Thoughts for the Day

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’ Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled..... So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

As we get older we watch our children and then our grandchildren grow up. We see the same phrases and sayings coming from their mouths that we used or indeed our mother still uses, and it makes us smile. I have yet to hear one of my mother's favourite sayings. When asked what was for dinner, she would say, "Fleas knees, chicken's eyebrows, and a Navvies sweaty sock", or occasionally "Fresh air pie". Unfortunately we can also sometimes see things that we wish they hadn't learnt from us.

In our reading today, Paul deals with the issue of eating meat that had been offered in sacrifice to other gods. The bustling city of Corinth contained countless temples and places of worship where men and women might offer a sacrifice of meat. Many of these new Christians might have stopped sacrificing to these gods, but the habit of buying meat from them still existed. The meat not used in sacrifices was routinely sold to the people of the town. To the strong-minded it didn't matter where they bought their meat for they knew there was no other god than Yahweh, but this habit was causing confusion to some newer members of the congregation.

Paul lays down the law that no Christian should, through their actions, ever carry out an action that might cause another Christian to falter in their faith. If we do, then we not only carry out a sin against the other person, but also against Christ, and one day we shall be answerable for these mistakes.

Heavenly Father,
teach us how to care for other Christians
especially those young in the faith -
if not necessarily young in age.
May we never pass on an opinion
or example that is unhelpful,
but always care for those around us.
Amen.