“Advice that transcends the passage of time”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, March 23, 2022
1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (Forward, p. 53) CEV p. 1195
Biblical scholars and commentators say that context is everything and that understanding the historical and cultural context of a particular Scriptural passage is essential to understanding both its original meaning and its current application.
So then, to start on our journey of learning, what can we to learn about the original context or setting of this passage. First off, we need to recognize that Corinth was a Greek city, one that was notorious for its many pagan temples and diverse and somewhat dissolute worship life. Jews, and Christians as well, were certainly a minority here. This mere fact impacted them in two possible ways. For one, it meant that much of the meat offered for sale in the public market had first, prior to coming to market, been dedicated in one of the temples. This was something that was pretty ordinary, pretty routine, and probably taken for granted. Whether this posed a problem for an individual Jewish or Christian believer pretty well depended on the sensibilities or scruples of the individual.
But then there was a second possibility: the meat could have actually been part of a temple ritual, part of the worship of some pagan god. An added dimension to this was that family and community gatherings were often held in those self-same temple precincts. And so, should believers forsake such gatherings for conscience sake when it meant deserting or foregoing family or community events? That was a quite a bit more problematic and was likely to cause even more problems with someone with a tender conscience.
The other thing about the original context is that the Corinthian believers were not all on the same ‘level’ spiritually. As might be expected, some people were very mature in their faith while others weren’t so. The more mature believers might well ‘write off’ the gods or idols of these temples as being non-existent (after all, there is only one God) or illusionary in terms of their power. “Why worry about things that have no power and, in fact, don’t even exist” they would say. These were the spiritual elite, the ones who thought they knew better than certain others and looked down upon them. In fact, with some of these folks in Corinth, they thought that matters of personal morality and action were of lesser value and concern for people of such exalted status and knowledge as themselves.
But other believers, especially new converts and most especially those that came from those pagan backgrounds—who were accustomed to thinking of the idols and gods as real—might well be offended, and caused to stumble, by the mere thought of partaking of any of this food.
What Paul is saying then that those believers who ‘know better’ than to worry about this should not use (or, misuse) this knowledge in a way that poses a problem for other believers. Instead, they should forebear eating this food in order to not create an issue for them. After all, love and mutual consideration is ‘the name of the game’ when it comes to our treatment of our fellow Christians.
So, what should our response to this? How should we interpret or apply this to our lives today? On one level, the application is fairly obvious: if doing anything or partaking of anything creates a stumbling block for a fellow believer, then it is best to desist, especially if done in any obvious way. So, drinking or smoking or dressing or behaving in particular ways or hanging out at a bar might well be things to avoid, or at least be very circumspect about, in deference to those people around us who are more vulnerable to their influences.
However, there is one other possible application. There have always been people with the church who have considered that they ‘know better’, that figure that they are a ‘cut above’, that think that they are ‘above’ the normal rules of church or society. So, Paul is saying to such people: “cut the malarkey, the self-focus, the self-centredness, and think of others, of others for a change. Think of how your attitude, and your actions, impact others and then act accordingly.” Both of these pieces of advice from Paul certainly come from another time and place but are still of great value to us today. Amen.
Forward notes: “’Food will not bring us close to God.’ We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do” (verse 8).
“I have the dining table and chairs that belonged to my grandmother. They’re at least eighty years old and showing their age. I have so many memories of eating around this table with my family. The food was plentiful, mostly grown from our gardens. We kids might not have liked all the vegetables served, but being at the table was what mattered most. The presence of my grandmother was the force that held us together. Her love for us and her gentle spirit drew us to her and filled us with light.
“Feeding people and sharing meals are important events in the Bible. Jesus certainly desired to share meals with those he met. In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul stresses that food itself is not the focus. There is intimacy when we gather for a meal. The fellowship that comes when bread is broken together can be a binding force. We are nourished by the food we consume and by the love we share.”
MOVING FORWARD: “If you are able, plan to share a meal with friends or family this week.”
A concluding note: Actually, I have to disagree with the author of today’s meditation. The food itself was the issue, and according to Paul, could well be the cause of stumbling and offence. What was important was that the food not be the cause of disruptions within the Body of Christ, the church. The wrong food could destroy the desired intimacy, so it was best to forego it if this was a possibility.