Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Don't Make Another Stumble (1 Corinthians 8:7-13)

Today's scripture: 1 Corinthians 8:7-13

Yesterday, we addressed the issue of man-made gods and idols. Today’s verses, at first, don’t seem to fit. What does food have to do with being a Christ-follower?

To offer a bit more clarity, I visited one of my favorite commentaries:
Eating one kind of food, and abstaining from another, have nothing in them to recommend a person to God. But the apostle cautions against putting a stumbling-block in the way of the weak; lest they be made bold to eat what was offered to the idol, not as common food, but as a sacrifice, and thereby be guilty of idolatry. He who has the Spirit of Christ in him, will love those whom Christ loved so as to die for them. Injuries done to Christians, are done to Christ; but most of all, the entangling them in guilt: wounding their consciences, is wounding him. We should be very tender of doing anything that may occasion stumbling to others, though it may be innocent in itself. And if we must not endanger other men's souls, how much should we take care not to destroy our own! Let Christians beware of approaching the brink of evil, or the appearance of it, though many do this in public matters, for which perhaps they plead plausibly. Men cannot thus sin against their brethren, without offending Christ, and endangering their own souls. (Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible)

We must do nothing that might cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble or fall away from faith.

We must be aware of how we act and the choices we make. We must be careful of what we say. Others are watching us, and if we do anything that might cause another Christian to stumble, we sin against Christ.

And as Paul writes elsewhere, may that never be!

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