate or loudly resistant, they are indispensable, according to Paul. That has changed my thinking.

I have seen believers leave churches over length of the sermon, use of an overhead projector, and distribution of food to the poor. (They said there were no poor in the community and the church was being taken advantage of.)

Because of my early self-centered study of 1 Corinthians, I understand too well how we tend to read scripture to verify our own point of view and bolster our own position. We boast in our diversity.

Oddly, we trumpet just exactly what Paul was writing against. Too often, we champion our diversity while repelling unity as cookie-cutter mentality.

Paul was interested in unity. The unity that brings different parts together into a gracious relationship. As Paul said:

There should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
1 Cor 12:25-26