Knowledge or Love?

“So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live —  for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble” 1 Cor 8:13.

In 1 Corinthians 8, the apostle Paul talks about knowledge and love. As he says, knowledge puffs people up, and love builds others up. Often, Christians with a lot of knowledge feel like they’re special because of their knowledge, and Paul says you are special because of your love. When he talks about love, he talks about giving up your own rights to consider the conscious of those who perhaps do not have your knowledge.

Specifically, Paul talks about idols and how they are nothing; and they are not. But to some people who lack that knowledge, they could matter. Those who love the brethren are willing to abstain for the sake of that weaker brother. That is love, giving up your own right to help someone else, even if they don’t know to appreciate it.

You don’t do things that hurt others or perhaps move others away from the one true God – even though you have knowledge that something is not wrong. Love is doing what is best for others, as you would want them to do for you if you were in their shoes.

I remember growing up in a non-churched home and hearing all my life about greedy preachers. There are many unbelievers who still believe that church is just about money — and some are. When an unbeliever turns on a Christian program and hears a preacher constantly asking for money, it could turn them away from God, which is exactly what Paul is talking about in Chapter 8. As Christians, we have a responsibility to make sure that we bring no reproach on God.

Think about like this. If that unbeliever is turned away from God because of what I do, then God could be justified in holding me accountable for his soul, at least to some degree.

When an unbeliever turns on your program, what is the message he gets? You are responsible for that message and what you are teaching. God holds teachers to a greater standard because of their ability to influence.