“Christian Freedom”

Week 7
Main Point and Overview:   

As people were coming to Christ in Corinth, there were so many backgrounds and upbringings to overcome. Unfortunately, that was not happening in an expedient manner. One such background involved meat that was offered in sacrificial worship to pagan gods. Meat that was bought in the marketplace was likely to have been symbolically offered to an idol in one of the many pagan temples. Animals were brought to the temple, killed before an idol as part of a pagan religious ceremony, and eaten as a feast in the idol’s temple or taken to butchers who sold the meat in the marketplace. The new Christians in Corinth wondered if by eating such meat, they were somehow participating in the worship of these pagan idols. For some, this was not a big issue. While for others, it was a major issue. So, the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians of a very important new reality for them – love trumps knowledge! He wanted them to consider their brothers and sisters in Christ who had “weak” consciences. In other words, he wanted them to realize that while eating the meat may be fine for some of them, it could very well cause some of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to have “wounded consciences!” Why? Because for some of them that meat was too closely related to their former way of life filled with pagan practices. Of course, since there are no other gods besides the Lord, the meat was fine to eat, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Paul was calling the more mature Corinthians to love their brothers and sisters in Christ in humble deference toward them. Ask yourself the question: are you willing to set aside your “rights” if it means bringing people closer to Jesus? There’s a lot of opinions in the church world about alcohol, movies, music, and so much more. Are you vehemently defending your “rights in Christian freedom” when you should be living out your responsibility to help people take their next spiritual steps? It’s time that God’s church starts loving beyond our “rights!” The examples in the ancient church world may look a little different, but sadly the selfishness is the same. The church is not about you or me; it’s about Jesus and his mission! Therefore, we need to be careful not to let our Christian freedom be someone else’s slavery!