Day 47: 1st Corinthians 8 -11. What Not to Do, What to do, in Worship and Out
Now Paul starts giving advice with regard to eating meat sacrificed to idols, one of the many controversies of the Corinthian church. Again, there is a difference between theory and practice. In theory, there are free to eat meat sacrificed to idols, because they realize that the idol is not real, and the meat is "just meat"; there is nothing especially holy or unholy about it.
BUT, Paul writes, if there are people for whom eating meat causes them to doubt, who wonder if they are sinning when they eat it, or whose consciences are bothering them, then we should be willing to abstain so that we don't shake their faith. Again, what is important is how our actions affect our neighbor.
(I wonder what modern day dilemmas we could apply Paul's logic to: what actions should we be careful about, for the sake of our neighbors? It is worth thinking about.)
Now Paul addresses the issue of compensation for apostles. He seems to be arguing that he has a right to make a living by the gospel (good for pastors to know!). After all, the priests got to eat the food that was in the temple (to use one example). Paul seems to feel that he and Barnabas have been singled out for special criticism in this regard. Even so, Paul says that even though he could be compensated for his work, he is voluntarily choosing not to be paid, because he wants to do everything possible to be blameless in their eyes.
Well, maybe not exactly blameless, but he wants to work in a way that will make his witness their credible, that will make his witness take root. So he says that he tries to be all things to all people; to those under the Law, he is under the Law; to those outside the Law he is outside the Law.
All things to all people. Who can really pull it off? Paul is willing to do anything to make Christ real. And he's intense. Can you tell by the way he's writing and the things he is writing about?
What's next? Paul continues to speak about the issue of eating and drinking, circling back first to remind his readers of the unfaithfulness of some of the Israelites back when they were wandering in the wilderness. Don't grumble or complain or wander away! He warns them. Be vigilant! he says. Everyone in the wilderness had come through the Red Sea, but that didn't stop them from losing their way later on, forgetting their freedom, and focussing on idols instead.
Eating and drinking is connected with relationships, right relationships, and with our neighbors. So Paul says, it's not that eating meat sacrificed to idols is either good or bad, but it's the effect it has on our dinner companions that makes a difference, and reveals our own hearts. If you eat meat sacrificed to idols it won't harm you. But if someone tells you, "Hey, this is meat that was sacrificed to idols," they maybe you shouldn't, because that might cause your dinner companions to stumble. It's all about what is harmful or good for your neighbor, and for your neighbor's faith.
Perhaps that's what's going on in Paul's convoluted arguments about women praying with their heads covered. Paul says women should pray with their heads covered because "a woman has authority over her head." I'll just come right out and tell you that I don't know what that means. And though Paul says that a woman should keep her head covered because "Man was created first, and then woman" and that "man is the image of God and woman the image of man", later on he admits that now "men come from women" (biology). (By the way, in Genesis 1, both men AND women are made in the image of God. Wish I had Paul right here with me so we could have a talk about that.)
Then Paul returns to the subject of eating and drinking, but this time he is talking abut the fellowship of Christians, and the Lord's supper, and it appears that in Corinth, the community meal has become the occasion for some to be gluttons and others to go hungry. There is no sharing going on, and this is part of what bothers Paul. So later on, when he talks about eating and drinking worthily, and discerning the body, I don't think he is just talking about the "Real Presence" of Jesus in Holy Communion, but he is talking about discerning the Body of Christ in the community, and eating and drinking in a way that honors one another as bearers of Christ.
Again for Paul, it's all about relationships, about how we treat one another, and how we treat one another reveals the condition of our own soul.
BUT, Paul writes, if there are people for whom eating meat causes them to doubt, who wonder if they are sinning when they eat it, or whose consciences are bothering them, then we should be willing to abstain so that we don't shake their faith. Again, what is important is how our actions affect our neighbor.
(I wonder what modern day dilemmas we could apply Paul's logic to: what actions should we be careful about, for the sake of our neighbors? It is worth thinking about.)
Now Paul addresses the issue of compensation for apostles. He seems to be arguing that he has a right to make a living by the gospel (good for pastors to know!). After all, the priests got to eat the food that was in the temple (to use one example). Paul seems to feel that he and Barnabas have been singled out for special criticism in this regard. Even so, Paul says that even though he could be compensated for his work, he is voluntarily choosing not to be paid, because he wants to do everything possible to be blameless in their eyes.
Well, maybe not exactly blameless, but he wants to work in a way that will make his witness their credible, that will make his witness take root. So he says that he tries to be all things to all people; to those under the Law, he is under the Law; to those outside the Law he is outside the Law.
All things to all people. Who can really pull it off? Paul is willing to do anything to make Christ real. And he's intense. Can you tell by the way he's writing and the things he is writing about?
What's next? Paul continues to speak about the issue of eating and drinking, circling back first to remind his readers of the unfaithfulness of some of the Israelites back when they were wandering in the wilderness. Don't grumble or complain or wander away! He warns them. Be vigilant! he says. Everyone in the wilderness had come through the Red Sea, but that didn't stop them from losing their way later on, forgetting their freedom, and focussing on idols instead.
Eating and drinking is connected with relationships, right relationships, and with our neighbors. So Paul says, it's not that eating meat sacrificed to idols is either good or bad, but it's the effect it has on our dinner companions that makes a difference, and reveals our own hearts. If you eat meat sacrificed to idols it won't harm you. But if someone tells you, "Hey, this is meat that was sacrificed to idols," they maybe you shouldn't, because that might cause your dinner companions to stumble. It's all about what is harmful or good for your neighbor, and for your neighbor's faith.
Perhaps that's what's going on in Paul's convoluted arguments about women praying with their heads covered. Paul says women should pray with their heads covered because "a woman has authority over her head." I'll just come right out and tell you that I don't know what that means. And though Paul says that a woman should keep her head covered because "Man was created first, and then woman" and that "man is the image of God and woman the image of man", later on he admits that now "men come from women" (biology). (By the way, in Genesis 1, both men AND women are made in the image of God. Wish I had Paul right here with me so we could have a talk about that.)
Then Paul returns to the subject of eating and drinking, but this time he is talking abut the fellowship of Christians, and the Lord's supper, and it appears that in Corinth, the community meal has become the occasion for some to be gluttons and others to go hungry. There is no sharing going on, and this is part of what bothers Paul. So later on, when he talks about eating and drinking worthily, and discerning the body, I don't think he is just talking about the "Real Presence" of Jesus in Holy Communion, but he is talking about discerning the Body of Christ in the community, and eating and drinking in a way that honors one another as bearers of Christ.
Again for Paul, it's all about relationships, about how we treat one another, and how we treat one another reveals the condition of our own soul.
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