Yesterday we looked at the reality that it is not that we should not pursue as a goal to know more about God. Knowledge and love are not an either/or issue. The question that we need to ask is why do we pursue knowledge about God? What motivates us to want to know more about God? Paul, after providing the foundational beliefs about God that should impact and inform the decisions about how to live before God, transitions to reveal for us a second thing that can occur when we pursue knowledge over love in 1 Corinthians 8:7-13:
However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
Paul explains that not all men have this knowledge. While the members of the church believed that everyone had the knowledge about God that he had given then, the reality was that not every member of the church at Corinth has comprehended and grasped that information in a way that informs their life as a follower of Jesus. For some members of the church at Corinth, they had become followers of Jesus after previously living a life that revolved around the worship of false gods and participating in the pot luck fellowships that were occurred at the temple.
And because of their past lived prior to becoming followers of Jesus, Paul states that for them to eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol at these temple pot lucks, results in their conscience, being weak, being defiled. Now our conscience is our inward faculty for distinguishing right and wrong; it is our internal moral compass. For a new follower of Jesus, their internal moral compass is weak and has not matured as a result of their new faith. And because of their weak internal moral compass, Paul explains that their participation in the pot luck fellowships that occurred as part of the temple worship would result in their internal moral compass becoming impure and corrupted into thinking that it was o.k. to worship false gods as they had previously done prior to becoming followers of Jesus.
The situation at the church at Corinth would be similar to if I were to take a new Christian who was an alcoholic to a bar for a drink. I could say to the new Christian, "You know, the Bible says that drunkenness is the issue, not just having a drink, and since we know this to be true, you can go ahead and have a drink, it is o.k." The new Christian, however, with his prior life experience, could end up with his internal moral compass, which is still in the process of being transformed and molded, being corrupted into believing that drunkenness is o.k. Or worse, while his conscience is saying that he should not drink as a result of his previous life experiences, I could say to him "if you were really spiritually mature, you would be able to have a drink".
Paul then continues by stating that knowledge does not commend us, or draw us closer to God. Paul is revealing the reality that our relationship with God is not based on what we do with the freedoms we have as a result of what we know about God. As followers of Jesus, we have freedom in many areas of our lives as a result of what we know about the nature and character of God.
Paul then reveals for us a timeless principle when he tells the members of the church at Corinth to take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. Paul is explaining that some of the members of the church needed to watch out and beware that their freedom in Christ that they had as a result of their knowledge about God could actually cause another follower of Jesus, who is a new Christians that has a weaker conscience to misstep or trip up and fall in their relationship with God. Paul here is revealing for us the timeless truth that placing knowledge over love leads to the stumbling of others.
When we place knowledge over love, we end up failing to recognize those around us who are weaker and less mature in their faith. And that failure to recognize those around us who may be less mature in their faith can lead us to live our lives in a way that results in those who are less mature in their faith to violate their consciences and sin.
Paul then reveals the reality that our desire to be driven by our knowledge about God instead of our love for God and one another, can result in the ruin and destruction of the consciences of new followers of Jesus who are less mature in their faith. Paul’s point here is that we can actually participate in the corruption and destruction of the internal moral compasses of new followers of Jesus when we pursue knowledge about God instead of pursuing love for God and others. Paul reminds the members of the church that Christ had died for the very people that they were destroying as a result of their focus on knowledge instead of love. In other words, you are helping to hurt very people that Christ came to earth to die for.
The Apostle then reveals for us two consequences that result when we live lives that are motivated by knowledge about God instead of love for God and one another. First, our desire to be driven by knowledge instead of love causes us to sin against fellow Christians by wounding their consciences. The members of the church were sinning by beating up and assaulting new followers of Jesus with their knowledge about God instead of coming alongside and loving them towards growing in their relationship with God. And we can do the same thing today when we choose to beat people upside the head with our Bibles instead of revealing and reflecting the love of Christ to them.
Second, our desire to be driven by knowledge instead of love causes fellow Christians to sin against Christ. Paul here reveals to the members of the church of Corinth, and to us today, the reality that when we sin against one another, we also sin against God. Paul then concludes this section of his letter by stating that in light of the consequences that occur when we live our lives as followers of Jesus motivated by knowledge instead of love, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. Paul here is revealing for us the reality that a spiritual life that is driven by love instead of knowledge will result in true spiritual growth and maturity that reflects Christ in how we relate both to God and to one another.
A spiritual life that is motivated by love will focus on loving and serving other followers of Jesus in a way that results in their spiritual growth and maturity. Christians who act unchristian, however, often live a spiritual life that is motivated by knowledge and that results in a self centered spiritual pride that is focused on the freedoms that they should be allowed to practice, with no regard or concern about the impact that those freedoms may have on someone who is new to Christ or less mature in their faith. This attitude also ends in the judgment of others who fail to exercise the freedoms that they themselves enjoy.
So what goals are you pursuing when it comes to your relationship with Christ? Are you pursuing a relationship with Christ that is motivated by what you know about God? Or are you pursuing a relationship with Christ that is motivated by your love for God?
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