1 Corinthians 8 – Don’t Eat the Meat

Eating Meat

Here is a model of dealing with church conflict.  Paul deals very wisely with a very difficult moral and theological question in a way we can learn a lot from.  So when you are mediating a church conflict, start with this…”I know we are here today to talk about whether we should _______________ or _____________.  Regarding this situation, we all certainly know a lot about this topic.  And while each of you have great knowledge on the matter, which makes us all feel important, it is actually love that strengthens the church.  Not knowledge.  Besides, anyone who claims to have all the answers doesn’t know very much.  Now, what did you all want to talk about?”

Now on the actual issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols, Paul weighs the options.  He begins by essentially explaining that from each party’s perspective they are correct.  Idols are fake, so who cares if the meat has been sacrificed to them.  (It’s worth noting that the meat market in Corinth is right next to the pagan temple.  If you aren’t eating meat sacrificed to idols, you probably aren’t eating much meat.)  On the other hand, many converts used to worship those idols and eating that meat comes too close to flirting with their pagan past.  What happens if the former pagans concede and encourage the eating of this meat?  Paul seems to think they could relapse into Pagan worship.  What happens if the Christians who aren’t bothered by this meat concede and stop eating it?  Then they have to find something else to eat.  It’s actually not that difficult to figure out the best option here.

Does that mean that we can always use this passage so that Christians can say, “You are doing something that offends me, so 1 Corinthians 8 says you have to stop?”  Not really.  If you are such a weak Christian that another person doing something that bothers you might cause you to relapse and lose your own soul, then yes, this passage applies.  However, if you are a strong mature Christian who wants to get their way, please refer to the conversation above.

Anyone who claims to have all the answers doesn’t know very much.  And while knowledge makes us feel important, it’s actually love that strengthens the church.