Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - When the Bible Doesn't Give A Clear Answer | New Testament | 1 Corinthians 8

Episode Date: June 16, 2023

The Bible isn't always clear about every area of ethics. So want should you do in an ethical gray area? In today's episode, Patrick turns to 1 Corinthians 8 where Paul shares helpful wisdom in unclear times. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Corinthians 8

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Imagine going to the meat counter at your local grocery store and asking the butcher to tell you about the cuts of steak behind the glass. You expect him to walk you through a variety of grades, select cuts, choice, and prime, or maybe to highlight a few cuts, a zaviton, a ribeye, a filet, and then make a suggestion of what you should buy. But instead, the butcher comes over and he points to a pork chop and he says, oh, these came from a sow sacrificed to Jupiter. And then he turns to a brisket and explains, oh, and these came from a heifer, sacrificed to Demeter. And then he points down to the fish and he says, oh, and all of those they were given to Neptune. And so he looks at you and he says, which God do you want to support today?

Of course, that will probably never happen to you. But if you lived in the ancient world in ancient Corinth and you went meat shopping, that's exactly. exactly what would occur. The butchers, fruit, and vegetable dealers often sold produce sacrificed to gods. It was a win-win for everyone in their minds. You offer it up to a God. You appease the God. You secure the God's protection and favor over your social order. And then you sell it for a profit to someone else who could share in the same sacrifice. So imagine spending your whole life buying food this way and thinking nothing of it. But then one day you hear about a Hebrew king named Jesus, who is actually God incarnate, who died for sins and rose to life to announce the resurrection

of all reality. He, Jesus, claimed to be the living embodiment of the one true God, meaning that all of the idols you spent your whole life worshipping aren't really gods at all. You pledge your allegiance to Jesus. You give your life to him. You join a community of Christians. And so you stop buying food sacrifice to idols. The idea of eating that food makes you feel sick. And then one day you visit and elder Christian's house, and discover to your horror that they are eating pigs sacrificed to Vulcan. Your host explains to you, you've got nothing to worry about. Those idols, they're all fake. None of those gods are real. Those rituals are meaningless. We can eat this meat in good conscience. Don't worry about it. But you can't escape the sense that if you eat it, your mind would revert to the

feast from an older life and that you would find yourself eating to Vulcan. This is exactly what was happening in Corinth. And even though it might be hard for us to understand, we face similar circumstances in our current context. For example, perhaps you feel the freedom to drink alcohol, but what do you do when an alcoholic comes over to visit your house? Or maybe you love classic rock, but what do you do when a friend comes over who ruined his life doing drugs and following those classic rock bands? There are many things that you may be free to do in your own conscience that someone else feels constrained about. There may be some things others feel free about, but you feel constrained about. How do we navigate those moments?

Paul gives us his wisdom in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1. Now, about food sacrifice to idols, we know that, quote, we all possess knowledge. But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know, but whoever loves God is known by God. So then, about eating food sacrifice to idols, we know that. that, quote, an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that, quote, there is no God but one. For even if there are so called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the father from whom all things came and for whom

we live. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food, they think of it as having been sacrificed to a God. And since their conscience is weak, it's defiled. But food does not bring us near to God. We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block for the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again so that it will not cause them to fall. Paul's answer here is nuanced and helpful. On the one hand, he acknowledges that our past, experiences may very well shade our present consciences. If you used to eat food sacrifice to idols, that might make you uncomfortable with food sacrifice to idols in the present. If you had a parent that wrestled with alcoholism, that might make you feel uncomfortable with alcohol in the present. But he doesn't say that this means it's wrong for someone else to eat that food or drink that

wine. Instead, he encourages a form of mutual submission. To the person with a stricter conscience, Paul says, don't judge your brother and sister for what they eat or what they drink when you aren't there. But to the person who has a less strict conscience and feels more freedom, he says, don't indulge yourself in the things that cause your brother to stumble in front of him. Sacrifice your own self-interest when you're with him. Put him first. We desperately need this kind of wisdom today in areas of ethics that scripture isn't super clear about. It's okay to measure others by biblical convictions, but you can't measure others by your own personal convictions. You can't mistake a personal conviction for a biblical one. This is arrogance,

it's self-righteousness. Conversely, if you feel freedom in areas that the Bible doesn't clearly define, that doesn't mean you should always exercise that freedom. You should show discernment about who you're with and whether the actions you're taking are wise. Jesus is calling us to give ourselves to one another in non-judgmentalism and in self-denial. He does this because when we make these sacrifices, we actually reflect him, the one who denied his own self-interest and took our judgment in our place. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.