Free to Choose for the Glory of God
I
Corinthians 10:23-11:1
Introduction: I remember hearing
the story of the woman who sent her husband to the butcher to pick up a ham. He
brought it back and the woman said, “You didn’t cut the end off the ham!” The
husband replied, “I didn’t know you wanted the end cut off, why do you do
that?” She said, “I always do it because that’s the way my mother did it.” They
went in the kitchen and asked her mother why she did it that way, she said her mother always did! So they gave grandma a call and asked her.
She said, “I cut off the end because my roaster was too small!” What guides us as we live as pilgrims in a
fallen world? Is it tradition? Do we do
it this way because it is what we have always done? Or are we diligently
seeking to submit our hearts and lives in obedience to Christ? Why do we make
the choices we do? What guides us? What are the factors that motivate us? If we
are truly free in Christ, how then should we live?
The Big Idea:
We are free in Christ to make choices that edify others, lift up the gospel,
and so, glorify God.
I.
We are free to make choices that edify
(23-30). The principles for using Christian freedom).
23 "All things are lawful," but not all
things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build
up. 24 Let no one seek his
own good, but the good of his neighbor.
Paul begins this paragraph
repeating again what was apparently a favorite phrase of the Corinthians, one
that he had quoted back in 6:12,
“All things are lawful for me," but not all
things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be
enslaved by anything.”
Paul,
in that context, was talking about Christian freedom and makes the same initial
statement as here in I Corinthians 10, “…but
not all things are helpful…” Not every choice we make is good for us, or helpful
for others. In I Corinthians 6 Paul used this same phrase and followed it by
saying, “I will not be mastered by
anything!” In other words, he is not going to use his freedom in Christ to
do something that will be addictive or that would enslave him. In that case, he used a “negative” guide to
help with his decisions. Here, in chapter 10, the same statement is used in
parallel with a positive idea, does this choice, this action, edify, or “build
up,” those that are affected by it?
The word “build up” is a common one in
the New Testament, oikodomeo. The
word originally meant “to build a house,”
came to mean “build, build up” and
usually in the New Testament has a more metaphorical sense of “edify.” The progression in Paul’s
argument is interesting, he doesn’t want to use his freedom or make choices
that would cause others to stumble, what’s more, he does want to make
choices that are good, choices that build up.
Putting the chapters together, something
isn’t helpful or good if it would enslave me, it is helpful or
good if it is edifying. The focus in the latter is more outward, the effect on
my neighbor. Paul talked about our freedom in Christ, and the need to guard
against abusing it when he said in Galatians 5:13-15,
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do
not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve
one another. 14 For the whole
law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as
yourself."
We should not be enslaved, we are free! Not free to
sin, but free to serve in love, with joy. Remember the acrostic of the word
J.O.Y.—Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last. We are free, but we need to use our freedom
with care. How will it impact others, how will it reflect on the Lord?
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."
The idea here seems to be, “Don’t ask,
don’t tell!” – Don’t make an issue of your freedom in areas not directly
addressed in Scripture. The Corinthians were saying, “All things are lawful to me! [We’re under grace not law!]” Paul
says, listen, it’s not about us, after all, “The earth is the Lord’s,” as is everything in it! When the
Corinthians bought meat in the market, or if they ate at someone’s house where
the meat came from the market, they didn’t need to inquire about it’s history,
where it came from. It all belongs to God! They didn’t need to ask questions. Is
this meat kosher? Is it organic? What was the cow’s name? It didn’t matter! They
could eat it with thanksgiving!
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?
He is talking about eating with
unbelievers – Don’t make an issue, don’t ask questions (we want to avoid
legalism!). If they make a point of it
however, and it seems that it might be a point of weakness or offense, for
their sake, abstain. We have the earlier principle, we don’t want to cause a
weaker brother to stumble, I think along the same lines, we don’t want to be an
impediment to someone believing. We are
free in Christ, we really are. Free to make choices that edify others and hold
forth the gospel, and so, glorify God.
II.
We are free to make choices that glorify God (31). This is really the heart of the matter...
“31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God…”
What
should not primarily motivate my choices, has come through in these chapters:
my will, my pleasure, my comfort and security. Whether you eat or drink (eat what? Drink
what? You fill in the blanks!). Whatever
you do, do it not selfishly, but intentionally, for God’s glory. As fallen
humans we tend to focus on ourselves. It’s what we do. When I counsel with
people who are struggling with an issue of conduct, sometimes the question is
asked of me, “Don’t I have the right to be happy?!” They have already made up
their mind that happiness is going to be found in this behavior, in a certain
choice, in what they want. First of
all, true happiness will be found in the will of God. Secondly, it’s not
about me, it’s about God, and His glory.
Can I engage in this activity to the glory of God? Some things the Bible
speaks to are actions that specifically glorify God...
·
Faith gives glory to God: Speaking of Abraham Paul said in Romans 4:20 – “No
distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his
faith as he gave glory to God...”
·
In his discourse on “abiding in Christ” Jesus told
his disciples in the upper room that bearing good fruit glorifies God: John 15:8 – “By this my Father is
glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
·
We spent a couple
of weeks in our Wednesday night devotionals looking at Psalm 118, which begins
and ends with the admonition, “Give
thanks to Yahweh for He is good, and His steadfast love endures forever!” Focus
on that idea of giving thanks: In an earlier psalm we saw that being thankful
glorifies God: Psalm 50:23, God says
– “The one who offers
thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I
will show the salvation of God!"
·
We pray for the
persecuted church as we must, recognizing the price that some pay to name the
name of Jesus. Somehow, through the faithful endurance and steadfast hope of
believers, suffering as a Christian can bring God glory: I Peter 4:14-16 – “14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you
are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a
murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a
Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”
·
Prayer, asking in
the name of Jesus, glorifies God (or more accurately, God answering prayers
offered in His name!): John 14:13 “13
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son.”
Remember that this is God’s story, we have a small part in it. The old Westminster
catechism got it right that our chief end is to glorify Him, to lift up
His name. The context has been talking about meat sacrificed to idols. But
notice here that Paul widens the discussion, he is giving a principle that
ought to have much broader application in the life of the Christian. “Whether
you eat or drink...” He hasn’t been
talking about drinking anything up to now, so he is broadening the discussion.
Then he goes even further “...whatever
you do...”! That is about as broad as it gets! Our choices in life, big and small, daily and
once in a lifetime, should have a desire, a longing, a goal, for God’s glory at
the forefront. A
pastor friend of mine prays for a group of ministry acquaintances every Sunday
morning. I look forward to seeing his post at around 6 AM on Sunday. Today his
prayer was that God would give us the wisdom to understand the vanity of that which is temporal, and
the glory of that which is eternal.
That
should be my motivation: To always seek to act in a way that brings God glory,
that lifts up the name of Jesus. We are free in Christ to make choices that
edify others, lift up the gospel, and so, that glorify God.
III.
We are free to make choices for the sake of the Gospel (10:33-11:1).
“Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to
the church of God…”
Let me say this: we cannot avoid the
fact that the message of the Cross will offend people. That is the way it is,
there is a conflict of kingdoms, an unwillingness on the part of unregenerate
humans to come to God on His terms. It’s the outright rebellion of Psalm 2:1,2
exposed on the stage of history:
“Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings
of the earth take their stand against Yahweh, and against His anointed...”
The
offense of the Cross is not what Paul is speaking about here. That
we cannot avoid. He is talking about us being offensive in our speech or conduct. People may not accept what we
tell them, they may not even like what we tell them, but if we genuinely
care about them, if we love them and want the best for them, that should come
through in how we speak. Give no offense. We don’t want to be an obstacle to
the gospel, we don’t want to impede someone’s growth in the faith. Remember
Paul bent over backwards not to offend. He sought to be “all things to all men so that be all means
he might win some.” Here he mentions three groups, to avoid
offending: Jews, Greeks, and the Church of God.
First he says, “Give no offense to Jews…” Since there were believing Jews in the
church, they might be included in what Paul is saying here, but it seems that
he might be emphasizing Jews who had not yet believed (notice the emphasis on people
coming to saving faith in v.33). He
knows full well that aspects of the message might be offensive to Jews, that
was unavoidable. The idea of a crucified Messiah was scandalous to the
Jewish mind. The messiah was to be a victor and deliverer, not an accursed
criminal humiliated in a public execution!
That did not fit their hope, it didn’t make sense. Only by God opening
their mind could they (or anyone!) grasp the significance of the substitutionary
atonement! The offense of the cross was unavoidable,
but Paul strongly urged the Corinthians to avoid unnecessarily offending Jews. If you have a Jewish neighbor, out of concern
for their sensibilities it might not be a good idea to roast a pig on a spit in
your back yard just to prove you are free to eat pork! Why offend them? Keep the door open to be a
good neighbor and share Christ with them in the future. Remember how Paul, at the outset of the
second missionary journey, had Timothy circumcised “because of the Jews in that region”? He knew that his ministry
would take him into the synagogues, and why risk offense, since Timothy was
half Jewish?
“Give
no offense… to Greeks…” This is where the Corinthians were, right in the
center of Greek culture and commerce. The pagan idolatry of the city no doubt
grieved Paul in Corinth just as it had in Athens. But Paul was all about
calling people into a life changing relationship with Jesus. He did not say they needed to turn over a new
leaf and clean up their lives before they came to Jesus. He did call them to recognize their need, and
to come to One who made possible new life through faith in Christ. Remember how Paul spoke on Mars Hill in
Athens? He saw they had an altar to an unknown god and used that as a bridge to
speak to them. He looked for common ground and used that as a starting point to
lift up the Gospel of Christ.
“Give
no offense... to the Church of God…” He spoke finally of those who had
believed. Included in this would be the weaker brother he had mentioned in
chapter 8, the one who had received life through faith in Jesus but who did not
yet have a firm, well-grounded sense of the freedom that entailed. We wouldn’t want to make choices that would
cause someone to stumble or set them back in their faith. I think by now you
have an idea that I am not very legalistic, that I try to be intentionally
grace oriented. We don’t define our
faith by what we don’t do. I don’t decide for you in areas not directly
addressed in Scripture, but I hope to give you a foundation to make choices
that honor God. We don’t want to be legalists who emasculate the gospel of
grace, but neither do we want to offend those who may not have come to the same
sense of “freedom” in Christ. If I get
too specific here, I risk offending, so you can fill in the blanks!
…just as I try to please everyone in everything I
do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
Paul’s
heart was driven by a sense of mission. His rights, much less his comfort and
security were not of primary importance. What mattered most was God’s glory and
the mission he has entrusted to the church. We are called to bring the message
of grace to the world, that has to drive us, it has to be our motivation!
11:1 Be imitators of me, as
I am of Christ.”
It is convicting to realize that
people are watching. We just had VBS and had a really great group of leaders,
including a couple of teens. Teens, how is it to know that those young children
look up to you? They will follow your example?
Parents how do you feel when you consider that your kids are watching
you? They see how you interact with one
another. It will impact them later when they get interested in the opposite
sex, and eventually when they marry. Paul was sufficiently assured of his own
walk with the Lord that he could say, “Be
imitators of me...” i.e, “Follow me,
as I follow Christ.” Notice that the ultimate example is Jesus. He doesn’t
say do everything I do. Rather, to the degree that I follow the example of
Jesus, you can follow me! That is convicting, because I know how often my
example falls short. But it is incentive to strive to be closer to Him. Do you ever feel like someone is watching? You
are not just being paranoid! You can be pretty sure that someone is watching, much of the time. What kind
of example are we setting for them? I think I told you before of the time I was
sitting in a restaurant, I looked across the room and saw this sad faced, old, bald
headed guy sitting alone. I thought, “I wonder what his story is?” Then I
reached up to touch my face and realized I was looking at my own reflection in
the mirror across the room! People are
watching us, are we living in a way that shows the hope we have in Christ?
What
is God saying to me in this passage? We are free in Christ to make choices that edify others, hold forth
the gospel, and so, glorify God.
What
would God have me to do in response to this passage? Have
you been cutting the end of off any hams lately? Why do we do what we do? What
guides our choices? The more closely we
follow the Lord, the more time we spend with Him, the longer we are at His feet
communing and learning from Him, the more we will reflect His character. We read in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” That
is not living by a set of rules, it is a transformation the takes place from
the inside out. That is God working in us!
We all make choices every day. Some things the Bible is very
clear about, there is no debate or doubt. Marriage is a lifetime commitment
between a man a woman. Human life has value, humans are uniquely created in God’s
image, and He states “You shall not murder.” So we speak up against those who
would slaughter innocent lives. You shall not commit adultery, you shall not
steal, you shall not bear false witness. If we believe the Bible we agree, God
said it, that settles it. What about the
gray areas not addressed in Scripture? We look for principles to guide us, we
see several in this context. We are free, but will my choice cause a weaker
brother to stumble? Will it work for good in someone’s life, will it build them
up or tear them down? Will it encourage
faith in an unbeliever or be an impediment? Can I do it to the glory of God? We
are free to make choices that edify others, hold forth the gospel, and so
glorify God.
Think about
that. AMEN.
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