What do we eat?

 Read 1 Corinthians 8

Here’s what we have heard over the past few decades.

Eat well. Live better.

Food is love made edible.

Your taste buds deserve a treat.

You are what you eat.

We eat to live. It’s not that we live to eat, but obesity rates in America say otherwise.

Food is essential but we don’t live by bread alone. Jesus said he was the Bread of Life.

Jesus also told his followers that he had food they knew nothing about. He did the will of the One who sent him. Sustenance lies in doing God’s will.

But we need food most of the time. We need to eat.

I could talk about our food being turned into a food product. That’s some serious stuff going on almost unabated.

While we are at it, let’s think about the poison in some of our medicine. What goes into our body is important, but it is governing? Does what we eat govern our lives?

Is what we eat a significant decision in our discipleship? McDonalds or Taco Bell? Maybe it’s beans and rice again, for the fourth night in a row.

Do we have something to consider in our lives when it comes to food?

Yes, but I don’t expect this to overwhelm you.

If you are walking by the temple of the pagan god and there is a cookout, don’t go. The pagan god is nothing but don’t confuse other believers. Some still have old habits, and you don’t want to reinforce them.

We don’t want to confuse people with this new creature business by living in our old ways.

In this time, we don’t see many pagan temples. There are a lot of idols in our modern world, but few of their followers are sacrificing meat to them.

The main exceptions seem to be on Saturdays in the fall. It’s called Tail Gating. That’s as close as we get.

So, do we get a week with no challenge?

Ponder this thought from earlier. All things are permissible for me but not all things are beneficial.

You can eat meat, fish, fowl, and everything that Noah ate, but knowing that eating something might somehow make faith and discipleship more difficult for another believer is enough incentive or motivation not to eat that thing.

What am I doing that is a stumbling block for new believers?  What am I doing that might shun those who do not yet believe?

Today, it’s probably not going to be what you eat. It might be if you smoke tobacco or other substances. Throw chewing and dipping in there as well.

Realize, I have the freedom to do this, but will it hurt others?

I have the freedom to put what I want in God’s holy temple, but not everything will bring glory to his name.

 It might be the significant inclusion of vulgarity in your daily lexicon. My lips, my choice of words! That’s cool. I can talk the talk of the world and blend in with it. That’s cool, unless you are commissioned to bring others to Christ. Then, blending in with the world can be a stumbling block.

It might be as simple as just wanting to get through your day when others hope to see hope from you. Sometimes, it’s just the same stuff, different day outlook from us. Are we the people who rejoice in the Lord not in our circumstances.

So, it’s probably not food that becomes a stumbling block for others to believer or to be discipled. But we need to know what we do that becomes a stumbling block for others.

That said, we know enough to do some self-evaluation.

I will use two terms that might help us glean something useful for our age from this chapter. They are situational awareness (SA) and Efficacy. You have heard the latter many times from me.

Situational awareness just means knowing what is going on around you. It’s watching the news without throwing a brick at your television.

It’s knowing the guys gathered down the street all have warrants but not needing to insert yourself in place of the police.

It’s knowing what’s going on around you. Shouldn’t we all be situationally aware?

Yes, but it’s taxing.

Once upon a time, your tax dollars helped me learn how to steal a car and get away from bad guys. It was sort of the last resort stuff that was fun to practice, but you hope that you never have to use.

Situational awareness is something that gets used all the time. It is a keen awareness of what’s happening around you. Why not be on full alert all the time?

It’s taxing—too taxing to continue over long periods. I’m talking about someone following me or approaching the vehicle when I’m not in it every time I stop. It will drain you over the course of a couple of hours.

Imagine driving through Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and Atlanta back-to-back. You would be mentally frazzled, but there are times that your senses and awareness should be set on Max.

In the case of Paul’s counsel, I’m talking about an awareness—not of who may be out to get you—but of others around you considering their life decisions based somewhat on observing you. So what is this Jesus stuff, anyway?

So, the Christian can cuss like a sailor. That’s not too different from how I live.

So, the Christian can be 100 pounds overweight and still eat like a glutton. That shouldn’t require any life changes.

Or…

Why did that man help that person he doesn’t even know?  Is that what it is to follow Jesus?

Why did that family just take a box of food and a gallon or milk to the family on our block that just moved it? Is that part of being a new creature? Loving your neighbor?

We don’t do anything for show but we must realize that people are watching us because we are different. We should be, anyway.

We don’t do anything for show but we must realize that people are watching us

That’s SA.

Efficacy is the power to achieve desired results. So, if my objective is to draw near to God and be more like him and put the words of my Master into practice, the things that I do should move me closer to that goal.

That means that while I may be free to do just about anything in my salvation, it won’t all get me closer to God. Not all of my possible choices bring glory to God’s name.

Everything is permissible for me. Not everything is profitable. Not everything brings glory to God.

And if something that I am surely entitled to do gets in the way of another coming to Christ or growing in his or her discipleship, the fact that I can do this thing—whatever it is—becomes insignificant to me.

My mission is to bring a lost world of believers to Christ and to help them grow in their discipleship. At least those who are in my circle of influence.

It’s an old take on an older discussion about rights and responsibilities.

When we focus on our responsibilities, our rights abound.

When we focus on our rights, our responsibilities go unclaimed.

When we are focused so much on our rights that our response to God’s love that we know in Christ Jesus is subordinated to them, we are missing the mark.

Not all of our victory and rewards are realized in this age. They are part of our inheritance and have been stored up for us for a long time. Some are in store for us in the age to come.

That’s just the dynamic that’s proven itself through the ages.

My responsibilities as a pastor, elder, teacher, ministry leader, or believer must consider if my choice is likely to become a stumbling block for another believer or for the person who does not yet believe.

You might think that’s all on them. What they believe is on them. And you would be correct, except that you claim Jesus is Lord! You say you want to take his yoke and learn from him, right?

When those worldly thoughts about your freedom and rights overwhelm the new creature that God created you to be, stop where you are and proclaim:

In the name of Jesus, get behind me Satan!

For the thoughts that create stumbling blocks are from the world and your sinful nature that loves its comfort zone. And we pave the way for the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy when we yield to this sinful nature. You are saved from the flames of hell but you are dismissing the Lordship of Jesus.

Do I even have to say, that dog don’t hunt?

The session has begun a process of determining who we are so as to identify them in what we want in our next pastor. I can tell you; part of that list was already in place.

#1. Someone with metaphors and analogies that don’t involve the Marine Corps.

#2. Someone that does not use the idiom, that dog don’t hunt.

This chapter is part of a larger discussion of rights and responsibilities using food as the medium. Our approach must be to keep our awareness of others high, our eyes fixed on Jesus, and our hearts pleasing to God while living this life to the full.

We are to be a light in the darkness, not embrace the darkness.

Some are thinking that my light probably looks like a dumpster fire. We beat ourselves up too much.  Dumpster fires—while not the preferred choice of combustion sites—do put off light. Quit making excuses.

Be a light in this dark world!

We don’t put on a show but we know what’s happening around us. Our choices must fit mostly into the bring others to Christ mode. More on that in the next chapter. Keep reading!

Amen.