So what does it look like to do all to the glory of God when we are interacting with people with whom we disagree? It is clearly putting God first. But how? In 1st Corinthians chapter 8, verse 9, Paul writes,
“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.”
Now we have a clearer picture. Paul shares a key principle: Don’t be a stumbling block; exercise of freedom should not become a stumbling block, the strong/free should abstain from a certain practice so as not to cause the weak in conscience to fall. Instead restrain yourself out of care for the other person.
When you disagree with another person in the church, glorifying God means a willingness to abstain, though you know that you are free to hold your viewpoint, your opinion. What matters to God more than the opinion is your heart and the heart of the other person, and preserving a caring relationship between you. You don’t always need to have the final word or to be sure your point is said the loudest.
Glorifying God means that you care more about loving your brother or sister in Christ, than you care about demonstrating your freedom. You care more about hurting their faith, than you care about winning the argument. You care about helping to strengthen their faith. Without question, the burden in this passage is on the strong to lovingly, graciously, care for the weak.
Basically Paul is saying, “Corinthians, you are free to eat meat sacrificed to idols. It’s just meat. But if your freedom is going to wound someone in your church, then don’t exercise your freedom. Care for others more than you care about exercising your freedom.”
The problem is that the weak often do not feel that they are weak, but instead that they are right!
The Weak can be arrogant in their weakness “Look at me, I don’t do that. And neither should you.”
The Strong can also be arrogant in their freedom “Look at me, I DO That, and so should you.”
The motive in both of these is wrong.
So what should we do? Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23-33,
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”
Our motive should be, “Do it all to the glory of God.” And when you do that, you act with love, with humility, with a ready willingness to abstain so as not to hurt another.
This is why I so often refer to the Fruit of the Spirit. Whenever we interact with people, the Fruit of the Spirit should flow. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and Self-control.
Yes, we will disagree about things. Yes, it is okay to talk about our disagreements. Yes, it is okay to have opinions, even strong opinions. But we hold those opinions with love and humility. We are quick to say, “I might be wrong about this.” We avoid speaking with harsh tones or with absolute authority. We let love for the other rule us. God loves them. God made them in his image. So we love them too.
We also strive for truth! That means when it comes to a disagreement about a social, political or theological issue, we should want to learn the truth about the issue. What is so difficult is that there are often very different opinions about what the truth is. In the final post in this series, we’ll examine how Paul’s teaching in 1st Corinthians chapters 8 and 10 help us in those difficult conversations when our loved ones have very different truths than we do.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 