Bible Challenge #27
1 Corinthians 10:25-30
25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
Here Paul is applying an extremely important principle of Christian theology that we must understand. It may not be flashy or the most exciting, but I urge you to fully focus and commit this principle to memory.
The exact same action, done in the same time and place, can be a sin for one believer and not be a sin for the other believer.
How is this possible? Isn’t sin sin and anything that isn’t sin not a sin? Yes, there are many sins that are this black and white. But when it comes to the idea of Christian freedom, there are these things called “disputable matters” from Romans 14:1. This is where the Bible doesn’t provide a clear condemnation, and thus we may disagree, but the core of the issue is our conscience.
An overactive conscience can be almost as dangerous as an underactive conscience.
See how Paul says to not even raise the question at your unbelieving friends house if the meat is sacrificed to idols? That’s because if it is, and that pricks your conscience and you think it’s wrong, you now must abstain from the meal or you have sinned. Meanwhile your brother who joined the meal later didn’t ask, and so his conscience isn’t pricked and though he eats the same meat it is not sin for him.
But what do “disputable matters” look like in our society? Things like various political groups/identifications, alcohol, lots of modern media, and the list goes on. It is best to avoid these topics when possible when trying to build relationships with unbelievers and when mentoring younger believers because you might learn something that wounds your own conscience and leads you into either sinning or having to pull back from that relationship.
One last thing you might notice from these verses, but there is another time when we must refuse something we feel free to receive even if our conscience isn’t wounded or prodded.
That being if it would cause a fellow believer or even an unbeliever to stumble and sin.
If you are dining with someone you know or suspect to struggle with alcohol, don’t order alcohol for yourself even if you feel confident to handle it in moderation. If you are talking with someone you know to struggle with an unhealthy loyalty to or obsession with a specific political leaning, don’t bring up politics and avoid arguing about such. If you are at the home of someone who feels strongly about certain modern media being dangerous or sinful, don’t ask to watch your favorite show that falls in that category even if your conscience isn’t pricked.
The are two key principles for us to remember
For “disputable matters”, our conscience tells us whether we are free to partake on one side or if it would be sin to do X thing based on our Christian freedom. (this is how we get ourselves in trouble with an overactive conscience)
We must be wary of others’ overactive consciences, and accommodate those as best we can by denying some of our Christian freedoms in certain situations
