Bible Talks - Sunday Night Church
Series: New Preacher's Night · Talk No. 4
Warning: Stumbling Block Ahead
Sunday, 26 November 2006
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Intro
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you’d do anything for it?
Perhaps you’ve worked overtime for a solid year to score that promotion or afford that car. Perhaps you can remember promising to do every chore you can think of to get your parents to buy you that special gift for Christmas. Maybe you’re as die-hard as one of my school friends who camped outside for a night outside of a cinema to see the first of the new Star Wars movies. Or perhaps you’ve had an experience like one of my others friends who was so taken by a particular girl that he filled not only her locker at school with rose petals, but her car as well…
At first glance, this passage may not seem to have much to do with wanting something desperately, in fact, you may not have understood how this passage has any relevance to us nowadays. So to start, let’s take a quick trip back into history to start figuring out what Paul is telling us. Corinth was a city that was full of temples – dozens of them. At these temples, it was the custom to sacrifice meat as a tribute - an offering - to idols in that temple. And since priests couldn't eat it all, there was a temple butchery attached which was quite lucrative and actually a bit of a social centre to town. I suppose that in a time when supermarkets weren't such a big thing, a consistent supply of cheap meat was bound to be popular. That aside, the question had arisen in the Corinthian church of whether or not Christians should be going to feasts at the temple, or even eating the meat that came from the temple butcher because it had been offered in tribute to an idol. This may not seem an immediate problem for many of you, but Paul uses this as a jumping point to expand and develop some grander principles.
One of the first interesting point that Paul makes is about knowledge and love.
Knowledge and Love
In the first verse of chapter eight, Paul contrasts not knowledge and ignorance, but knowledge and love. Now when we think of ‘knowledge,’ we tend to think of accumulating information. But what Paul is talking about here seems to be closer to what we would normally call ‘wisdom’ – the understanding of how to act in a particular situation. Many of the Christians at Corinth – and Paul himself – knew that idols are nothing. Verses four to six outline very clearly that while there are many things that may be called ‘gods’ or ‘lords,’ there is only one true God, the Creator, Sustainer, Christ, and Saviour. Who cares about a lump of metal or wood, they don’t have any power in this world, they’re just paperweights. Baal-burger? Pass the sauce.
But not everyone in Corinth had that thinking. Read verses seven to thirteen
"7However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.8Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.9But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”
Despite those who do know that idols are nothing (which is entirely true), there are some who just can't get past their baggage. I'm not sure those of us who are brought up in Christian families really understand the extent to which you can be held back by your pre-Christ life. It may be something as similar to the Corinthian’s problem as growing up a Muslim and then being offered meat at the wrong time of year; or perhaps you may have grown up with an alcoholic father, and while now knowing that you are free to drink alcohol, you just can’t bring yourself to. There were some in the Corinthian church who couldn't get out of their mind that they were eating idol-food: food sacrificed as an offering to the detestable gods of the age. It felt wrong. Going on in verses ten to twelve we have it spelt out
“10For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?11And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.12Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.”
And it is our duty, as brothers and sisters in Christ, to care for one another in love – ensuring as much as we can that the way we live and act does not create a stumbling block for our fellow Christians, and so Paul makes his position clear in verse thirteen:
“13Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."
That is, Paul chooses to be an abstainer; to exercise his love for his fellow Christians rather than exercise this knowledge – this maturity that may well harm their faith. The thing itself is not wrong - although as Christians we should be markedly different from the world in the way we live, even the way we eat. Whereas the world says, ‘Eat, drink, tomorrow we die;’ we say, ‘Eat, drink in all thanks to God our provider that we may be strengthened to struggle and strive in this world even as we long for the next’ – that is big difference - but still, eating idol-meat means nothing. And yet, Paul would rather never eat meat again. He chooses to forego a freedom so that other Christians will not see him eating idol-meat, think it is okay, and so do it in direct contradiction to their conscience. For in leading your fellow believers to live against their conscience you are tripping them up in their Christian life, you are sinning against Christ, you are destroying your brother’s faith! It sounds a little extreme: having knowledge that allows you to eat a steak and in so doing, destroying a believer. I have a feeling that this may be a bit of hyperbole on Paul’s part, he may be exaggerating this to make a point, although the seriousness of what we are dealing with should not be underestimated. There may well be situations where another Christian’s faith is at stake, but far more often there is the potential for us to stunt a believer’s spiritual growth or make them struggle with a particular issue. There’s a passage in Romans that deals with a similar topic, chapter fourteen if you’d like to look it up later, where he explains the specific damage you can cause. If you wilfully do something that you feel is against your Christian faith – like eating meat sacrificed to idols – that is an effective rebellion against God, because you think that what you’re doing is a sin but you’re doing it anyway. So your faith and spiritual growth is stunted or sometimes even retarded by falling into this ‘sin.’ So you can see why Paul takes this very seriously; even saying in verse thirteen that he would never eat meat again, “lest he make his brother stumble.” He is prepared to take drastic, long-term action to protect other believers and to help them grow in the gospel of Christ.
Think for a moment about who the weaker people are in this church. They're there, I'm sure of it. What do you think our 'idol-meat' is nowadays? What about: Drinking alcohol - The way we spend our wealth - The way we use our spare time - The sort of TV and movies we watch, or music we listen to. Are we flaunting our stronger consciences, our 'knowledge?' Do we pressure our brothers and sisters into doing something that they perceive to be wrong or something they are struggling with, and in doing so, making them sin in their own eyes? The act itself may not be wrong in and of itself, but they may think it so, and thereby stumble. They will feel guilty, and then they are crushed. The result of our 'freedom' is this: our brothers and sisters are harmed in their faith, and we are sinful before our Lord.
So what is really behind Paul’s thinking is this: Paul will do anything to further the cause of the gospel. This isn’t really about idolatry or meat in the end, that was a particular problem there and then (and may well be here and now), but Paul is making clear that he will do anything for the Gospel.
I know my rights!
Paul will do anything to give the chance for people to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour and to grow in their relationship with him.Paul will do anything for the Gospel, no matter how uncomfortable it may make him. This is not something that comes naturally to us as humans. We do not like giving up what we perceive to be our rights. The passage gives the example of being paid for your work – particularly those who are in vocational Christian work; and of being entitled to take a wife to support you in that work. There is a sense in which there can be an expectation of these entitlements, for Paul points us to the Law that God gave to Moses when he quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 – “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading the grain.” A worker deserves his wages, -- especially the apostles to whom the churches owe their very faith! Paul, above most anyone else, has the right to these things. He has worked as hard as, if not harder, than any other Christian worker. He has every right to be cared for. Yet, he doesn’t want a bar of it, not because any of it is wrong or unhelpful – pay is good, and as far as I understand it, a wife is good. But Paul will not demand his rights if they get in the way of the Gospel. Read 9:12
"Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right (of financial support for his spiritual work), but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ."
It isn't easy having to work for your food as well as preach the gospel. It isn't easy doing it by yourselves. But Paul and those with him will endure any amount of discomfort and hardship if it means that the gospel of Christ will be told without hindrance. Look now to v15-18:
"15But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.16For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!17For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.18What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel."
This I found a considerably confusing section, so to unravel it we’re going to flash back to Acts 9 for a second where we hear of Paul’s conversion. His was a very different experience to that of the other disciples. They had an element of choice to their service with Jesus, but Paul's very salvation is tied up with God's plan for his ministry (Acts 9:15-16 for you note-takers):
“15But the Lord said to him (Ananias),“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Right from his conversion Paul is earmarked for preaching the gospel and earmarked for incredible suffering while doing that. In his mind he cannot separate preaching without walking away from the gospel entirely. So to prove his voluntary, whole-hearted commitment to the preaching of the gospel, he cheerfully gives up the rights due him – that he might see men saved.
This is an example we are called to imitate, but it is not simply an exercise in asceticism – the belief that denying yourself things makes you a better person (think Buddhist monks) – it is not something done just for the sake of it. Rather, our aim in laying down our rights is to
see men saved. Look at v.19-23 back in 1 Corinthians 9
"19For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law that I might win those under the law.21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law that I might win those outside the law.22To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that by all means I might save some.23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."
These are some enormous statements that give a profound insight into Paul’s mind. This is why he will happily forego the meat we started off by looking at if it means that the gospel will more easily reach and impact those with the weak consciences. The end of verse twenty-two is perhaps the most challenging to middle-class Christians I can think of, “I have become all things to all men that by all means I might save some.” There are some who are very quick to water this passage down by merely saying 'Be flexible in your methods of evangelism,' but we can't avoid the issue: we need to be flexible, yes, ridiculously, profoundly flexible in not only our methods of preaching the Gospel, but in our very lives so that the Gospel will be spread.
In the great missionary fever of the 18th and 19th centuries there were nine university students in England who sold themselves into slavery so as to be able to preach the gospel to the slaves on the trading ships. They gave up everything that they might save some.
We may not be selling ourselves into slavery anytime soon (and would you be willing to??) but there is still plenty for us to be challenged by…
So What Can I Do?
One of the joys I have had this year has been meeting up with people from university and our youth group here at Toongabbie on- on-one to read the Bible and pray. And one thing that I’ve often heard when we come to a difficult passage is the phrase, “We’ll just have to ask Paul when we meet him.” This is a fun little throwaway line I suppose, but in one sense, there isn’t all that much we really need to know about Paul that we’re not told in the New Testament. We should be grateful to God for the example He gave us in Paul, a Christian so completely devoted to seeing the Gospel heard by any and all means necessary. Within our own church and area we can see this happening too, just think of the Scripture teachers who week after week are giving up their time and energy to go into our schools and face the terrors within so that the kids have the opportunity to hear about Jesus. We have seen people give up well-paid employment to go into ministry – both here at Toongabbie, but also on a wider scale with Moore College bursting at the seams as more and more people are ready to sacrifice -- to see men saved. And we know that it’s not all about full-time ministry; we are seeing some incredibly encouraging examples of this in the carols coming up at Pendle Hill High. There has been a small team of people losing weeks of sleep and free time and stressing themselves out to come up with creative ideas on how to present the good news of Christ coming to this world, making those ideas happen, and others devoting hours to learning how to play Christmas carols – all to get the gospel out there.
But having said that, there is the potential for so much more! One80, our youth group, has seen quite a number of kids come to know Jesus in the last few years, and yet next year they are looking at having to scale back for lack of leaders. It is a commitment, yes, and many of you are quite committed to this church as it is. But next year, there are going to be lots of opportunities for people to step up while their may not be any paid workers or new ones just settling in. I encourage you to think seriously: what can you do and what can you become to see the gospel spread? Can you sacrifice to support those going to be hippies to save the hippies? Can you become a teen to save the teens?
Thinking more broadly for a moment, for there is one area in which we need to think very seriously about laying down our rights for the Gospel. We as a people seem to possess a great selfishness of culture in the West. We find it very hard to back down on things about other cultures that make us uncomfortable. Thinking about my mission trip to Vanuatu in July, we had to make a decision to not just go and tick off each ministry we had planned to do, but to immerse ourselves in the culture so that we would not just be there, but be most effective in our work for the Gospel. That wasn’t easy, almost the entirety of our team were completely culture-shocked for the first week of being there (even now I have a bizarre habit of slipping into Bislama at random and bowing when having to walk in front of people). My brother Benno is heading back to Bangladesh next year for another mission trip, and he has been slogging away trying to learn just a little bit of Bangla (a language with such bizarre grammar it makes Latin look like a picture book) so that he can connect with the people of Bangladesh more effectively to bring them the Gospel. Here's a challenge for everyone to consider: Learn another language. Australia is being flooded with more and more people that do not fit the Anglo-Saxon mould. Just imagine for a second if everyone here tonight could speak a different language. That is almost seventy different people groups we could connect with and more effectively bring the gospel to! It’s not easy, just ask anyone who’s ever seriously tried to learn a language, but to see men saved, is it not worth it? We need to get over ourselves and follow the example of Paul to forsake all our rights if it means that there is even the chance that some may hear the gospel we are so blessed with.
I’d like to finish with something William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, had to say. I’d like you to think long and hard to see if you have the same zealous passion as Billy Booth – indeed the same overriding passion that the apostle Paul had to see the gospel spread and God’s people built up by any and all means. Here’s what Billy had to say:
"While some weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while little children go hungry, I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor, lost girl upon the streets, where there remains one dark soul without the light of God—I’ll fight! I’ll fight to the very end!" -William Booth (1829–1912)
Brothers and sisters, let’s pray…
