“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Food and Drink #5
“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof: Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:25-31).
These verses contain much more than can be addressed in this brief space, but there are serveral basic principles here concerning food that we need to draw out. In fact, we need to master them if we want to escape constant wrangles with fellow believers about our food.
The first principle, seen in the verses preceding, is that for Christians the Lord’s Table is the basic table that defines all other tables. For non-believers, it is the table of demons that does this. The Corinthians are then taught that it is impossible to have it both ways. You cannot partake of two tables. The Lord’s Table defines all tables. Two Christians eating lunch have true table fellowship, even if one of them has a peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich and the other has a spinach salad. A Christian and non-Christian with the same sandwich, or the same salad, do not.
The second principle is connected. The Lord brings us to a table, with many seated around it. Our relationship to food is necessarily communal, not solitary. We are seated at a table next to others; we are not seated in a high chair, off by ourselves. This means that who you are eating with is far more important than what you are eating. And to the extent that what you are eating matters, it only matters to the extent that you are affecting the other guy. The food itself is a non-issue. God doesn’t care what you eat. He cares very much how you eat. In this sense, table “manners” are more important than getting the food down.