In Part 2, Paul asked, “Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” We concluded that we must flee from disunity. In Part 3, Paul flips the question to the bright side: we should flee straight to perfect unity with each other, to draw others to salvation in Jesus.
“’All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof’” (1 Cor 10:23-26; 1 Cor 6:12).
Paul reminds us that there is astonishing freedom in Christ, but that our freedom must be helpful to others and must build others up, regardless of their relationship with Jesus or the lack of a relationship with him.
Quite some time ago, Sue and I invited a new employee and his wife to dinner to get acquainted. From various conversations at work weeks earlier, I knew that his wife was Jewish by birth, but that she had never embraced nor practiced the faith. She had been part of the 1960s radical culture and she was clearly not religious. Unfortunately, we served ham for dinner, and of course Jews do not eat pork of any kind. She made quite a scene of even being near the pork as we tried to find something else for her to eat. The evening was a disaster because I unintentionally failed to be helpful to her and to build her up.
“If one of the believers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice,’ then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience – I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks” (1 Cor 10:27-30).
The driving force here is liberty in giving thanks to God to eat anything, but prohibition for eating anything sacrificed to a non-God god! How’s that for a twisted sentence? But Paul does have an important point here:
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Co 10:31-33).
To what must we flee? To doing everything in perfect unity to the glory of God, not for ourselves – we are already saved. But we flee in the sense of trying to please everyone, creating a thirst in them, so that they may be drawn to and saved in Christ Jesus.