Liberty and stumbling

But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. – 1 Corinthians 8.9-13

Liberty in Christ is one of the greatest blessings we have. We have been freed from thelaw. We are not bound to eat or not eat certain foods or to celebrate or not celebrate certain. We are not bound by rituals nad routines or touch not taste not handle not instruction.

Liberty is brilliant.

It does not, however, mean that we can do whatever we want to do. We need to keep others in mind. The topic here is eating meat sacrificed to idols. Some had an issue with it. Others knew that it meant nothing because you can’t sacrifice to gods that are not God.

Now, those who ate could have said ‘I don’t care what you think. I am free to eat this meat and I am going to eat it.’ Some folks delight in their liberty to the point where others are harmed by it with unneeded offence.

That’s not God’s plan. It is not about us. Our regular concern to be how others respond to us. We may have the knowledge about liberty, but we need to be aware if exercising our liberty is going to cause a weaker believer or maybe a new believer to be offended. It could be something simple which should in no way offend anyone. If I knowingly offend a brother the Bible says here that I sin against Christ.

If I know my action is going to offend a brother and cause him to stumble in his faith than I ought to choose to avoid it for his sake. It’s not that big a deal. That can’t control our lives, but we do need to avoid needless offence. It seems like Paul has an ‘in your face’ attitude toward my brother.

Here’s an example that I exercise. Some brethren do not think Christians ought to eat black pudding because it contains blood. I can’t see that, but if I am eating breakfast  with that brother I am going to avoid offence by not eating black pudding.

It really is that simple. Why would I cause someone to stumble so I can prove a point about liberty?