The spring semester was a tough one for me. I was feeling overwhelmed by my third semester of working from home. As my friend Jon put it, "It's not so much working from home as living at work." So I declined to write any sermons until summer vacation. To be precise, August 8th. With another member giving two sermons after mine, we managed to swing a 3-week break for our pastor, Micah Mercer.
Micah has been preaching through Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth, a church that had multiple issues to deal with. I ended up dealing with the chapter on eating food that had been offered to idols. It was just a matter of scheduling, and was in no way a subtle hint to me that I should stop going to Aphrodite's, no matter how good their sauce is.
Of course, I am including the full text of the sermon here, but I did make a few changes, including one last minute addition suggested by Matthew Ambrosia. I started the video a little early, because Horyon read the scripture that day. There is also a high-pitched whine from our sound system. Sorry, but I can't do anything about that.
Knowledge vs. Love August 9th, 2020
But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
For 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? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
1 Corinthians 8:9-13
I’m going to start today by taking us back to a possible version of Corinth in the early days of the church, to attend a maybe event with a hypothetical new Christian. I’ve given him the ancient Greek name George.
George is way beyond nervous. His hands are cold and sweaty. His lungs don’t want to breathe on their own. The smells are familiar, delicious. Raising appetites of the flesh that he has not had to struggle with for the past few weeks since becoming a believer. He can almost taste it now: the meat of bulls. The meat of pigs. The meat of chickens. His stomach is stirring.
But there is more. The smell of the temple incense that used to make his head light and his heart pound and his body awaken. It used to be something he looked forward to, but now it makes him feel maybe a little sick.
He remembers the taste of the strong wine, the memory of the freedom it brought, to him, and to the servers, and to the other guests. The freedom to follow the urges of the body, to be filled and emptied. Now more than his stomach is stirring.
Dinner is supposed to be fun, but dinner here, at the temple of Aphrodite, brings back too many memories. But he trusts his brothers who brought him here. They have been following The Way for years, and when they say that this meal is just a meal, they must surely be right.
But it reminds him of so many good times… Maybe he’ll come back tomorrow, without his brothers...
Just to be clear, I am filling in a lot of blanks with this story, and honestly, I was fishing for a worst case scenario. But I honestly believe that Paul was, too. Because Paul was experienced. He knew that the worst could always happen, and often did.
The church at Corinth did not leave us with much evidence of their existence: there's no church building being excavated by archaeologists, because they most likely met in homes. No publications, like newsletters, or documents or websites. We don’t even have a list of their members. We know about the city itself from a few historical sources, and we have Paul’s letters to them. But not the letters they sent to Paul.
From these sources, we know that they were a real mixed bag. People with some very different backgrounds, much like us here at Redeemer ICC: there were some Jews who likely attended the synagogue in town, in addition to following this new Way of Jesus Christ. There are references elsewhere to members who were not Jewish, but “Fearers of God,” people who believed in God but hadn’t taken the steps to become Jewish. Maybe one step in particular. Snip-snip. And there would have been many gentiles: those who had come directly to this New Way from pagan religions: worshippers of Aphrodite, Apollo, and dozens of other so-called gods. Perhaps even some who had been agnostic.
As we have learned, Paul founded the church at Corinth just a few years before writing this letter: he knew them, he loved them, and he wanted them to succeed. He uses pretty harsh language with them in this letter, but only because he wants them to grow in their faith.
And two weeks ago, Micah drew our attention to this fundamental instruction:
“So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.”
1 Corinthians 7:24
Whatever your background, wherever you are starting from, it is good enough. God’s grace is an unearned gift for all. And God’s grace alone can bridge the gap between you and God. This week Paul is teaching us to apply that same grace to each other.
Our memory verse for the next three weeks is 1 Corinthians 10:23-24:
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful.
“All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24
This is our memory verse, because we are studying chapter 8 today, and chapters 9 and 10 in the next two weeks. These three chapters build up and support this main idea. He starts here, in chapter 8, on the topic of eating food offered to idols. The debate over the acceptability of eating idol meat seems totally irrelevant to us today, but when we break it down into motivations and relationships, we find deeper issues that we still struggle with today.
Chapter 8 focuses on the relationship between knowledge and love. Paul does this by taking a simple yes/no question, and answering it with shades of grey. The kind of wisdom that gets your letters included in the Bible.
So here’s the simple version of the chapter 8 story:
The church at Corinth had a disagreement over whether or not it was acceptable to eat meat that had been offered to idols. This was a serious issue, both to them and to Paul, but we can’t be absolutely sure of why. For the Corinthians, “idol meat” may have been a part of social engagement: making connections, meeting people, having events. Or it may have been a ritual cleanliness issue for the practicing Jews in the congregation. It may have even been a simple matter of whether or not meat was on the menu. If the only butcher shop in your neighborhood is a temple to Artemis, which for sure isn’t kosher, do you go vegetarian?
Apparently some people from the church wrote to Paul looking for vindication, for Paul to say that they were correct in their knowledge of idols. They knew that idols are not real gods, and therefore meat sacrificed to them is not inherently good or evil. Paul writes to them, likely quoting their own words, telling them that “knowledge” (in quotes, their words), “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. You know what it means to put words in quotes like that, right? It’s saying, “These aren’t MY words! I do not take responsibility for them!” Paul writes:
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
1 Corinthians 8:1-3
In other words, being known by God is more important than what you know about God.
It’s a pretty harsh criticism. Paul is basically taking sides with those in the church who have weaker faith. He’s shutting down those who are further along in their faith journey. They may have even been the elders of this very young church. The very leaders who Paul himself likely appointed.
But then he goes on to affirm that what they said was true: idols aren’t real gods, at least not to us Christians. That is..
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols,
we know that “an idol has no real existence,”
and that “there is no God but one.”
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—
as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—
Yet for us there is only one God, the Father,
from whom are all things and for whom we exist,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
So this feels like a big, heavy fact, right after Paul told them that knowledge is not the most important thing. He is likely quoting a sort of early catechism or hymn, something they would have all been familiar with. And it sounds like he’s agreeing with them.
But then he adds a twist:
“However, 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.”
1 Corinthians 8:7
In other words, what you believe to be a sin is very important. Because sin is betraying God. Sin is turning your back on God willfully. And these believers are being convinced by their brothers that it is okay, in this case, to betray God. Like our theoretical George from the beginning of the sermon. Hold on to that idea, the idea that they are being convinced that it's okay to betray God.
Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.
1 Corinthians 8:8
It feels like Paul is backing off here, like, “Hey, food’s not a big deal either way!” Don’t be fooled. This is the calm before the real storm hits.
But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For 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? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
1 Corinthians 8:9-12
If by your knowledge you destroy a person of weaker faith, you sin against Christ. Betraying God is bad, but convincing someone else to betray God is also bad. Maybe worse.
Who is Paul talking to, warning us not to break the weak? He’s talking to the strong. Those who are strong in faith. Those who are strong in knowledge. The ones that we are all striving to be. He's talking to us.
He finishes by displaying his commitment to this principal:
Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
1 Corinthians 8:13
I almost made this our memory verse. Because it's so powerful, and it would have been worth it just to hear James recite it.
We can read chapter 8 of 1st Corinthians in this very simple way, and come away with some really good ideas. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up,” from verse 1. Or that last verse, about not eating meat. But until we can map their 1st century understanding onto ours in the 21st century, it’s hard to get anything practical out of it. So I’m going to walk us through an example.
One modern parallel to the Corinthian church’s struggle with idol meat is the Korean church’s struggle with alcohol. It’s not a perfect parallel, but there are definitely similarities.
If you've been here for long, and spent time in Korean churches or with Korean Christians, you may have noticed that a lot of Korean churches (and some American churches as well), have very strict policies about their members drinking alcohol. It is common for churches to require their elders to sign a contract promising to never drink alcohol at all. This is an understandable response to a culture that not only accepts drunkenness, but in some cases almost demands it. In recent years I have heard of more young Koreans, both Christians and non-Christians, refusing to submit to this culture. But in the not-so-distant past, 15 or 20 years, Korea was very highly ranked in the world for alcohol consumption.
I will admit that when I first came to Korea, many moons ago, I was critical of these “no alcohol” policies from churches. I would argue against them. I brought mad knowledge to the conversation:
Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine. FACT.
People drank wine all the time, rarely drinking water. FACT.
At the last supper when Jesus said, “This is my blood you drink,” he wasn’t holding up water. He wasn’t holding up grape juice. What was he holding up? Wine. FACT.
Of course, they responded with facts of their own:
Some holy people in the Bible took vows to not consume wine, so drinking must be bad. FACT.
Prov. 20 verse 1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. FACT
And the list of people in the Bible who drank too much and got into trouble is a long one. We can talk about Noah. We can talk about Abraham’s nephew Lot. We can talk about Samson, and we can probably drag in a few other Judges and kings as well. FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT.
And that’s the way we like to make decisions. We use facts to bolster arguments one way or the other. Facts are little pieces of knowledge, and Paul told us at the top that knowledge “puffs up.” What does he mean by that, that we're puffed up? When do you feel and act bigger than you actually are? That's when pride takes over. Arrogance. Being absolutely sure that you are right. Not just right, but BETTER than those guys. I felt like a better Christian than those Korean Christians. This is a danger for all of us. In the Great Fact War, the Bible can often provide plenty of ammunition for both sides, and it’s so easy to puff yourself up with knowledge.
But Paul, here in chapter 8, only talks about the facts long enough to dismiss them. He basically says, “Drinking alcohol is okay, but if my drinking causes someone else to sin and lose their salvation, then I will never drink again!”
Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
1 Corinthians 8:13
Does that mean that we should never drink, to support our Korean brothers and sisters? I don’t think so. At least not in a broad, general way.
But we must be careful. Imagine you are out with a Christian friend, and they are really bothered when you order a beer. Perhaps they struggle with alcoholism or addiction, and that might manifest as questioning your faith. In that case, maybe it’s a wiser choice to switch to a soft drink, rather than insisting that alcohol is not a big deal, and not a sin, and to push the issue, even pressuring your friend to have a drink.
But along with your non-alcoholic beverage, have a conversation about it. Because it is clear that Paul is not telling anyone to just shut up and do what he says. He says, “Love builds up,” and that happens through communication. It’s gradual. It’s relational. And it rarely happens in one sitting.
We talked about pride puffing us up. What is the opposite of pride? Humility. Putting others before yourself. And the simplest way to start is by just listening. You can respectfully ask, “Why is drinking such a big problem?” Then listen. Don’t think about what you will say next. Don’t line up your facts and prepare your rebuttal. Just listen, and try to understand.
The answer will probably be important to your friend. It will very likely lead to building up your relationship, because listening and understanding is how we build relationships. So it's a good question, “Why is alcohol important to you?” But a more important question is this: What does the Bible have to say about it? Not just because we find truth and wisdom in the Bible, which we do. It’s good because when people discuss the Bible in good faith, not seeking to dominate each other, the Holy Spirit inhabits those conversations. We understand each other better, and through that we love each other more perfectly.
It was not my intention to make this entire sermon about drinking alcohol, and I apologize if it's come off that way. My example expanded to fill a lot of time. But this philosophy can be applied in many different areas, including ones that are a lot stickier than the alcohol question.
At the heart of the Gospel is the fact that you cannot save yourself. No matter how much you know about God, or about God’s Word, or about God’s Law, it is infinitely more important that God knows you. And in spite of knowing you completely, God loves you enough to die for you. The only proper response is to love God back.
Jesus answered, “The most important [commandment] is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31
So much of the Bible is just showing us what it looks like to love God and love your neighbor, and Paul was an expert in both.
In addressing this long forgotten battle over meat offered to idols, Paul has set aside the importance of being “right” or “wrong.” Instead he offers us nuance, and suggests sympathy.
In the end, his strategy for us is the same one that Jesus both offered and demonstrated: self denial. Setting aside my wants and needs in favor of my sisters and brothers in Christ. Not allowing my knowledge, even my knowledge of God to puff me up.
Look at the example set by Jesus himself,
...who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:6-8
He emptied himself to build us up.
Paul shows us that sometimes the answers aren’t simple, but the results are. If I am building up my brothers and sisters through love, then I am doing it right.
Having correct theology is good, no doubt. But it is clear that love is far more than having a perfect collection of facts and knowledge. Love for your neighbor means that you are willing to give up your freedom to avoid their damnation. God’s grace for us is unearned, and out of that abundance, we give grace to others.
I want to take us back to our hypothetical meal in Corinth, with George and his friends.
As George and his friends sit down to order some food, John notices that something is not quite right.
“George, are you okay brother? You're looking a little uncomfortable.”
George is quick to reply, “No, no, no, I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Paul looks up from the menu at George. He sees hunger and need, mixed with worry, fear, and uncertainty. And suddenly he remembers that George is still new to the Way of Jesus. That George has come a long way, but not so far that he can’t see where he came from. “We’re getting out of here. Come on, George. Let’s go.”
They get up, they apologize to the master of the house, and they leave. When they get outside, George takes a deep breath. He feels the freedom of his baptism again. “Thank you, brothers. I think the enemy almost had me there!”
“It’s no trouble,” says Paul. “Let’s go to Yoko’s Salad Emporium.” And they do.
But Ringo stays. His faith is strong, he loves smoked ribs, and the sauce at Aphrodite’s is hard to beat.
