“14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean. 15 For if your brother or sister is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy, by what you eat, someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and receives human approval.”
In verse 14, Paul reveals his position on the Jewish dietary laws, declaring now that since Jesus has fulfilled the law, nothing in itself is unclean. However, what is unrighteous in God’s sight is when we carelessly exercise our freedom in Christ and cause a brother or sister to stumble in the process. Paul tells us that it doesn’t matter even if you are justified in your Christian freedom, if your brother or sister is truly convicted in their conscience that something is unclean, to them it is, and to eat it would be sin. We must be considerate of our brothers and sisters. An implication of this thoughtful love toward our brothers and sisters is that we must know our fellow Christians well enough to know their strong convictions. To do that, we must be involved in their lives, doing things like studying the Scripture with them, and have theological discussions with them. How else will we know them?
“For if your brother or sister is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy, by what you eat, someone for whom Christ died.” (v. 15) This gets at the heart of the issue. If you’re willing to risk that your brother or sister in Christ might stumble and sin because of a right you exercise, that is not love. Look at the warning Paul provides to the Corinthian church about abusing our freedom in Christ:
“Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat. But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.” — 1 Corinthians 8:8-9
Sometimes, we must be willing to set aside our freedom to keep our brothers and sisters in Christ from temptation and sin. Are we so attached to our freedom that we are not willing to deny ourselves anything for the sake of our fellow believers? This may indicate an idol in the heart of the “strong” Christian, revealing that they are in fact not strong at all! If you are not willing to relinquish even one right so that your brother or sister may not sin, you must ask yourself why you are holding on to this right so tightly.
“So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 8:11-12
To exercise one’s freedom in Christ is a good thing, but it ceases to be good when we abuse it and hurt our brother or sister because of our unwillingness to relinquish it. When this happens, what God has intended as good and a blessing will be slandered and talked about as sinful and evil by others. We must realize that the kingdom of God is much more than just the freedom to eat food and drink drink. Rather, the kingdom of God is about living in righteousness, not causing our fellow believers to stumble, but living at peace with them and experiencing the joy of salvation through faith in Christ with them!
Whoever lays aside their rights so that they may lift up and encourage their fellow believers is serving Christ, is acceptable to God, and will represent the faith well among others. Rather than slandering what God has called good, you will be acceptable to God. Rather than causing your brother or sister to stumble, you will receive their approval.
“Indeed, we are giving careful thought to do what is right, not only before the Lord but also before people.” — 2 Corinthians 8:21
“Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.” — 1 Peter 2:12
Powerful reminder!