The Weaker Brother or Sister
8: 7-13
The weaker brother or sister DIG: What did Paul mean by “the knowledge-driven believer,” and “the weak brother?” For what purpose should “the knowledge-driven believer,” defer to “the weak brother?” Who should take responsibility for conflicts between the two?
REFLECT: What freedoms do you feel you have as a believer that might be considered controversial to others? What freedoms do you not have that other believers believe that they do have? How does this principle work in your world, where life and the Bible meet?
It is never right to cause another believer to violate his or her own conscience,
just so we can exercise our freedom in Messiah.
From general principles regarding God and idols, Paul moves to the specific issue at hand, namely, whether it is permissible for a believer to sit in a pagan temple and eat meat sacrificed to idols. His goal at this stage is to illustrate how love rather than knowledge builds up the body of believers in Corinth (to see link click Bl – Let Love Control Knowledge). But we must always keep in mind that by the time Paul reaches the end of these three chapters (see Bj – Concerning Our Liberty in Messiah), he flat-out says that it is wrong for any believer to eat a meal in the temple of an idol (10:20-21).219
Paul reminds the knowledge-driven believer of an additional truth. One which they must have known but they didn’t take into consideration when exercising their freedom in Messiah.
Dear Wonderful Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your great love, even in times of judgment. In Your holiness You could immediately slap down all who sin, but you don’t. After people die, they will have an eternal terrible punishment for ignoring Your love and choosing to love themselves more than You (John 3:36). But while people are alive, You patiently call them to Your gracious love. You know we are weak. For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are but dust (Psalms 103:14). You, O God, are mighty in power- yet You are also gracious and kind. ADONAI is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and plentiful in mercy. He will not always accuse, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not treated us according to our sins, or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy for those who fear Him (Psalms 103:8-11).
You are always loving and full of mercy. Not just on good days are You kind and thoughtful- but always, forever You are watching over Your children to care for and to bless them. But the mercy of Adonai is from everlasting to everlasting on those who revere Him, His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant, who remember to observe His instructions (Psalms 103:17-18).
You have a special spot in Your heart for those who are all alone and weak. Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27). We desire to love You by following Your example of gracious kindness to those who are weak – whether widows, orphans or brothers and sisters in Messiah who are weak in their understanding of spiritual principles. Thank You for living in us (John 14:23, Romans 8:9-11) to help us to be loving and full of mercy – just like you! We bow in worship of such a loving and awesome father! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
Against his insistence that, “We all have knowledge” (8:1b), Paul now asserts that “not everyone has this knowledge.” Moreover, some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat food which has been sacrificed to them, they think of it as really affected by the idol (8:7a). Not all believers were mature in their knowledge and understanding of spiritual truths. Some were new believers, freshly out of paganism and its many temptations and corruptions. They still imagined that idols, though evil, were real and the gods represented were real. They may tell their heads that the god is only an idol, but their hearts tell them differently. They knew that there was only one true God, but perhaps they had not yet fully grasped the truth that there was only one real God.
If such people, following the example of the knowledge-driven believer, goes ahead and eats what their conscience tells them not to eat, their conscience, being weak, is thus defiled (8:7b). Even though the eating in itself was not morally or spiritually wrong, it becomes wrong when it is committed against one’s own conscience. A person who violates his conscience willingly does what he thinks is wrong. In his own mind, he has committed a sin; and until he fully understands that the act is not a sin in God’s eyes, he should stay away from it. He who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Defiled conscience is defiled faith. As the weak one cannot reconcile the difference between his head and his heart, eating meat sacrificed to idols brought on feelings of guilt, despair, and loss of joy and peace. It might also lead to sinful thoughts connected with his former pagan practices and have him lapse back into some of them. He would not lose his salvation (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), but he would lose rewards in heaven, exchanging gold, silver and precious stones for wood, hay and straw (3:12).
You have your weaknesses and I have mine (chocolate). In that sense, each one of us is the weaker brother or sister. Paul’s primary point here is that anyone who causes such a weaker brother or sister to defile their conscience and faith helps to lead them into sin. Knowledge may well tell us that something is perfectly acceptable, but love will tell us that, because it is not acceptable to a fellow believer’s conscience, we should not take advantage of our freedom.220
“Oh, come on, Paul,” says this knowledge-driven believer, “food is morally and spiritually neutral. Food doesn’t drive us away from God or draw us closer to Him.” In a sense, of course, Paul would agree, saying: Now food will not improve our relationship with God – we will be neither poorer if we abstain nor richer if we eat (8:8). For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, shalom and you in the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Romans 14:17). What enables one to grow spiritually is the condition of one’s heart.221
But this is precisely the point. If the weak brother eats some of the food sacrificed to idols in the temple, in his heart he will be expressing devotion to that idol. That, Paul tells the knowledge-driven believer, is unacceptable: Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble (8:9). Obviously, some Corinthian believers could not handle such freedom; it would pull them down into the pit from which they had been delivered. If an immature believer sees us doing something that troubles his conscience, his spiritual growth is harmed. We should never influence a fellow believer to do anything that the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, through that person’s conscience, is protecting him from.
In fact, Paul goes on to say: You have this “knowledge”; but suppose someone with a weak conscience sees you sitting, eating a meal in the temple of an idol. Won’t he be built up wrongly to eat this food which has been sacrificed to idols? Then the weak person, the brother for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge (8:10-11). It would bring spiritual disaster. In that case, a knowledge-driven believer causes the weak brother into sin by leading him into a situation he cannot handle. It is never right to cause another believer to violate his or her own conscience just so we can exercise our freedom in Messiah.
The voice of a believer’s conscience is the instrument of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. If a believer’s conscience is weak it is because he is spiritually weak and immature. The conscience is God’s guardian to keep us from doing things where we could be harmed. As we mature, our conscience allows us to go more places and to do more things because we will have more spiritual strength and better spiritual judgment. And so, when you sin against the brothers by wounding their conscience when it is weak, you are sinning against the Messiah (8:12)! Causing a brother to stumble is more than an offense against him, it is an offense against our Lord. That is a strong warning. Surely, no believer would desire to do that.222
Paul concludes this section with his own personal testimony: To sum up, if food will be a snare for my brother, I will never eat meat again, lest I cause my brother to stumble (8:13). Paul leaves his readers to think about this for a chapter-and-a-half; however, this is not his final word on this question, which he takes up again at 10:23. But by inserting himself into the discussion at this point, Paul leads us directly into the next chapter, which is filled with his own personal example (see Bn – Paul’s Own Example).
In deciding about whether or not to participate in any behavior that is doubtful, the following principles make a good checklist to follow:
Excess: Is the activity or habit necessary, or is it merely an extra that is not really important? Is it perhaps only an encumbrance that you should willingly give up. So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment – that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement – and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us (Hebrews 12:1).
Expediency: Is what I want to do helpful or useful, or only desirable? You say, “For me, everything is permitted.” Maybe, but not everything is helpful (First Corinthians 6:12).
Emulation: If we are doing what Messiah would do, our action is not only permissible, but good and right. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Yeshua did (First John 2:6).
Example: Are we setting the right example for others, especially for weaker brothers and sisters? If we emulate Messiah, others will be able to emulate us, to follow our example. Set the believers as an example in your speech, behavior, love, trust and purity (First Timothy 4:12).
Evangelism: Is my testimony going to be helped or hindered? Will unbelievers be drawn to Messiah or turned away from Him by what I am doing? Will it help me conduct myself with wisdom towards outsiders, making the most of the opportunity (Colossians 4:5 NASB).
Edification: Will I be built up and matured in Messiah; will I become spiritually stronger? You say, “Everything is permitted.” Maybe, but not everything is edifying (First Corinthians 10:23).
Exaltation: Will the Lord be lifted up and glorified in what I do? God’s glory and exaltation should be the supreme purpose behind everything we do. Whatever you do, whether it’s eating or drinking or anything else, do it all so as to bring glory to God (First Corinthians 10:31).223
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