In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul addresses a fundamental principle that Christians still struggle with today: how to live in this fallen world in a way that draws people to Christ rather than repulses them.
Jeff was a newly baptized member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For the first time, there were so many truths in the Bible that he actually understood. He wanted everyone in his family to understand these new truths as well. Every time he visited, he spent hours explaining Scripture to his family and showing them how their theology didn’t match the Bible. And he eagerly anticipated his family joining him in his newfound faith.
To his surprise, his family began to withdraw from him. They didn’t want to hear his Bible studies anymore. They stopped inviting him to social gatherings. Not one of them showed any interest in joining his new church or accepting the Bible truths he so desperately wanted them to grasp.
Jeff possessed wonderful biblical truths that he longed to share, but no one wanted to listen.
After much prayer and soul searching, Jeff realized that he was failing to use Christ’s method of reaching people. He was so concerned about correcting his family’s misconceptions that he was becoming combative, demanding, and relentless.
Jesus first loved people. He sought ways to meet their needs. People were first and foremost drawn to Him because of His love for them, rather than His wealth of biblical knowledge—even though He definitely had a lot of spiritual wisdom and biblical knowledge to impart.
So Jeff determined to change. He would seek to love and serve his family. He would share what God was doing in his life, but he would no longer shove the Bible truths at them.
It took time for his family to see the change in him, but slowly they began to invite him to their get-togethers more and more frequently. People began to comment on the change they saw in him. And as the years went by, some sought him out and wanted to know more about the Bible because they wanted what he had.
We have all heard the saying, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” Ellen White said it this way: “The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian.” Ministry of Healing, p. 470.
Like Jeff, the Corinthian believers possessed important spiritual knowledge. But they were in danger of using that knowledge in ways that could actually harm others.
The Corinthian believers were primarily Gentiles who had been converted to Christianity from paganism. They had been set free from the tyranny of pagan gods and the superstitions and the costly requirements to win their favor. They were enjoying their newfound knowledge and freedom.
There was only one problem. Idol worship was an integral part of every culture during Paul’s lifetime. People either worshipped pagan gods or worshipped the one true God as Jews or as followers of Christ. It even extended into everyday commerce, including the marketplace where people purchased their food (1 Corinthians 10:25).[1] Celebrations such as weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries were often held in banquet halls attached to pagan temples, where the food served had first been offered to an idol either in thanksgiving or in an attempt to gain the deity’s favor (1 Corinthians 8:10).[2]
But it didn’t stop there. Even the meat people served in their private homes had often been offered to or “blessed” by an idol (1 Corinthians 10:27-28).[3]
So for the Corinthian Christian, avoiding food offered to idols was difficult and refusing to eat it was offensive to their friends and family.
However, the Corinthians thought they had figured out a loophole that would allow them to continue celebrating with friends and family and dine in friends’ homes, without ruffling any feathers, without standing out as different, without drawing persecution.
Their basic reasoning went something like this: If idols are not gods at all, and we know that, then eating it is not a sin for us. We are not the ones offering the meat to the idol, we are just eating it because it is part of the family get together.
We can eat in the banquet hall attached to the idol’s temple because we don’t believe in them. We are not going inside to worship them or to offer sacrifices to them. Eating with family and friends in the banquet hall is just being social. It means nothing more because we know the idol isn’t a real god anyway.
Interestingly, Paul does not immediately challenge their “logical” conclusion. In fact, he largely agrees with their reasoning that idols are nothing. (Remember, Paul’s response to the question of eating food offered to idols covers three chapters. Chapter 8 is just the beginning. So while Paul does not disagree here with the idea that idols are nothing, in chapter 10 he will address the reality that idol worship is, in fact, demon worship.) Instead, he directs their attention to something much more important. “Knowledge puffs up while love builds up.” 1 Corinthians 8:1
Knowing the truth is only part of the journey to be like Christ. Everything that we learn must be applied to our life and to others in a way that reflects our deep love for God and for our fellowman (Matthew 22:37-40). Without that love, knowledge simply makes us proud, judgmental, and unsympathetic to those around us. Which is why Paul says that those “who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:2).
Does that mean that loving people is more important than knowing or living the truth? By no means! The truth is what sets us free (John 8:31-32). So love does not replace truth, nor does truth eliminate love. Instead, Christians are called both to hold firmly to biblical truth and to communicate that truth in ways that help others grow closer to Christ rather than confuse them or drive them away.
In other words, we should never become so obsessed with “the truth” that we don’t take into account the effect that acting on that knowledge is having on other people’s lives. Yes, eating meat offered to idols when you don’t believe in them and worship only the one true God, will not, in and of itself, cause you to be lost. But what effect will your actions have on those who do believe in idols, whether they are family and friends, or new converts?
It goes without saying that not everyone understood the truth about idols as the Corinthian believers understood it. Certainly not the relatives and friends who were still steeped in pagan idol worship, and, of course, new converts to Christianity would still be growing in their faith and understanding of who God is.
So for a “mature” Christian to knowingly eat meat offered to idols, or dine in the banquet hall attached to the idol’s temple, may not immediately affect their own spiritual journey, but what message are they sending to those who still believe the pagan idols are actual gods? Would they not interpret it as though the Christian were willingly worshipping or participating in the worship of idols? And if they interpret the action as idol worship, what effect might that have on their faith in the doctrine that there is only one true God and they must never worship any other?
How terrible it would be for a mature Christian, through their actions, to cause a new or potential convert to think it is okay to participate in idol worship. Thus, they would effectively prevent them from leaving idolatry, or be the cause of them being drawn back into the very idolatry Christ had delivered them from. Their actions, then, can cause another human being, for whom Christ died, to stumble and lose their salvation.
Although most Christians today do not struggle with food offered to idols, the principle Paul teaches remains profoundly relevant. We may face decisions about entertainment, social activities, personal freedoms, or even the way we discuss controversial biblical truths. The question is not merely, “Am I theologically correct?” but, “Will my actions or my speech help others move closer to Jesus or push them farther away?” Christian maturity is measured not simply by what we know, but by how lovingly we use what we know.
Jesus was so concerned that every single person have the opportunity to be saved, that He gave up His throne, His peace, His safety, His wealth and comfort, to come to this world enshrouded with a dark blanket of sin. He gave up all for each and every one of us (John 3:16). How then could we willingly do something that might cause someone else to be lost? That is not living out the truth in a Christlike manner.
Which is why Paul concludes that he would rather never eat meat again than be the cause of anyone’s confusion over who the real God is and who alone should be worshipped.
[1] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), pages 476.
[2] Ibid., p. 481.
[3] Ibid., p. 476.
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