So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:23-33
Loving concern for the good of others, particularly believers, stands at the heart of the Christian ethic. This has been Paul’s main point in chapters 8-10. He has argued against the Corinthian believers’ taking part in the worship meals consumed in pagan temples based on the fact that it is unloving because it leads weaker brothers back into idolatry. The Apostle, however, is not through with addressing issues of food associated with false worship. In our verses today, he must explain what to do with food that was sold in the marketplace after it had been sacrificed to idols. Again, love for other believers must determine the Christian response. Paul repeats in verse 23 the phrase “all things are lawful” that we first saw in 6:12. These words had been used as a slogan used to justify libertinism. The liberal religious Jews used a similar phrase to justify a view of freedom from the Mosaic law that they believed they could visit prostitutes. However, eating sacrificial meals in the temple was not done in a cultic or worship setting. Instead, this was meat that had been used in worship but had then been taken out of the temple and sold in the marketplace for everyday consumption. This fact is part of what determines Paul’s response to this question. As we will see, the Though Corinthians were formally correct that the gospel freed them to eat the meat sold in the marketplace, the way they applied this truth was not showing love to weaker Christians. The Corinthians’ careless sloganeering forgot that while Christians are free, it is possible to exercise that freedom in an unhelpful way that tears others down. Believers must the good of their neighbors. Of course, the Apostle cannot mean that we ignore our own good altogether. Paul is simply calling us to consider others’ welfare and not merely our own. Paul does not expressly forbid individuals to consult their own advantage, but he requires that they should not be so devoted to their own interests, as not to be prepared to forego part of their right, as often as the welfare of their brethren requires this. While we are not called to completely ignore our own needs, we are called, as Christians, to care for the needs of others. Let us pray for the wisdom to do both.
Source: S C Ball November 5, 2023
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