Stumble

We are making our way through a letter Paul wrote to Jesus followers in Corinth. Today, Paul reminds us that we need to watch where we “walk”.


1 Corinthians 8
4 So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. 5 There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. 6 But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life. 7 However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. 8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do. 9 But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. 10 For if others see you - with your “superior knowledge” - eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? 11 So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. 12 And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 13 So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live - for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.


Stumble. As a Jesus follower, I need to be conscience of the fact that what I say and do has an affect on people ... especially people that don’t follow Jesus (check out John 13:34-35) and people that are just starting to follow Jesus. I’m not talking about making changes in my life so that I can feel like I am earning my salvation or feel like I am more spiritual than other people or feel like I am earning extra gold stars from Jesus (they don’t exist). I am talking about choosing to make decisions, about what I say and do and watch and listen to, that honor God because I “live for him” (reread verse 6). Out of love for God (and his love for others and his desire for me to love others), I don’t want to create confusion or distractions for people, thinking about or trying to “live for him”, that would cause them to make a bad decision. So, I’m going to try using verse 13 as a filter in my life.