Paul has already dealt with the subject of strength and weakness in the early chapters of 1 Corinthians, reminding us in 1 Cor 1:18-25 that God’s weakness is stronger than our strength and His foolishness wiser than our wisdom. In 1 Cor 8 he talks about a ‘weak conscience’ (1 Cor 8:10, 12) and gives instruction on how those who are ‘strong’ should behave in relation to those with weaker consciences.

‘Conscience is that internal court where our actions are judged and are either approved or condemned.’ (Warren Wiersbe) It is God-given (see Rom 2:14-15), but is not necessarily aligned with God; we have to learn to train our consciences in godly ways and godly thinking and must be careful not to ignore it, since it can be defiled and even seared (1 Tim 4:2). The weak Christians in Corinth felt it was a sin to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Because of their upbringing, earlier habits, or former lifestyle, the weak still believed that they were participating in idol worship by eating the meat. The Bible suggests that some in Corinth could not shake their past. As believers in Jesus Christ, we must be sensitive to our spiritual brothers and sisters. We must learn to defer to them when it is appropriate. For, in the end, what difference does it really make whether we eat or not? Paul argued that if weaker believers felt in some way that a connection to an idol was offensive, that view should be respected, without making them feel foolish. It is not right to encourage someone to do something bad that his conscience tells him he shouldn’t do. The conscience should be respected. There is a danger that ignoring one’s conscience could lead to doing other things that are wrong, things that are not indifferent but are sin.

The issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols is one that is not essential to salvation. It’s a ‘grey area’ in many respects. Paul’s advice was that those who knew that the issue was not really about food should do nothing to harm those whose consciences would become easily defiled (1 Cor 8:7), wounded (1 Cor 8:12) or offended (1 Cor 8:13); in other words, the strong should defer to the weak.

This is not the way of the world. In the world, the strong trample over the weak, but this is not the kingdom way (see Matt 20:24-28). In the kingdom, what counts is faith expressing itself through love (Gal 5:6), love which puts the needs of others before one’s own needs (see Phil 2:1-11). Love builds up (1 Cor 8:1). Rom 14 deals with similar topics, saying ‘Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters.’ (Rom 14:1) When it comes to grey areas (the technical term for which is ‘adiaphora’), Paul’s advice is simple: ‘make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.’ (Rom 14:13) He was fully persuaded that no food in itself was unclean (Rom 14:14), but was more concerned about how he treated fellow believers than about standing on his high horse and proclaiming his strength and liberty: ‘ If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.’ (Rom 14:15)

Love is always the yardstick by which we are measured (see 1 Cor 13:1-13). We can be technically right but still in the wrong if love is not our motivation. Paul knew that the problems in the Corinthian church were not simply a question of what meat was eaten. He knew that ‘Corinthian Gnosticism had an essentially self-regarding element which was incompatible with Christian love.’ (C. K. Barrett, Commentary on 1 Corinthians, P 189) Paul reminded the ‘strong’ Corinthians that if they did not act out of love, then their strength (knowledge) was irrelevant. ‘The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. (Rom 14:17-18) ‘Knowing it all’ isn’t the goal. We can know doctrine and still not grow in grace or in our personal relationship with God. Instead, we must combine knowledge and love, ‘speaking the truth in love’ (Eph 4:15), having a love that ‘abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight’ (Phil 1:9) and which cares about avoiding leading anyone else into sin. It takes a strong man to say ‘no’ not only to sin but even to other non-sinful practices out of consideration for others. Paul reminds us that knowledge must be balanced by love and experience must be balanced by caution; freedom must also be balanced by responsibility: ‘“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.’ (1 Cor 10:23-24) As always, we must remember we’re part of a community; no man is an island and each man is his brother’s keeper…

1 Cor 8 is one of those chapters in the Bible which on first glance appears to have no relevance to modern day life at all. It’s fodder for those who declare that the Bible is outmoded and outdated and therefore can be quite happily discarded in favour of any other trendy literature which deals with modern thinking. The question Paul addresses in this chapter (should Christians eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols?) might have been relevant to 1^st century Christians in Corinth, but hardly seems to feature on the list of most discussed questions in 2015.

As always, however, specific historical situations can have wider contexts than seem apparent from a cursory glance. People don’t change very much, even if the situations they face do, and how to respond to individual questions will always involve core principles which can apply to a whole variety of situations. Paul’s ‘core principles’ in this chapter have to do with love (which should always be our prime motivator), consideration and care for other believers. He is keen that we learn to build each other up, rather than tearing each other down (see 2 Cor 12:19, 2 Cor 13:10, Eph 4:29, Rom 4:19, 1 Thess 5:11) and keen that we learn how to balance freedom with love and respect.

The historical context of the question involved buying meat. There were two sources of meat in the ancient world: the regular market (where the prices were higher) and the local temples (where meat from the sacrifices was always available.) Some members of the church saved money by purchasing the cheaper meat available from the temples, arguing that idols were not able to contaminate food and therefore they could eat that meat with nothing to disturb their consciences. They also attended meals where sacrificial meat was served. Other Christians (saved out of pagan idolatry) were troubled and offended by this, believing that the meat was contaminated as a result of the sacrifices and that they should therefore avoid this.

Paul effectively agreed that meat sacrificed to idols was not actually contaminated, because idols have no real power of their own; there is only one God: ‘for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.’ (1 Cor 8:6) He knew, however, that the real issue was not about food, because ‘food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.’ (1 Cor 8:8) In essence, he echoed Jesus’s teaching in Mark 7 that washing hands before eating was not the thing that defiled people: ‘Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’ (Mark 7:15) Paul knew that the real problem lay not so much in what people ate but in how they thought and how they treated others.

Knowledge itself, he comments, is not the be-all and end-all of life: ‘We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.’ (1 Cor 8:1) Instead of the inflated arrogance he has warned against in previous chapters (see 1 Cor 4:6, 18), Paul advocates consideration for other people’s opinions, especially if by acting in a certain way we will lead them into sin. ‘If someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.’ (1 Cor 8:10-11) In such circumstances, Paul reckons it’s worth curbing individual freedom in order to help someone else avoid sin (see Gal 6:2).

Kevin Horseman spoke at church last night, informing us about the work of the Christian charity ‘Mission Aviation Fellowship’, founded 70 years ago by ex-RAF pilots and engineers who wanted to see aircraft used to bring ‘help, hope and healing in Christ’s name.’ Stuart King, Jack Hemmings and Murray Kendon were pioneers who had the vision to see that aircraft could bring the gospel into remote areas, thus fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) in new ways. That first flight from Croydon to Kenya took 27 days; now the charity has 130 aircraft serving in in 38 countries, travelling to more destinations than any other airline (3000!)

Using aircraft such as the Cessna 182 and the Cessna 208 floatplane, MAF runs both a chartered service and acts as a taxi air service, particularly in emergency evacuations following natural disasters such as earthquakes:

The floatplane is especially useful because it can reach areas which have lots of water such as Bangladesh.

MAF works to support aid agencies such as TearFund, Christian Aid and Oxfam and is involved in getting food supplies to areas of famine (flying in ‘Plumpy Nuts’, a nutritional food bar which can help relieve famine):

It is also involved in medical evacuations, helping to get people to hospitals quickly when the journey by road would take days. It flies to Africa, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, South America and Mongolia, acting like the donkey in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, enabling others to work in different areas, bringing hope and healing to areas that are too remote to be reached in any other way.

How Can We Help?

1. Pray. MAF provide a regular magazine called ‘Flying For Life’ which details the work they are doing and includes a prayer diary to help us pray for the organisation.
2. People. MAF needs people to work for them in a range of jobs (pilots, engineers, administrative support staff.) This is a faith-based mission, a calling, not just a job!
3. Postcards. The sale of postcards can be a tremendous fund-raiser, so send any postcards in to MAF’s Folkestone head office.
4. Pounds. Running aircraft is an expensive business, with people on the ground often only able to pay one-third of the actual cost of a flight. Here in the UK, we can give financially to help the charity and can also be involved in fund-raising.

Mark spoke this morning about fountains of blessing available from God. Fountains generally involve water and are sometimes ornamental:

Sometimes they are coordinated with lights:

Sometimes children play in them:

Sometimes we even enjoy food fountains!

In the Bible, fountains were natural springs of water, essential for drinking and washing, and the positioning of these determined where people lived. Deut 8:5-10 talks of the good land God intended to give His people: ‘a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills‘ (Deut 8:7), representing His desire to bless people with all that is good for us. Nowadays, we have plumbed water into our homes, but we still need God’s blessing and He still has an endless supply of blessing to pour out on us.

Joel 3:18 says ‘In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house  and will water the valley of acacias.‘ Whilst this is clearly figurative language (mountains do not really drip wine or hills flow with milk!), it again demonstrates that God’s presence is the key to blessing. Is 41:17-20 reminds us that God can bring forth blessing even in inauspicious circumstances (when we’re found in the desert, when our lives are barren.) His powerful blessing transforms situations.

Ps 87:7 reminds us that all our springs and fountains are in God. God wants to be the fount of every blessing in our lives. He made us, knows us and is able to bless us abundantly.

The shocking and horrific events in Paris on Friday night and the loss of life caused by terrorists leave us floundering. Every new atrocity we witness strips us of any sense of safety we have, causing fear and confusion to rise up. For many of us, it’s hard to understand all the issues, hard to separate outrage and revulsion from fear, hard to work out how religious belief can lead to such violence, hard to know how we, as individuals, can have any positive effect, hard to know how to pray.

Rom 12:9 says ‘Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.’ Hating what is evil is not the same as hating people, however; Eph 6:12 reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It is important to keep this distinction in mind as we pray for justice and for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done, on earth as in heaven.

For many of us, hatred seems overpowering and it’s easy to feel helpless in the face of organised terror. Love as a weapon seems ineffectual; we only have to look at the cross to see evil and violence winning. But we only have to look at the cross to see that God’s ways are not the same as our ways and that victory is not achieved through might and power but by the Spirit of God (Zech 4:6). How this works out in daily living is not easy to discern, but we must hold on to the power of God’s love and God’s way of doing things at all times.

‘We believe Your love is the strongest way
You’re tearing down walls and You break our chains
Even in this darkness hope will rise again
When we lay down our weapons, we will let love win
Lord, we lay down our weapons and we let love win.’ (‘Let Love Win’, Carrollton)