1 Corinthians 8: Don't Make Your Brother Stumble

"Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never

eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." 1 Corinthians 8:13

As Christians, as much as we would like for things to be black and white, oftentimes they aren't. I've found that the older I get, the greyer things get. Are there certain moral principles that are black and white? Yes, there certainly are, and we ought not to neglect these. Yet there are others that the Bible is more silent on. For example, should Christians drink alcohol? Should Christians watch R-rated movies? Should Christians listen to secular music? Oh, and if none of those hit home, here's a good one: Should Christians get the COVID vaccine?

Before you get your hopes up, let me simply state that I'm not going to answer any of these questions for you this morning. Nevertheless, we are going to turn our minds to scripture. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul talks to the Corinthians about eating food offered to idols. In the time of the New Testament, it was not uncommon for food to be offered to pagan, Greek idols and then resold in the marketplace for people to buy and consume. It seems as if some members of the Corinthian congregation thought it was morally acceptable to eat this food, and others regarded that it was not acceptable to eat it. In the beginning of the chapter, Paul seems to be on the former side of the debate: idols of this world are fake, and thus eating food that was possibly offered to them at one time is not sinful. Nevertheless, Paul realizes that there are some in the congregation that do not possess "this knowledge," and thus Paul acknowledges that when they eat food from the marketplace, their conscience is defiled (1 Cor. 8:7).

So, what ought a Christian to do in these situations? Some in the church of Corinth considered it a sin to eat meat from the marketplace; some thought it was perfectly fine. Is this a Gospel issue? No. But it is an issue nonetheless--an issue of morality and conscience. Note here that both of these positions of the Corinthians seem to be grounded in scripture. One thought it was fine to eat food possibly offered to idols, as the scriptures clearly stated that there was no God besides the Lord. Yet others thought, based on scripture, that to eat these idols was to associate oneself with the world and paganism. Both of these views were grounded in scripture, not self-interest.

Nevertheless, Paul's point in this chapter is very clear, regardless of the details. Paul states that one ought to not make his brother stumble. In other words, the one who thought it was morally acceptable to eat meat must not eat it in front of his brother, that is, if it led him to be tempted to eat that meat himself, and thus defile his conscience. Though it was not a sin for the man with a strong conscience to eat meat, it was a sin for him to eat it if it led his brother to go against his convictions!

How does this apply to us today? Last time I checked, we don't struggle with eating food that may have been offered to idols. Nevertheless, there are some "grey area" questions that we struggle with today: the appropriateness of certain TV shows and movies, secular music, and drinking to name a few. Oh, and don't forget the vaccine question. What ought we to do with these questions? I think 1 Corinthians 8 offers us two principles:

Firstly, determine your own opinion based on scripture. Whatever the moral question may be, open up your copy of God's Word, search for answers, and pray to God for wisdom. Ask God if it would be honoring to him to watch that movie; read relevant passages about the Christian and alcohol consumption. Do your own research and come to your own conclusion concerning issues that the Bible isn't exactly black and white on.

Secondly, don't lead your brother into temptation (or shame!). If you think it's okay to watch that Netflix TV sitcom and your brother doesn't, then don't watch it in front of him, and don't talk about it when he's around! In fact, maybe don't even watch it at all if knowing you watching it will lead him into the temptation to watch it himself! Furthermore, don't shame people with your opinion. I find it interesting that nowhere in this chapter does Paul tell the man with the stronger conscience to convince the man with the weaker conscience that it was okay to eat the meat offered in the marketplace. Rather, he encourages all men to build up one another in love (8:1). This can surely be applied to us today, especially with this whole vaccine question going around. Personally, I have fellow Christians I trust on both sides of the spectrum concerning taking this vaccine. I'm not stating my opinion here, but let me state this: let's not shame our fellow Christian brother, no matter what decision they decide. This isn't a black and white issue, and it is a sin to shame our fellow Christian brothers (for whom Christ died! cf. verse 11) into going against their own conscience with this matter. Rather, let us build each other up in love.

For further biblical material on this topic, I encourage you to read Romans 14.