Everyone has something that is their kryptonite, that thing that trips them up and they cannot resist it. Paul tells us “Don’t be a stumbling block” to those who struggle. If it’s alcohol don’t offer it. It if is food don’t tempt them. As Christians, we need to be building others up not bringing them down.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
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.” However, not all possess this knowledge. 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. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
Not Everything is Beneficial
Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. You can do most anything you want and you won’t lose your salvation but that doesn’t mean its the best thing for you. Paul wants us to know that we have liberty in Jesus Christ but that doesn’t mean we should act upon it. In Corinth a big thing to do was to go to the temple for a feast. The problem was that the food was offered to idols. To some this was stumbling block because they came from a background of worshipping the gods it was sacrificed to. To others it was no big deal because there wasn’t any ties to those gods. They could go an eat and not be affected by it. Paul is warning them to abstain from eating at those banquets with other people who struggle with that.
It’s a Struggle
That might not seem important today but if you have a believing friend who struggles with an addiction to food or alcohol your freedom could lead them to relapse and fall back into sin. Be careful how you act around those who struggle in these areas. They are trying to overcome these and the more we can help them the better. What we eat or don’t eat doesn’t make us any more holy in Jesus’ eyes. It is the devotion of our heart that matters.