Am I taking this out of context, or does it really mean that everything is permissible? Regardless, with this mindset, it makes it a lot easier to witness to people without feeling on-edge because of their fornication or addiction problems.
What about 31-33? Can you see this applying to being a manic driver, taking advantage of many to shave that 3 minutes off your travel time? What other group situations can you apply this too?
*Updated: So, everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial appears to be specifically speaking towards meat consumption. At the time, a lot of the meat that was purchased at the Corinthian market had been previously sacrificed to idols, so the believers there were unsure of where the boundaries were.
3 comments:
You might be interested in this: http://watkins.gospelcom.net/shorspi2.htm#halloween it's a discussion about Halloween that centers around 1 Corinthians 10:23-33.
Although Paul was talking about a specific issue of the time, I think it could easily be applied to several of those gray areas of moral conduct, where it's not a flat out sin, but could lead to sin or be interpreted by others as sin.
Awesome. Thanks for the link, Matt!
I'm not sure it quite applies in the way Matt suggested.
Short version:
I once thought that chapter meant idol-sacrificed foods didn't matter, until I noticed Acts 15 and started asking questions.
Long version:
If you'll forgive my quoting a footnote as an example of everything I've heard on the topic:
>> “Everything is lawful.” Here again Paul cites certain slogans the Corinthians used to justify their behavior (cf. 6:12-13; 7:1; 8:1, 4). Paul agrees with the slogans in part, but corrects them to show how the Corinthians have misused these ideas.
Paul also took on idols at several points earlier in that letter, and makes (I think) his strongest statement on the matter in vv. 20-22, before getting back to other Corinthian arguments:
>> "...I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons."
This dovetails with the Apostles' take on idols and fornication at the Council of Jerusalem:
>> For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from doing these things, you will do well. Farewell. (Acts 15:28-29)
In that light, I think Paul is strongly against taking part in sacrificed foods, but the next part (10:25+) addresses worries about foods that might have been sacrificed. So, rather than [Don't worry about false religions unless you're going to scandalize someone else], I would summarize:
When going about everyday life (such as eating dinner), you are not obligated to suspect your companions of wrongdoing at every turn. If, however, someone volunteers such information, you are obligated to cease doing evil (now that you know about it).
Also, this does not let people get off the hook by pretending (or asking) not to hear about such wrongdoings: "Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin."
Anyway. I could go on, but this is already turning into a blogpost of its own.
Post a Comment