Epiphany 4: Epistle, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13                    

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

“Craig has finally lost it. All these virus-laden months have finally taken their toll.” So you may be thinking upon reading the title of our meditation today. The Bible certainly has many ways to encourage and teach love of  brother and neighbor, but this is new. Let me explain. Most of us are familiar with the idea that when we want a good idea to be realized we may say something like, “I need to put feet to that.” What we mean is that we don’t want it to remain just an idea. That’s where Paul is here. The subject: nourishment from pagan temples, Yea or Nay?

Paul is teaching that to love our brothers and sisters takes on some extremely down-to-earth practices. Here, it’s the question “Is it ok for me to eat meat that has been set apart for pagan gods? (the leftovers, that is).” Meat offered and then sold in the market, can I, as a disciple of Jesus, eat that in good conscience? Well, it may be just fine for you, but “brother A” may have been a great devotee of the god of a certain temple, and his conscience still bears marks of sensitivity toward anything that “takes him back” to his “BC” days. He is thoroughly converted to Jesus, but oh those pagan practices still have a hold and perhaps even carry a vestige of temptation. So if you love “brother A,” as a mature Christian you will forgo eating meat from that temple in his presence.

Do you mean to tell me I have to be wary of what my brothers and sisters THINK? Yes, yes you do. I do. Because guarding not only their love and devotion to Jesus, but helping to guard their hearts in that new devotion, is also our task to the degree we’re able. And for us today it may not be food offered in temples, it may be alcohol consumption, or visiting certain locations or evening listening to certain speakers or music. A wide variety of things may have held our pre-Christian hearts. Our pre-conversion ties can be powerful and it may take time for those ties to be broken. We are not computers that are commanded by the tap of a keyboard. The hearts of our brothers and sisters, and our hearts are deep wells. Paul’s conclusion: “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble” (1 Cor. 8:13). Sounds a bit crazy? Extreme? That’s love. That’s Jesus’ kind of love. God be praised!