1 Corinthians 8:1-3
One of our DNA Values is JOURNEY OF FAITH: Everyone is at a different stage in their journey of faith. We embrace that reality. Our gatherings have you in mind. Each week we offer a message that is both understandable and “apply-able.” We also offer class options in our growth process that will meet you where you are. We are a church filled with people struggling with different “issues” trying to take the next step! We highly value your journey of faith!
The reason why this is so important is because everybody has a different background. It’s been said that no two fingerprints are exactly the same. That is true. Neither are two “roads to God.” While some may be closely related, there are still some differences. For the Corinthians, Paul was trying to make the point that everyone needs grace and truth.
For many of the new believers in Corinth, they had a past filled with sexual immorality, pagan idol worship, and materialistic priorities. Enter the Gospel! Hearts are being changed! Priorities are being changed! Attitudes are being changed! Lives are being changed! With all of this said, there was still “baggage” that many of them had to “work through!” In the culture of that day, meat 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 at a feast in the idol’s temple or taken to butchers who sold the meat in the marketplace. The “new” Christians wondered if by eating such meat, they were somehow participating in the worship of pagan idols. Many of them were struggling with eating THAT meat.
“There is NO SUCH THING as an idol,” was the cry of some of the Corinthian Christians who did not struggle with this kind of temptation! They had knowledge, but they didn’t have love. Instead of being sensitive to these “new” Christians, they basically told them to “stop believing that stuff!” In other words, they were incredibly insensitive to their struggles and past life experiences. They were willing to eat the meat that had been “offered” to pagan idols, even in front of their “weaker” brothers and sisters in Christ. Why? Pride.
One of my major goals as a pastor is to respect someone’s “journey of faith.” Over the years, I have had people who really wanted to grow in Christ, but they were still “rough around the edges.” I’ve had people swear in front of me who were coming to Christ. I’ve had people struggling with addictions who were coming to Christ. I’ve had people whose “dress” was still inappropriate who were coming to Christ. What they need is the balance of grace and truth that Jesus often taught and modelled. If Jesus did this, so should we.
Paul’s ultimate challenge to the more “mature” Corinthians was to make sure that they loved their new brothers and sisters in Christ enough to NOT allow their Christian freedoms to "shipwreck" these new Christians. Of course, idols don’t exist! That was not the point. The point was we should be sensitive to where someone has been and where someone is trying to go. Do you love one another more than you love your personal “rights and freedoms?” You should. So, should I. So, what does it look like in your life? Everyone has “hurdles” to overcome when he or she comes to Christ. Let’s be a blessing and not a burden to his or her “journey of faith!”
The reason why this is so important is because everybody has a different background. It’s been said that no two fingerprints are exactly the same. That is true. Neither are two “roads to God.” While some may be closely related, there are still some differences. For the Corinthians, Paul was trying to make the point that everyone needs grace and truth.
For many of the new believers in Corinth, they had a past filled with sexual immorality, pagan idol worship, and materialistic priorities. Enter the Gospel! Hearts are being changed! Priorities are being changed! Attitudes are being changed! Lives are being changed! With all of this said, there was still “baggage” that many of them had to “work through!” In the culture of that day, meat 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 at a feast in the idol’s temple or taken to butchers who sold the meat in the marketplace. The “new” Christians wondered if by eating such meat, they were somehow participating in the worship of pagan idols. Many of them were struggling with eating THAT meat.
“There is NO SUCH THING as an idol,” was the cry of some of the Corinthian Christians who did not struggle with this kind of temptation! They had knowledge, but they didn’t have love. Instead of being sensitive to these “new” Christians, they basically told them to “stop believing that stuff!” In other words, they were incredibly insensitive to their struggles and past life experiences. They were willing to eat the meat that had been “offered” to pagan idols, even in front of their “weaker” brothers and sisters in Christ. Why? Pride.
One of my major goals as a pastor is to respect someone’s “journey of faith.” Over the years, I have had people who really wanted to grow in Christ, but they were still “rough around the edges.” I’ve had people swear in front of me who were coming to Christ. I’ve had people struggling with addictions who were coming to Christ. I’ve had people whose “dress” was still inappropriate who were coming to Christ. What they need is the balance of grace and truth that Jesus often taught and modelled. If Jesus did this, so should we.
Paul’s ultimate challenge to the more “mature” Corinthians was to make sure that they loved their new brothers and sisters in Christ enough to NOT allow their Christian freedoms to "shipwreck" these new Christians. Of course, idols don’t exist! That was not the point. The point was we should be sensitive to where someone has been and where someone is trying to go. Do you love one another more than you love your personal “rights and freedoms?” You should. So, should I. So, what does it look like in your life? Everyone has “hurdles” to overcome when he or she comes to Christ. Let’s be a blessing and not a burden to his or her “journey of faith!”
Posted in Devotional