By Roy Ciampa, Ph. D.
Armstrong Chair of Religion, Samford University
INTERDEPENDENT INDEPENDENCE
1 Corinthians 10:23–33
This is a time of year when Americans celebrate our national independence and literally thank God for the freedoms and rights we have in this country. It is good to recognize the special blessings we have experienced as a nation, but it is even better to recognize and reflect upon the blessings and freedom we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. In the first century some Corinthian believers exercised their rights and freedoms in unhealthy ways, causing harm to others. Paul explains the responsibilities that come with our freedom in Christ, leading us to focus on the well-being of others as much as on our own.
Do what is beneficial to others. (23–24)
There are several places in 1 Corinthians where it seems likely Paul is quoting sayings that were popular in the church in Corinth but needed to be corrected or modified to some extent. Paul repeats the saying “everything is permissible,” and each time he quotes it, he immediately qualifies it. Even if “everything is permissible,” not everything is beneficial, and certainly not everything they did made them stronger in their faith. We must not focus on our rights and freedoms at the expense of the good of others.
Don’t offend others unnecessarily. (25–30)
In Corinth the issue of freedoms and rights was tied to the issue of food offered to idols. Most of the meat at that time would have been offered to idols. Paul taught believers are allowed to eat all kinds of food because, according to Psalm 24:1, it all belonged to God and not to any idol. Christians could also accept invitations to dinner at a neighbor’s home and eat what was served without asking about the food.
But if anyone identified some food as having been offered to an idol, Paul said the believer should refrain from eating it. The issue was not with the food but with the conscience of anyone observing a believer who knowingly ate food offered to an idol. That person could mistake the behavior for an endorsement of idolatry, leading him or her to denounce the Christian for hypocrisy and possibly to feel more justified in his or her own idolatry. It wouldn’t necessarily matter that the believer had given thanks to God for the food. The Christian might still be thought to have given in to idolatry.
What mattered to Paul was not whether the other person was right or wrong about the believer’s participation in idolatry, but the spiritual harm it might cause other people when they perceive the Christian to be engaging in idolatry rather than abstaining.
Do what gives a witness for Christ. (31–33)
Eating and drinking are some of the most mundane, routine things we do each day. We are tempted to think these little things are insignificant.
But eating and drinking was a context where the people of God often got themselves into trouble in the Old Testament and in the early church. In all the little things we do each day, we have the ability to glorify God by prioritizing the well-being of those around us or to hurt God’s reputation by unnecessarily offending our neighbors. In Paul’s day, Jews or Greeks might marginalize each other, while today various minority groups often are marginalized.
We glorify God when we reflect His love for others, not offending them or putting our benefit ahead of theirs, but showing in concrete ways our desire to honor, respect and (as far as ethics allow) please those around us. This is part of what it means to witness of Christ’s love for our neighbors and of His work within us as we serve as His hands and feet to those around us.
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