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One of the funnest stages of toddler growth and development is the “why” stage.
It can also be the most annoying if certain mental blocks are not put up.
Whenever anything happens, the child says: ‘Why’.
Then, the game commences.
We have a choice how to respond.
We could say truly why.
Or, we could say “because I said so”.
Or, we could make something up.
And I confess, sometimes I make something up, or exaggerate.
“Why, daddy?”
Because we might die.
Sometimes, I do indulge in the game too much.
Other times, we can turn the question around.
They say something, and we answer “why.”
And then, we sit back and see their mind slowly explode.
The “why” stage.
Later, the “why” stage is going to morph.
The brain matures to the question: What am I going to do with that?
How should I respond?
What is the appropriate action?
If the brain never matures to this stage, something is wrong.
There are some adults who willingly choose not to live in this stage.
The Corinthians were at this stage with Paul.
Since the beginning of chapter 8, Paul has been exploring the idea of how does one live in a society that is idolatrous, that follows other Gods.
The Corinthians had asked a simple question: What do we do about food sacrificed to idols?
Can we eat it or not?
Paul takes that simple question and reveals it for what it actually is: a very complicated question.
He has spent 3 whole chapters answering different aspects of the question, as Francis Schaefer put it: How then shall we live?
It is one thing to say: These are my beliefs.
It is another thing to say: These are my actions, based upon my beliefs.
As James puts it:
Paul encourages the Corinthians to show their faith in specific ways.
He urges them to build their lives on the humility love, rather than the pride of knowledge.
He encourages them to temper their actions on grey issues based upon those who might be led into sin.
He takes some steps back, and discusses how our actions should be based upon the Gospel, on a desire to lead those around us to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
He urges the Corinthians to not take part in explicit idolatry.
Now, he gets to the passage at hand.
Two scenarios.
What do we do with food in our home?
What do we do with food in someone else’s home?
Paul ultimately says: We have freedom, yes.
But the freedom to glorify God and seek the good of others.
Today we will look at the Corinthian’s Situation, at the Theological Situation.
Finally, at the Practical Situation.
1. Corinthian Situation
Let’s look at the situation in Corinth.
For those of you who were here in our discussion of 1 Corinthians 8, this is a little bit of a review.
For those of you who were not here, this will get you caught up.
At this time, most of the cities in the Roman empire had temples to other so-called gods.
In fact, if someone was a worshiper of only one God, like Christians do, that person was considered a pagan.
True religious people worshiped many gods.
Why limit yourselves to only one?
The city of Corinth worshiped mostly Aphrodite, but they had shrines for religions from throughout the empire there, as it was a multi-cultural center.
The worship of these so-called gods required a lot of different practices, which we won’t get into.
The one practice that is referred to here is sacrifice.
We are all familiar with the practice of sacrifice.
Someone brings an animal as a gift to the gods.
The animal is killed.
The blood is sprinkled on the altar.
Part of the meat is kept for the temple.
The rest of the meat is sold in the market to earn income for the temple.
This meat which has been dedicated to the false god is pretty cheap.
It isn’t the best cut, but it is cheap.
The question is: can I eat it or not?
One said of the issues said: that the only true God is the Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ His Son.
The other gods are nothing.
Therefore the sacrifice is nothing.
Therefore there is nothing special about the meat.
It is just cheap meat.
If we say that meat is something special, we are actually saying that those false gods are real.
Other’s in Corinth, who were saved out of that idolatrous lifestyle, said, “Wait a minute… that meat is a product of Satanic worship.
I don’t want to have anything to do with it, because I would be taking part in that Satanic worship.”
So, you have one side that says: If you were a Christian, you wouldn’t have any problem eating this meat.
And the other side says: If you were a Christian, you would have a huge problem eating this meat.
What do you do?
Which side is right?
Paul said: Well, When you are standing in the market, you have the freedom to buy that meat because it is just food.
However, you better not lead a Christian back into idolatry because of your action.
Love those who are weaker.
Then, he says: now if the meat is at a sacrificial feast.
Why in the world would you attend that sacrificial feast?
The food is not a problem, the problem is the setting.
In this passage, he addresses the situation of unknown meat in the home.
Paul simply says: eat it and don’t ask questions.
Concerning meat in someone else’s house, with the provision that this is not a religious celebration, Paul says: eat it and don’t ask questions.
This passage is the original: don’t ask, don’t tell.
You might ask, “what is the big deal?”
Christians at this time were closely associated with Jews.
While the Jews believed that
In fact, they used that verse in their prayer before a meal, the Jews carefully questioned the source of their meat.
Someone is selling meat at the market, the Jew is looking them up and down and questioning everything about that meat.
Someone invites the Jew over to the meal, the Jew is questioning them about the source of the meal.
Then, when the Jew is satisfied as to the legitimacy of the food, that it has never been anywhere near a temple, the Jew will bless the meal, thanking God for providing it, declaring:
But, truly meaning only that which has been approved by the rabbis is the Lord’s.
So, that is the Jews on one extreme.
The Gentiles, the pagans, say: everything is okay!
The Corinthians are saying: Paul, we’ve got a huge disagreement here: where do we fit in the scheme?
What is our theology on this, so that we can adjust our actions?
Actually, they didn’t say that.
Paul says: “Thanks for asking anyway.”
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