BACKGROUND:
The issue of eating meat offered to idols led Paul to three conclusions in the matter that can be applied to the broad spectrum of Christian liberties:
While eating such meat is essentially unimportant to one’s faith, and while it is allowed (not against God’s law, see also 6:12), it may not necessarily be helpful to the believer. The Christian has the freedom to eat such meat because he or she knows it doesn’t matter. Just because something is not against the law, however, doesn’t mean that it is helpful.
While believers are free to practice their freedom in Christ in matters that are allowed, some practices of freedom do not necessarily work to build up individual believers, others, or the church.
Therefore, Christians are to use their freedoms, not for their own good, but to think of other Christians and what is best for them. As Paul had concluded at the end of chapter 8, all Christians, free in Christ, should humbly set aside their freedoms in order to win more people for the Kingdom. Nothing should ever impede a believer’s witness for Christ. It is always more important to avoid unhelpful actions than to assert freedoms.
In the case of eating meat, Paul explains that if the believers were invited to the home of an unbeliever for dinner, they could go. In the homes of unbelievers, the Christians might well be served meat that had been offered to idols. Paul’s advice, as with buying meat in the market (10:25-26) is to eat whatever is offered and don’t ask any questions. It would probably have been a breach of hospitality to ask about the food and then to refuse to eat it. How much better to just enjoy the host’s hospitality and be a witness to his family than to raise questions of conscience and so lose that opportunity.
But the situation could arise that several believers are eating a meal at the home of an unbeliever. One of these believers (the someone referred to here, who was a “weaker” believer, see 8:10) warns his fellow believers that the meat they had been served had been offered to an idol. At that point, then, the stronger believers, although they know that this really makes no difference, should refrain from eating the meat out of consideration for the conscience of that weaker believer because of the clear association with temple worship. (This weaker believer feels that in eating that meat, the Christians would be sanctioning idol worship.) This is the same advice Paul gave in chapter 8.
Paul’s question, “Why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?” is in the context of his discussion regarding strong believers acquiescing to weaker believers in matters of conscience. The only real way to hold on to that freedom, because it is freedom, is to use or not use it freely, depending on the situation.
Strong believers must not allow their freedom to be limited or condemned by weaker believers, so they should not use their freedom when that could happen. Simply because these strong believers can thank God for the food and enjoy it, no matter where it came from, they should not allow themselves to be condemned for using that freedom. It is better, said Paul, to set aside one’s freedom in those situations. The bottom line is that all that believers do should be done for the glory of God. If these strong believers had to set aside their liberties in order to win others to Christ, they should do so because this would bring glory to God.
Paul wanted these believers to understand that the liberty God gave them was not to be used to give offense; rather, as Paul described in 8:13, his entire life focused on winning others to Christ. If need be, he would never eat any meat again if it would keep others from stumbling. In things that did not really matter, Paul tried to please everyone. Always, Paul’s focus was to do what was best for others so they may be saved. Nothing, not even liberty in Christ, should cause believers to lose sight of their desire to win others to Christ.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
The foundational truth we see today - our freedom in Christ, is so key, so important. Not necessarily the freedom aspect, but the responsibility we have with that freedom. The responsibility we have to always be conscious of other the weaker, younger believer/follower of Christ. It seems to me that much of that sense of responsibility has been lost today by the waves of self-centerdness and me ism that is so prevalent and pervasive in our churches today.
Justice Lewis Brandais, one of the Supreme Court justices, once said, "Responsibility is the great developer." It builds your character. It's what helps you grow. Churchill called it, "The price of greatness." If you want to do something great with your life you have to become a responsible person.
"Why should I live a responsible life?" Three reasons:
#1. BECAUSE GOD IS WATCHING ME. The Bible says this in the book of Hebrews, "Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is open before him, and to him we must explain the way we have lived." God sees it all and God is going to judge us one day and evaluate our lives on how did we live. Life is a test of responsibility. That's why you're going through all this. God planned you, thought you up, put you on earth and He is testing your responsibility. He's developing your character.
Why is God interested in my character? God couldn't care less about your achievements. What he's interested in is your character. God couldn't care less about your bank account. What's He's interested in is your character. Why? Because it's the only thing you're going to take with you when you die. You're not taking anything else.
#2. BECAUSE OTHERS ARE AFFECTED BY MY LIFE. None of us lives to ourselves alone, we are all interdependent. We're not independent or dependent but interdependent on each other. 1 Corinthians tells us, "People should be concerned about others and not just about themselves."
Back in the 60's during the hippie movement there used to be these beautiful psychedelic posters. One of them said something like this; "I was not put on this planet to live up to your expectations and you were not put on this planet to live up to my expectations so let me do my thing and you do your thing and if perchance we happen to meet that's groovy!"
We don't say it in such a corny way any more but the attitude is still around. It goes like this (Billy Joel song): "I don't care what they say! This is my life." Or as that great theologian Sammy Davis, Jr. said, "I've got to be me!" or his theological partner Sinatra, "I did it my way!" The basic idea behind these type of songs are I live my life the way I want to and what's it to you? If it doesn't hurt you or you don't know about it, who cares? It's my life and it doesn't matter what I do because it doesn't affect you.
The problem is, you're wrong. Every decision you make affects somebody else -- even the secret ones. It changes you and you then influence other people by the changes in your life. You may not see the visible results but every choice you make influences somebody else and every time you're irresponsible it hurts somebody else. We're all on this same planet.
When somebody in your family has a problem it's not their problem; it's the family's problem. It influences everybody in the family. Whether the kid's on drugs or the dad's under stress, it affects everybody in the family. There is no such thing as a non affecting decision. You, talk all the time with your life, influence your family, parents, kids, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, husbands, wives. The choices you make influences your friends. They influence the people in your neighborhood. They influence friends at church. They influence society at large in major and minor ways. We are all inter connected because we're on this planet together.
It's interesting that when we are irresponsible, the two most common excuses, rationalizations we give are, "Nobody will know about it," and "It won't hurt anybody." You're wrong on both counts. You're wrong.
A man can say, "I can get away with this. My wife will never know. I can do this and it won't hurt my wife." Kids can say, "I can do this and it won't hurt my parents." An employee can say, "I can do this. It's a big company. It won't hurt anybody." You're wrong.
You need to be responsible because God is watching and because other people are affected. There's a third reason, a positive point.
#3. I NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE BECAUSE GOD REWARDS IT. And boy, does He reward it! Deuteronomy 28:2 says, "You will experience all of God's blessings if you obey the Lord." Circle "all". God says, You will not believe what I will pour out on your life if you will live responsibly with your time, with your money, with your relationships -- every area of your life. I will bless you in ways you cannot even imagine. One of the ways God rewards us when we are responsible is He gives us greater responsibility.
Jesus says, "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given." If you use your influence well, you become more influential. If you use your possessions well, God will provide more of them. Why should God give you more money when you're not responsible with the finances you've got right now? He doesn't have any obligation to help you when you're living irresponsibly in that area or any other area. But on the other hand, if you will be responsible I will bless your socks off in a way you can't imagine.
If that's the case, how do I become a more responsible person?
Anytime you want to talk about responsibility there's a certain book you have to go to in the Bible. The Bible is made up of 66 different books inside. There's an entire book of the Bible written about how to live a responsible life. It's called the book of Proverbs. Proverbs has 31 chapters in it. That means if you read one chapter a day, you'd read through the book once a month. I want to challenge you today to read a chapter a day of Proverbs for the rest of your life. That means you'll go through it about twelve times a year. Each time you read through it, read it in a different translation. You'll get more and more out of it. This is the book that teaches you how to live. It teaches you things like how do you build strong relationships. It talks about how to handle wealth. It talks about how to build a business. It talks about how to get along with other people. How to save your marriage. It talks about child raising. It talks about what to do when you fail, what to do when you succeed. It's an amazing storehouse of God's wisdom. You have to go to Proverbs when you're look at responsible living.
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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