1 Corinthians 10:27-33 KJV
If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?
For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
I think verse 32 means almost the opposite of what most people who read it think. Most people think this means that we ought not to offend others.
We ought not to take stands that another might be offended by
We ought not to preach a message that a listener would be offended at
We ought not to talk to people about death and hell lest we offend them
But the context says something opposite of that. The context is that we ought to be careful not to do something that would hamper them spiritually.
Paul said that there was nothing wrong with eating meat sold in the shambles - that is meat that had been slaughtered as part of a pagan ritual. Paul said
That the meat is just meat
That there are no gods in the idols anyway and
That we are at liberty to eat that meat
On the other hand, if the person who has served us the meat declares to us that in the eating of that meat we are offering it to idols, then don't eat the meat, "...for conscience sake..." But then he says not for our own conscience, but for the other. Now, the other may be offended that we refuse to eat the meat offered to the idol, but a bigger offense exists here; by eating I might avoid offending the man, but I will also be endorsing his idolatry. My desire to avoid hurting him would in fact harm him in a greater way, that is, spiritually.
We who are Christians ought to want to please all men in all things. We ought to seek their profit. But the profit we are to seek is for their spiritual well being and not that we have not offended them on some earthly level.
If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?
For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
I think verse 32 means almost the opposite of what most people who read it think. Most people think this means that we ought not to offend others.
We ought not to take stands that another might be offended by
We ought not to preach a message that a listener would be offended at
We ought not to talk to people about death and hell lest we offend them
But the context says something opposite of that. The context is that we ought to be careful not to do something that would hamper them spiritually.
Paul said that there was nothing wrong with eating meat sold in the shambles - that is meat that had been slaughtered as part of a pagan ritual. Paul said
That the meat is just meat
That there are no gods in the idols anyway and
That we are at liberty to eat that meat
On the other hand, if the person who has served us the meat declares to us that in the eating of that meat we are offering it to idols, then don't eat the meat, "...for conscience sake..." But then he says not for our own conscience, but for the other. Now, the other may be offended that we refuse to eat the meat offered to the idol, but a bigger offense exists here; by eating I might avoid offending the man, but I will also be endorsing his idolatry. My desire to avoid hurting him would in fact harm him in a greater way, that is, spiritually.
We who are Christians ought to want to please all men in all things. We ought to seek their profit. But the profit we are to seek is for their spiritual well being and not that we have not offended them on some earthly level.
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