Christians and Controversial Topics | 1 Corinthians 8

My name is Jermaine Harrison, if we have not met, and I am the Students Director here at Watermark. I get the privilege of leading and overseeing our ministries to students in grades 6 through 12. Here is a photo of my family. My wife of three and a half years, Hannah, and our 1‑1/2-year-old son, Winslow. It's a privilege to be a husband and a dad in our family.

I was originally born in Jamaica, so I'm from the Caribbean, not from around these parts. I moved to Dallas in 2010 to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. Around the spring of 2012, I started attending Watermark and jumped all in serving with the student ministry. When I graduated from seminary in 2014, I jumped on the team here and have been on staff ever since.

TA just got done teaching through 1 Corinthians, chapter 7. He got to talk about all the very difficult and challenging topics. I thought I was out of the woods until I saw what 1 Corinthians 8 was all about. Here we are. So grab your Bible, grab your journal, and let's get ready to learn together.

To set up where we're going, I'm going to start this message with a controversial statement. Are you ready? All coffee tastes the same. I got some claps in the middle. I love that. Hey, I feel like I have somewhat of the moral authority to even say that because growing up in the Caribbean we didn't drink coffee. We drank tea.

So when I moved here in 2010, I was a blank slate. I was willing to try everything, and I did. Beans from every continent across the world. I tried them all. I tried Chemex. I tried pour overs. I tried Keurigs. I tried Nespresso. I tried $6 cups of coffee. I tried $1 cups of coffee. I hate to break it to you; it all tastes the same.

Additionally, I don't know who needs to hear this, but it's time to stop weighing your coffee beans. It's just time to stop. It's time to stop making sure they're ground to the right size for the smoothest drink or whatever it is. It all tastes the same. I expected the response I got from you guys because it is an illustration of how we as humans see the same thing in different ways.

Some of you guys love Chick-fil-A. Some of you would rather have Cane's maybe. Some of you guys love Velvet Taco. Some of you would rather have Torchy's Tacos. Some of you love Whataburger and some of you are In-N-Out fans. Right? We all see similar things in different ways. The reason I start there is because I think there's an important question for us to consider.

What about disagreeing or seeing things differently on things that actually matter? What about seeing things differently on things that actually matter? Unfortunately, there is so much disunity and division and conflict and anger and harsh words spoken, and the list goes on, because we see things differently.

Maybe for some of you, you haven't spoken to a fellow Christian family member for months, for years, because you see something differently. Or maybe you just had a heated argument on social media yesterday or this past week. I firmly believe that here in our church, not just somewhere out there with other Christians, but here in our church among us, there is too much unresolved conflict and lingering hurts and broken friendships because we see things differently.

So praise God for 1 Corinthians, chapter 8, because it shows us that seeing things differently and the disunity that can come from it isn't unique to 2022. When this letter to the Corinthian church was written almost 2,000 years ago, those Christians were wrestling with a question that we're going to spend our time answering this morning. That is, "How do Christians preserve unity when they disagree on controversial topics?" How do Christians preserve unity when they disagree on controversial topics?

Here's what I mean by controversial. I want to make sure that I'm clear. What the apostle Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 8 isn't the foundational beliefs of orthodox Christianity. He is not saying, "Oh, some people can believe that Jesus is the Son of God and some people can't, and it's fine. Some people can believe he rose from the dead and some people, if you believe differently, that's okay." That's not what he is saying. Those aren't the topics that he is addressing.

He is also not addressing topics that are clearly defined and clearly addressed in God's Word, like marriage, sexuality, greed, pride, abortion, and self-righteousness. He is more so addressing gray-area issues, if you will, where well-meaning and genuine Christians can believe and hold to a different opinion or conviction than someone else.

So the goal of this message is not these things. Let me share with you. It's not to make you believe what I believe or hold a conviction that I hold. The goal of this message isn't even to tell you you shouldn't have a conviction or that you shouldn't share your conviction. There's a time and there's a place appropriately for all of those things.

Hopefully as we spend our time in 1 Corinthians 8, what you'll see is that God isn't necessarily 100 percent clear and specific on 100 percent of the issues that we face, that faithful followers of Jesus can disagree and still maintain unity, and that having unity doesn't mean uniformity where everyone believes the same thing.

There is disunity among the Corinthian Christians on a controversial topic and Paul writes to them, and I think by extension to us, to equip us with three habits that create unity when controversial topics push us to divide. So that's what we're going to spend our time on the rest of this morning addressing and looking at God's Word, 1 Corinthians 8, as Paul shares with us three habits that create unity when controversial topics push us to divide. We'll see the first habit that he shares with us in verses 1 through 3.

1. Care more about making a different than making a point. Care more about making a difference than making a point. Let's read 1 Corinthians 8, verses 1 through 3. "Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that 'all of us possess knowledge.' This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God."

So let me set the stage for you. In the Corinthian church, there were some Christians who believed they could eat meat and food that was offered to idols in the pagan temples of the day. The reason they believed that is that since they had come to faith in Jesus, they understood those idols aren't real. They have no power. They don't exist.

So maybe selfishly they're like, "Okay, so now we can go to the pagan temples where the best meats, the best steaks, are and we can get some Nick & Sam's-type steak for an Applebee's price. Come on, let's go." Right? That's what some of the Christians are saying. "Idols aren't real. This doesn't matter. We can enjoy this."

Then on the other hand are some Christians who had worshipped idols and offered these sacrifices their entire lives who were saying, "Man, I don't want to be associated with or connected with anything to do with the idol worship that I once was associated with. Anyone who does it? I think that they're participating maybe in some sense in the worship of these false gods."

So we have this challenge, this topic, this controversial issue that's bringing division amongst the Corinthian church. As I thought about that and thought about us in 2022, I wondered if the apostle Paul was to write a letter to Watermark Community Church or Christians in 2022, what would be his "now concerning" issues that he would address? So I wrote down some.

He probably would write us letters concerning these. Now concerning tattoos. Now concerning sending your kids to public school or private school or homeschooling. Now concerning alcohol consumption. Maybe how to discipline your kids. The music or the TV shows or the movies that you watch. Masks. Vaccines. Social media. Gun control.

Those would probably be many of the controversial topics that he would write to us to invite us to consider what God's Word has to say. I think that is very interesting that Paul doesn't challenge the Corinthian church to pick a side or he doesn't tell them, "Hey, you're right for what you believe. You're right for the conviction that you hold."

Instead, in the second half of verse 1 he says, "This 'knowledge'…" Whatever your belief or conviction is. "…puffs up…" He is kind of writing to those who wrote… It seems like some of the Christians wrote the letter to him and said, "Hey, tell these people who think meat sacrificed to idols means we're participating in sin to leave us alone. Let us live our lives." Right?

Paul is challenging maybe that group in particular. He says, "This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up." Francis Chan says that too often we have our facts right, and our hearts are wrong. Too often we have our facts right, and our hearts are wrong. So what the apostle Paul is saying is that knowledge is essential.

You should accumulate knowledge, but you should have a specific goal in mind for the accumulation of knowledge. If your accumulation of knowledge is just for you so that you know more or so that you can live your life how you want, then you've missed the point of knowledge. Because the goal of knowledge, the end goal should always be to help love and build up another follower of Jesus, not for your selfish motives or your selfish gain.

So you should get all the knowledge you can. We should to go Bible studies. We should read books. We should listen to podcasts or whatever it might be to learn more about whatever the topic is, but don't just stop at knowledge, is what the apostle Paul is saying. Move forward. Move on to love.

He emphasizes that idea in verse 2 where he says, "If anyone imagines that he knows something…" That is, has an insufficient or incomplete view of knowledge. "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know." Because if knowledge is your goal and that's your endpoint, you're probably going to be a person who cares more about making a point than making a difference.

Then he kind of challenges them with what he says in verse 3. He has been talking about knowledge, and then here's what he says in verse 3. "But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." In other words, he is saying the most important kind of knowing or knowledge isn't what you know, isn't what someone else knows, isn't what you are convicted by, it is that the God of universe knows you. How are you known by God?

Apart from the work of Jesus and placing your faith and trust in his death and burial and resurrection from the dead to offer you new life and new hope and reconciliation to God, apart from that, we are enemies of God. So to be known by God is to have accepted and trusted in the finished work of Jesus. That is the most important kind of knowing.

So the Corinthian church, there was division among them because some people thought it was more important… They were known for making a point versus making a difference. What are you known for? What are we known for? In recent times, there has emerged this concept called a starter pack. Every one of you guys has a starter park.

All you need to do is ask your friends, "Hey, what are the most iconic things about me? What are the iconic habits or things I enjoy or beliefs that I hold?" Those things would be in your starter pack. For example, this lululemon belt bag, not a fanny pack… This lululemon belt bag is maybe a part of what I'm known for.

Everything that I need to travel with is in this convenient belt bag: my phone, my wallet, my keys, my sunglasses, my gluten pills, my eye drops, my pen for whenever I need to write something down, some gum because you never know when you might need gum. Everything is in here and my pockets are empty. It's something that I'm known for, right?

I'm also known maybe as a truth-teller or a problem solver or a decision maker. But what I'm less known for is a person marked by compassion or patience or gentleness. If you read all of Paul's epistles, I don't think I see problem solver in there, but I do see compassion, I see patience, I see gentleness. Those are things that should mark me. I pray that they mark me more and more every single day.

So what's in your starter pack? Are you more known as a keyboard warrior who is typing and sharing your opinions and your beliefs and your convictions online than you are a prayer warrior, going before the throne of grace for those in your life? Have you shared your stances more than you've shared the gospel?

Maybe in your marriage, do you care more about winning an argument than you do winning your spouse? If so, you are more interested in making a point than making a difference. The apostle Paul in God's Word is challenging us and inviting us that if we want to create habits that create unity when controversial topics push us to divide, we need to be people who care more about making a difference than making a point. Then he moves on to the second habit in verses 4 through 8, which is to…

1. Pursue truth while practicing patience. Pursue truth while practicing patience. If you want to create unity when controversial topics push us to divide, pursue truth while practicing patience. I know this spot in the chapter might be an easy place for me to lose you so I want to invite you to lock in because I think it's really important.

So maybe in the first point of making a difference over making a point, the apostle Paul is challenging those who had more freedom to eat the meat sacrificed to idols. Right here in these first few verses at least, he is addressing those who viewed that as sin. He says in 1 Corinthians 8, verses 4 through 6,

"Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that 'an idol has no real existence,' and that 'there is no God but one.' For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many 'gods' and many 'lords'—yet for us…" Who is us? Christians. "…there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."

We just sang that in our last song. So for the Corinthians in their context, there were, as I said, lots of pagan idols with a lot of pagan temples where there was lots of worship offered to these pagan gods to appease them, to allow (they believed) for prosperity to enter their lives, for them to be protected from danger and harm. So in this context, idolatry ran rampant.

So they needed to pursue truth that these idols don't exist. They hold no power. There's only one God, one true God. Now you might listen to that and say, "Jermaine, just keep going. We don't worship idols in America. We don't have statues that are made of wood or gold or silver or other precious metals. We don't do idolatry here." But I think we do.

I was reading this past week in Timothy Keller's book Counterfeit Gods. Here's what he says. "What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. […] An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, 'If I have that, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure.' There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best one is worship."

So I don't know what idol in 2022 may be grasping for your attention and seeking the number one spot in your heart and in your mind, but those idols aren't real. Run from them and run to God. Because he is the only true source of meaning, of hope, of purpose, of satisfaction. But to get there, you have to firmly believe that this truth takes time to take root in your heart.

It takes hard work. It takes commitment. It takes humility to allow your convictions to be informed by what is actually true. So there are some in the Corinthian church who were on this journey, but they weren't there yet. So here's what Paul encourages this church to respond with. First Corinthians, chapter 8, verses 7 and 8:

"However, not all possess this knowledge." Not all have come to this firm conviction in their hearts and in their minds. "But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do."

So what we see in verse 7 in particular is Paul is making a couple of assertions, the first of which is that not all Christians have fully formed opinions or convictions on certain issues. That's why he says "…not all possess this knowledge." Then he says "But some, through former association with idols [still believe that idols exist and that they hold power over us]."

So he is bringing up this idea that our experiences, our upbringing, maybe even our culture have an impact on what we believe, how we believe, and how we live our lives. I grew up going to a Baptist church where people loved God. They loved his Word. They believed in the gospel, and they believed that going to the movies was something that Christians shouldn't do.

I don't know if anyone ever said those words specifically to me, but I knew it or understood it or I believed it, and I didn't for a long time. I don't now because I'm going to see Jurassic World: Dominion tonight, but I did hold that conviction at one point in time. So Paul's point really here is deeply held beliefs don't change overnight. Now we would do well to be patient with each other as we pursue truth and as we're even patient with ourselves that we allow truth to inform our convictions, not the other way around.

So when he says at the end of verse 7 that their conscience is weak and it's defiled? That word weak doesn't mean that that person is more easily running toward sin, but rather (like I've mentioned before) it's someone who is still formulating their conviction on a certain matter, either because they believed and lived one way for their entire lives or maybe they're younger and are still formulating their worldview.

Then verse 8, I don't want us to miss it. It's an easy verse to fly over where he says, "Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do." In other words, what commends us to God isn't our clear convictions, but a clean heart. What commends us to God isn't the things that we believe or that we're right.

What commends us to God is that we are made new by Christ through surrendering our lives to him, believing in his finished work on the cross. That's what commends us to God. Unfortunately, in our Christianity of 2022, we too often tie spiritual maturity to things that have nothing to do with spiritual maturity. I really believe that, that too often we tie beliefs or convictions to spiritual maturity.

Like if someone holds your position or your view, then they're more spiritually mature. We all, I think, have some repenting to do. Maybe intentionally or unintentionally we've told people by our words, by our actions, by our opinions that if you send your kid to public school or private school that you're more or less spiritual.

If you discipline your kids a certain way, if you have a certain opinion on masks or vaccines or whatever it might be… Again, this isn't about one or the other opinion, it's about the fact that we so easily make those markers of spiritual maturity, and they're not. What commends us to God is a clean heart.

So maybe, just maybe, a first step toward unity for some of us to apply today is to go to that family member, that loved one, or to publicly share it on the social media platform that you shared your opinion as if it was a mark of spiritual maturity and to go seek forgiveness of that person or that group of people.

There'll be a lot more unity among Christians if we pursue truth while practicing patience. So the apostle Paul challenges the Corinthian church and us to care more about making a difference than making a point and to pursue truth while practicing patience if we want to create unity when controversial topics push us to divide. Lastly, the apostle Paul encourages us with the third habit, which is…

1. Limit your freedom so others can freely follow Jesus. Limit your freedom so others can freely follow Jesus. First Corinthians chapter 8, verses 9 through 13. "But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."

This portion of Scripture flies in the face of the rugged individualism of 2022 America. It flies in the face of our selfishness and our pride and our, "Let me do me." I remember in seminary when we were talking about this passage in one class and one of the students raised their hand. This isn't exactly what was said, but it was the idea behind what was said after reading this passage. They said, "So you're telling me, Professor, that just because someone might be negatively affected or influenced to sin because of my actions, that I should prayerfully consider not doing it?"

And the Professor said, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to tell you. That's exactly what Paul is trying to say in 1 Corinthians 8." You see, Christians have freedom. We have lots of freedom to believe differently on controversial topics, but we are not free to damage another person's relationship with God. We are not free to damage another person's relationship with God.

He emphasizes this point in verse 10. "For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple…" In other words, if anyone sees you who feels freer and has that conviction that idols don't exist, but they see you eating this meat sacrificed to idols… "…will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak…" If his opinion or conviction isn't fully formed. "…will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?"

The apostle Paul is saying, "While you might be free, Corinthian Christian, to eat food in an idol's temple, is your example potentially confusing or is your example potentially encouraging someone to sin by doing something that they believe might be wrong?" So his basic idea is that your example influences others more than you might think. Your example influences others more than you might think.

I thought about this from a personal experience that I've had recently. Like I said, my wife and I have been married for three and a half years. For most of those three and a half years, I've done something that annoys my wife, like a good husband should from time to time. Sometimes when we sit down for a meal, I'll do this.

I'll just take a drink of a refreshing beverage, whatever it is, "Ah!" I'll do that afterwards, and she hates it. It's so annoying to her, so of course I do it from time to time, like a good husband should. But unknowingly, while I was doing this, someone else was learning from me. You know where this is going. Watch this.

[Video]

Hey, I never sat down one time and said, "Now son, let's annoy your mom together. This is what we're going to do." I never did that, but because he saw me do that multiple times, he learned it. He followed my example, and that's funny, but there are some more serious ways, maybe parents, that your children are learning from you without you saying a word.

Maybe they're learning from you what you should value, what you should prioritize, what's important in your life. Even if you don't have kids, maybe you're married or you're single. You have more influence than you think on the people around you. So verse 11 says, "And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died."

Those last few phrases are really convicting because that's not the way we typically think of the people sitting around us or sitting with you guys at home, but we should view every Christian and every person as the object of Christ's love and affection. That's not just someone who is annoying you. That's not just someone who holds a different opinion than you. That's not just someone who needs to grow up and mature and come to have the same conviction or belief that you do. That's someone for whom Christ died.

Then he builds on that idea. It's not just someone for whom Christ died that you are causing, that you are not building up, but instead tearing down. Even worse than that verse 12 says, "Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ." So it's not just an offense against that person when you don't limit your freedom so that they can freely follow Jesus, but it's an offense against the God of the universe.

To be clear, Paul is not saying in this segment, "If someone would be offended by your actions, then you shouldn't do it." That's not what he is saying. Because if that was the standard, we wouldn't be doing too much because many people are offended by many things. Instead, he is saying if your actions motivate or encourage a follower of Jesus to choose sin even though you might be free to do it, you should consider refraining so that they can freely follow Jesus.

An example of that would be… Some of you guys know John Elmore, one of our teaching pastors around here. He has told his testimony many times from stage where he has shared how before he trusted Christ, alcohol and abuse thereof and hurt and pain and shame that came from it ravaged his life before Christ.

So what Paul is challenging us here to do is if I or you were to go to dinner with John Elmore, one of the things that you should do as a faithful follower of Jesus who is concerned about building up your brother is asking a question like this. "Hey John, I know that alcohol was a struggle and a challenge that led to a lot of hurt and pain in your life before Christ. I'd like to buy a drink while we're at dinner, but I don't want to if it's going to cause you to be tempted toward going back to this thing that caused so much hurt and pain in your life."

We would do well to respond favorably to whatever his request was in that moment. Why? So we could limit our freedom to help a brother freely follow Jesus. That doesn't sound comfortable. That doesn't sound great. We would rather have rules, regulations, or a law because that's so much easier than having a conversation, but God invites us into something greater than rules or regulations.

He calls us and invites us to a higher law of love that sometimes invites you to limit your freedom so that other believers can freely follow Jesus. So Paul summarizes his whole response to the Corinthian church and to us with verse 13, where he says, "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."

That's not just a summary statement. That is a countercultural message that he is sending to you and me 2,000 years later. He is saying, "Hey, follower of Jesus, if me participating and eating meat sacrificed to idols causes you to be encouraged to run toward sin when that's not something you believe is right, I would rather go vegan."

Now what kind of love or where does that kind of commitment come from? Answer: the Savior of the world left the comforts and the joys of heaven, and he came to this earth. He lived a perfect life. He died a perfect death. He rose again from the dead. He came not to be served, but to serve us and to give his life as a ransom for all of us. Why? So that we can be known by God. So that we can love God.

So that we can seek knowledge, not for the sake of selfish gain or for our own purposes or for knowledge itself, but so that we can build others up, so that we can limit our freedoms to help other people follow Jesus. That's the kind of love that Jesus demonstrated for us that we have an opportunity to demonstrate for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

So my question to you as we wrap up is this. What habit do you need to most develop in your life? Is it to care more about making a difference than making a point? Is it to pursue truth while practicing patience? I think that's the one that challenges me the most personally. Or is it to limit your freedom so others can freely follow Jesus?

Because if you want be a Christian who creates unity when controversial topics push us to divide, 1 Corinthians 8 is such an incredible resource to turn to to see the habits that you and I can put into practice to create unity over division. So I'm going to give you about 30 seconds, truly, to reflect and ask the question, "God, which habit would you most want to be more evident in my life as a follower of you? How would you want me to respond?"

So I'll give you 30 seconds, and then I'll wrap us up in prayer. Then we'll worship God by reminding ourselves of the only way we can do that, that we can care more about making a difference and pursue truth while practicing patience and limit our freedom so others can follow Jesus is by daily surrender, building our lives on the firm foundation that is our Savior Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on our behalf as resurrection and invitation into a life of following him. So take 30 seconds and meet with the Lord.

Father, will you help us? Would you help us to be a people to be believers who create unity when controversial topics push us to divide? Help us to be mindful at all times of what commends us to you, which is your Son Jesus and his sacrifice on our behalf. Would you help us to care more about making a difference than making a point? Would you help us to pursue truth while practicing patience? God, would you help us to limit our freedom to allow others to freely follow you?

May we be a different group of believers than maybe some other places in our world because we choose to limit our freedoms so others can follow you. We create unity when all these topics push us to divide. My prayer for anyone who may be in the room or listening online who doesn't know how all of this is possible, I pray that your Spirit would make it clear to them that it is only through surrendering their lives to you through the sacrifice of your Son. We love you, and I pray that we would build our lives on the firm foundation that is you. In Jesus' name, amen.