The believers in Corinth questioned Paul in the matter of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Corinth was a city given to idolatry. Often the meat remaining from the temple sacrifices was sold in the temple district markets for consumption. There were different viewpoints among the believers as to whether or not they should purchase meats that had been used in pagan worship and they asked Paul. He wrote unto them, “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one” (I Corinthians 8:2).
His answer was straight forward enough and, consequently, easy to apply in the strictest sense. The idols that men worship are nothing (of no consequence). Therefore, the meats offered unto them have not spiritual value. He pointed out that “meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse” (I Corinthians 8:8). You see, it was not the meat that mattered, but how the meat was viewed by others.
While Paul asserted that an idol is nothing, he was quick to point out that “there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol and their conscience being weak is defiled” (I Corinthians 8:7). Some of these believers had been saved out of the paganism that characterized the city and its inhabitants. They likely had brought meat sacrifices to these temples. Some could not separate these past idolatrous practices from their new life in Christ while others rested and rejoiced in the freedom Christ gave them from their former walk.
Paul admonished these brethren to “take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak” (I Corinthians 8:9). He was admonishing those who knew they could eat freely of such sacrifices to nonetheless be mindful of the weaker brother whose conscience would not permit him to do so. For their eating could embolden the weaker brother to eat, violate his own conscience and sin against God in so doing. Paul concluded “if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend” (I Corinthians 8:13).
The principle that we draw from this record is the necessity of restricting the exercise of our own rights for the benefit of others, especially when it comes to matters of conscience. This practice is not often seen in much of professing or modern Christianity. We have become a people of “rights.” That is, it is my right to do this or that and, consequently, I will do this or that. Putting others first even at the expense of our own rights is both biblical and Christ-like. Such selfless behavior is the very essence of love. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10).
From the Chaplain 