SERIES: Christ Is the Answer When the Church Is in Crisis
Using Freedom Rightly
SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 10:23-11:1
Introduction: You know friends, I really look forward to our times together here at First Free. Sunday is the high point of my week. But it hasn’t always been. It wasn’t my favorite time when I was growing up. I was always in church, and I never really rebelled against going (it wouldn’t have done much good–my dad was the pastor), but neither did I enjoy it very much. Why the difference today? Well, there are probably a lot of reasons.
The little stone church at Amelia and Fairlawn in Webster Groves, where our family attended from when I was 7 until I was 17, was the spiritual home for many godly, committed believers, but church life in general left a lot to be desired, at least for me. There wasn’t much in the music to attract a teenager. John Mack was a wonderful Christian, but his operatic solos wore thin in a hurry. The choir loft could hold 12 singers if they really squeezed in, but we rarely had 12 people who could sing well enough to volunteer.
While Mrs. Mark Andrews did well with a worn-out pipe organ, the piano accompaniment was unremarkable unless Sherry MacKeen happened to be home from college. The wooden pews were very hard, and the buzzing fans that stirred the hot air in the summer made it difficult to hear. The little hand fans from the funeral home were an added distraction (if you remember those, raise your hand. Gen-Xer’s, ask your parents what a funeral fan is). The entire youth group fit into the belfry room, and I remember getting really bored reading Pilgrim’s Progress, out loud, from start to finish in Sunday School.
Now I know some of you roll your eyes as soon as you hear your parents say, “When I was your age ….” But I don’t think we realize how good we have it today, with the resources, the music, the technology, the mission trips, Passport to Adventure, and other privileges we and our children have at our disposal today. But I’ll tell you something–the thing we have today that we didn’t enjoy back then that I cherish more than anything else is freedom in Christ. I believe I have a far better understanding of what it means to be free than I ever did growing up.
As I have mentioned before, that church and many like it, was caught up in a fair amount of legalism–“performance Christianity,” you might call it–a compulsion to “do better and be better” in order to please God and keep Him off our case. We spent a lot of time and energy emphasizing what we didn’t do.
Now that may not have been all bad. I don’t recall any unwed moms in our youth group or kids into drugs, and there were very few divorces. On the other hand, a lot of the kids in that church jettisoned their faith when they went off to college, so our success rate was mixed.
Now when I suggest to you that I have learned a lot about freedom since those days, I don’t mean that I have changed my lifestyle much from what I grew up with. Today I do play hearts once in a while, and I do go to the movie theater about once a year, but I never did take up smoking or chewing or social drinking. My wife and I took a couple of ballroom dancing lessons about ten years ago, and we went to one dance (an FCA event at Bonhomme Presbyterian Church), but I decided quickly that I didn’t have what it takes to be a good dancer.
So freedom in Christ for me is not a “get out of jail free card” that allows me to do a whole lot of things now that I was not allowed to do as a kid. To me freedom is not, in the words of Janis Joplin, “just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” To me freedom is a state of mind that looks for possibilities instead of problems, sees what’s permitted instead of what’s off limits, and views life as a great gift from God–something to be enjoyed and celebrated.
Just as God put thousands of trees in the Garden of Eden and restricted access to only one, so He has set endless possibilities before us and very few restrictions. To focus on the restrictions, and then to make up additional ones (which is what legalists always do, whether they are NT Pharisees or modern ones) is such a sad waste. I want to focus on the freedom I have to become all God created me to be.
Of course, freedom is never absolute. Throughout our history, the United States, perhaps the freest country in the history of the world, has generally recognized that liberty carries with it responsibility. Freedom of speech does not include the right to slander or libel. Freedom of assembly does not entail the right to riot. Freedom to bear arms does not mean one has the right to target practice within the city limits. Freedom of religion does not give you the right to cram your religion down someone else’s throat. So too. the freedom we have in Christ is not absolute. It is a precious jewel–a commodity to be used and enjoyed, but we must always consider how our exercise of freedom will impact the lives of others–believers and unbelievers alike.
With that introduction, may I give you some context as to where we are in our continuing study of 1 Corinthians? In chapters 8, 9, and 10 Paul’s overall subject has been Christian liberty. He is delighted that the believers in Corinth are enjoying their freedoms, but he is concerned that some have been using them selfishly. This concluding section summarizes and drives home some key principles on Christian freedom. Please listen carefully as I read our Scripture text for today, 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1:
“Everything is permissible”–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”–but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake–the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God‑‑ even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
By the way, I hope you’re not too disappointed that this is not a Mother’s Day message, per se. A dear friend suggested on Friday that I go ahead and preach the sermon but change the title to, “Everything I Learned about Freedom I Learned from My Mother,” or “Four Things Your Mother Should Have Told You about Freedom in Christ.” I might have done that, except the outline had already gone to press. Seriously, mothers, your children need to learn these principles early, and you have more influence on them than anyone else. But you will need great wisdom and discernment. It’s never easy to walk the fine line between permissiveness and over-protectiveness. But in all honesty this message is as much for dads and singles and kids, as it is for mothers.
The passage opens with this principle:
Christians are free! (But not absolutely so).
I wanted to stop with just those first three words because they carry one of the fundamental messages of the NT, but I decided to add the other four words as a parenthetical thought. And they really are parenthetical. Paul loves freedom. And for the third and fourth times in four chapters he tells the believers in Corinth, a pretty free-wheeling city already, that “everything is permissible.”
When we ran across these same words back in chapter 6, we noted that this was very possibly a popular slogan in the Corinthian Church, a slogan which Paul affirmed but also qualified. But I’m inclined to think now that Paul not only affirmed it but may have actually been the originator of it. I suspect that when he was preaching in Corinth, he used that phrase himself on a group of uptight converts who had either just come out of the straight jacket of Judaism or were recent converts from paganism. I can imagine him saying, “Friends, quit being prisoners of fear and suspicion, worrying every moment that you might mess up. Don’t live your life always glancing behind you to see if the Celestial Cop is coming after you with His lights on. Jesus has set you free! Everything is permissible.”
He meant, of course, that everything not expressly forbidden in Scripture is permissible. That in itself was a radical idea, especially to the Jews. They were used to the scribes and Pharisees adding endless rules and regulations to the laws God laid down in the OT. They seemingly took the attitude, “Everything is forbidden unless God expressly says you can do it,” while Paul turned the tables and said, “Everything is permissible unless God has expressly forbidden it.”
But it seems that at Corinth some in the congregation had taken Paul’s teaching and turned it into a slogan to justify their own selfish desires. Their version was: “Everything is permissible for me, and if you don’t like it, get a life; deal with it!” So, once again Paul carefully qualifies his teaching. He still affirms that everything is permissible, but he wants the believers to ask a few questions before they exercise their freedom. It’s a sort of check list for decision making. The first, which I have already mentioned, is so obvious he doesn’t state it, but I think it was clearly in his mind:
Is it forbidden? Does the Bible say a believer shouldn’t do it? Then it can’t be an area of freedom.
Is it beneficial? That is, does it help you? Now believe it or not, I think chewing tobacco is an area of freedom for a Christian, because it’s not forbidden in Scripture. But what does it do for you besides turn your teeth yellow, make your breath stink, cause throat cancer, cost you money, make ball players look like squirrels storing nuts, and cause their wives to throw up? No one could make a very convincing argument that it is beneficial.
Is it constructive?[i] The term used here is a common one for building houses. Does this freedom, when exercised, result in the building up of others? Will it help them grow in their faith and become more Christ-like?
A conclusion to draw: Edification is more important than self-gratification. Here’s how he summarizes the issue in verse 24: “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” Now frankly, I don’t think he means that quite like it sounds. There is nothing wrong with seeking benefit for oneself, but that should never be our highest or only goal. I think he means, “Nobody should seek his own good to the exclusion of someone else’s good.” In other words, edification of others is more important than gratification of self!
Now in verses 25-30 the Apostle moves on to …
A case study in Christian freedom (25-26)
He returns to the meat market where we’ve been several times before. In case you’ve just recently joined us in 1 Corinthians, the meat sold in the Corinthian marketplace caused an issue of consciencefor some new believers in Corinth. This was because much of the meat was wholesaled in the marketplace by the pagan temples around the city. The temples got the meat from the huge number of animal sacrifices brought by people seeking to appease their gods. This created a question of conscience for some Christians, especially those who had recently been converted out of idolatry. They were asking, “Should we eat meat that was sacrificed to the image of a false god? Isn’t it tainted?”
You will recall last week that Paul urged his converts to stay completely away from participation in idolatry or false religions, but this was a different issue. One can carry the fear of idols too far. In verse 25 he says, “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience.” He says, in effect, you can easily be overly cautious in your shopping habits. If you find a nice steak in the market, buy it, and don’t try to find out the steer’s pedigree. If you’re sure it didn’t have mad cow disease, don’t obsess over the source of your sirloin! After all, the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it!
Friends, this is a tremendously important truth: This world is God’s world. All true history is Hisstory. All real science is His science. All legitimate medicine is His medicine. The human body is His creation. Sex was His idea. Amen? Amen! Let’s celebrate the goodness of God and his creative handiwork. Let’s be grateful for His good gifts and not ask too many questions where there is no clear biblical prohibition.
Now here’s the case study, slightly updated: Suppose an unbelieving neighbor invites you over to his house. You know this guy is a big-time pagan who worships the idols of our culture. Maybe he’s like Paul Stolwyk’s old neighbor who made book on the side. You’ve tried to be friendly to him and your wife has taken cookies over when their baby was born. After all, you’re trying to build bridges to this family in the hope that someday you’ll be able to share the Gospel with them. Should you accept his invitation for dinner? Yes, by all means. If you want to go, go. How else do you expect to reach him?
Not only that, it is OK to eat whatever he sets before you. I love that verse, “eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.” If he serves prime rib, enjoy it and don’t ask where he got it or how he paid for it. Sure, it’s possible he shoplifted it or bought it with money he made giving odds on the Blues/Avalanche series. But that doesn’t make you guilty. Meat is meat. Don’t worry about it. Eat, enjoy, and revel in that thick, medium-rare slab of juicy prime rib with horseradish on the side.
If I can be so bold, it seems to me that Paul is saying, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” Now I know that’s not always true. If you don’t know the bridge is out on a dark and lonely road, it can hurt you. If you don’t know someone has slipped a mickey in your drink, it can hurt you. But when it comes to the grey area of Christian conduct, what you don’t know can’t hurt you. So, don’t ask so many questions. Lighten up a little.
But that’s not the end of the case study. He goes on to say, “But if anyone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice,’ then do not eat it.” It’s not entirely certain who this other person is. Perhaps it is the host himself. Maybe he says to you, “I got this meat at the Temple of Aphrodite; it was just offered to an idol this afternoon. That’s no problem to you, is it?” Or, in the modern context, “I used a five-finger discount at Schnucks to bring home the bacon tonight.” Then politely decline and tell him the vegetables look so good, you think you’re going to pass on the meat; besides your cholesterol is a little high. The fact that he is making an issue of it shows that he is expectingyou as a Christian to decline. He’s probably testing you to see if, when put on the spot, you will do what he thinks Christians should do, namely decline tainted meat.
But maybe the other person in our hypothetical case study is not the host. Perhaps he is another neighbor who was recently converted out of paganism. This guy happens to be a weaker brother. That is, his conscience is very sensitive, and it took every bit of courage he had to even accept the invitation to come to this unbeliever’s house. Suppose he comes over to you as you are waiting in the buffet line and whispers in your ear, “You won’t believe what I saw? I saw our host buying this meat at the Eros Temple and Deli this afternoon. What do you think we should do?” Paul says, “Don’t eat it.”
In drawing attention to the origin of the meat, the weak brother is revealing that he is having a conscience attack. He’s wrong in his view, but a conscience is a very precious and fragile thing. It may be educated over time, but it should never be violated. So, while the first principle in the case study might be, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you,” the second principle might be expressed this way: “What you do know can hurt someone else.” If someone identified the meat as idol meat, then it’s possible his conscience is at stake, and it’s best not to exercise your freedom.
I think Paul would say to a non-drinker today, “When you’re invited to a wedding, drink the punch. You don’t have to ask what’s in it” (unless, of course, you’re a recovering alcoholic, in which case you might be wise to ask). That doesn’t mean, of course, that you have to keep going back for more, but neither do you have to feel like you’ve sinned if you drink a cup of punch that has a little rum in it. But if someone tells you it’s spiked, it might be best to have coffee instead.[ii]
Now the last half of verse 29 and 30 are very difficult to understand in light of what Paul has just said. He seems at first reading to be contradicting himself about the importance of being sensitive to the other man’s conscience. Look at it again: “For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?”
I think the best answer to this little dilemma is the way Eugene Peterson has translated it in The Message. He interprets Paul as going back to his freedom message after stating an exception. Here’s how he puts it: “But, except for these special cases, I’m not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say.” And with that Paul introduces to us the bottom-line concerns that should cause us to limit our liberty: the glory of God and the salvation of men.
The bottom line on Christian freedom
I know Paul has already encouraged us to ask some questions to help us decide whether to do something in the grey area. Those were good and profitable questions:
Is it forbidden?
Is it beneficial?
Is it constructive?
But now he’s bringing it down to where we live, where the rubber meets the road. Instead of philosophical questions, he’s now asking very personal questions? Can you do whatever it is you’re considering doing to the glory of God? And if you do it, will it help or hinder your ability to reach out to unbelievers? Let’s take those one at a time.
Our primary concern: the glory of God. There’s hardly a more far-reaching principle for Christian living anywhere in the Bible than this one in verse 31: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” OK, what does it mean to do something for the glory of God? I would like to explain it indirectly by suggesting that we practice asking a question or praying a prayer before doing anything in the grey area.
The question might be, “If Jesus were here with me right now, would I be doing this, or would I be embarrassed for Him to see it?” Well, He is here right now, and He does see it. That can be either a very comforting or very convicting thought!
The prayer might be, “God, thank you for giving me the privilege of doing this. It is a gift from you, and if it weren’t for your grace and goodness, my life would not be enhanced with this activity.’” If you can’t pray such a prayer, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it. Because if the Bible teaches us anything, it is that our purpose in life–our reason for being–is to bring glory to God. That’s why He created us.
Let’s try to apply this principle to some issues in our day. Can you have a beer to God’s glory and thank Him for it? Some may be able to, but others cannot. Can you dance to God’s glory? I’m sure some kinds of dancing can be to God’s glory–in fact, this Friday night’s Ballet Magnificat is going to prove that. But young people, can you go to a Rave to the glory of God? I seriously doubt it.
Can you watch TV to the glory of God? Some, but not all. Can you make love to God’s glory? Absolutely, but not to someone you’re not married to. Can you gamble to God’s glory? Can you swear to God’s glory? Can you smoke to God’s glory? Can you take illegal drugs to God’s glory? I think if we would consistently ask such a question, some grey issues would become black, while others become white. Some will stay grey.
By the way, I’ve interpreted verse 31 primarily in a negative sense, i.e., don’t do anything you can’t do for God’s glory, because I think that’s actually how Paul is using it here. But the positive side is also true and valuable. Whatever you do, do for the glory of God. How many of the mundane issues of your everyday life are done to God’s glory? Oh, I know you sing to God’s glory when you’re in church, and you pray to God’s glory when you pray. But do you drive to God’s glory? Do you do your housework to God’s glory? Do you eat to God’s glory? Do you exercise to God’s glory? Do you mow the lawn to God’s glory?
I’d like to suggest that you make a mental note of the most boring thing you have to do and resolve to do it to God’s glory. Invest that activity with some redeeming value. If you’re a traveling salesman, you might pick up a stack of tapes from the church library, and use your driving time to glorify God through Bible study; or pray while you drive (preferably with your eyes open!). If ironing is your most boring task, you might write some Scripture verses out on cards, set them on the ironing board, and memorize them or meditate on them. Or better yet, pray for the family member whose clothes you are ironing!
But then Paul goes on to a secondary, yet still very important, consideration as he looks at the bottom line on Christian freedom:
Our secondary concern: the salvation of people from a godless eternity. Verse 32: “Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God–even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.” This principle also has both a negative and a positive side to it. The negative is given in verse 32: “Do not cause anyone to stumble.” In the context, I believe Paul is warning us that our liberty should never be used to shock or hurt others. That would be a sin. Many a thing a person may do with perfect safety as far as he himself is concerned, must not be done if it is going to be a stumbling block to someone else.
Now I have stated this before, but I repeat it–there’s a big difference between a weaker brother and a Pharisee, between an unbeliever and a legalist. Paul would bend over backward to avoid causing a weak brother to stumble or to win an unbeliever, but neither he nor Jesus would give an inch to the Pharisee or the legalist.
The positive side is offered in verse 33: “I try to please everybody in every way.” Now that can be easily misunderstood. Paul was definitely not a people-pleaser, as that term is normally understood. What he means is that he worked hard not to give unnecessary offense to people. He avoided anything that might bring disrepute on the Gospel. The Gospel itself has enough offense to it that we don’t need to add unnecessary offense. His next statement clarifies his point: “For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.” Freedom is given to us so that we can enjoy life to the fullest, but also so we can impact our world for Christ. To what extent are we doing that?
Do you have freedom today? Are you using it rightly? Mothers, are you teaching these things to your children? I want to close this morning simply by reading our Scripture text again, only this time from Eugene Petersen’s The Message.
Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don’t have to run an “idolatry test” on every item. “The earth,” after all, “is God’s, and everything in it.” That “everything” certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served.
On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn’t, and you don’t want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.
But, except for these special cases, I’m not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I’m going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!
So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you–you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time, don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the freedom we have in Christ. Thank you for the enormous possibilities and opportunities you have laid before us and for the freedom we have to make decisions. Help us not to forget what Jesus taught us, “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” We acknowledge that the only freedom that is worth anything in eternity is the freedom He purchased for us on Calvary, where He died to provide forgiveness for our sins. Amen.
DATE: May 13, 2001
Tags:
Legalism
Freedom
Alcohol
[i]. This is a different question from the one Paul raised in chapter 6. In that passage he asked, in effect, “will the action become my master?” There are things we may have the right to do but if we’re smart, we won’t .because the danger of addiction is so significant. I wonder if gambling isn’t in that category. There are some strong Biblical arguments against gambling, but they’re all arguments by logic and inference; there is no clear-cut commandment against it. But when we learn that over 10% of those who start gambling are going to become compulsive gamblers, it seems less than sensible to start in the first place, especially when one knows for a fact that the odds of winning the lottery or on the boats are less than the odds of being struck by lightning.
[ii]. I will be the first to admit that it’s not always easy to find modern parallels to biblical issues. Let me attempt to give an illustration from my personal experience. I was reared by parents who were teetotalers; the only alcohol we had in our home was rubbing alcohol. In fact, my dad was so much against alcohol that he wouldn’t even buy Dad’s Root Beer because the bottles were dark and looked like beer bottles. I respect him for his stand.
When my little sister got married some 25 years ago, the rehearsal dinner was held at a fancy K.C. restaurant, and the hosts, of course, were her fiancé’s parents. We had a delicious meal of prime rib (as far as I am aware, it hadn’t been offered to idols, nor was it shoplifted), and sherbet was served for dessert. Now it didn’t take a bionic nose to realize this wasn’t your ordinary sherbet. It had an aroma that was lively and zesty–it was champagne sherbet. My folks ate it without comment, and I think they did the right thing, even considering their personal convictions about alcohol. However, if another guest at the wedding, knowing their convictions, had come to them and said, “Did you know this sherbet has champagne in it?” I strongly suspect they would have declined, and they would have been right in doing so.