“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #86
“Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled” (1 Cor. 8:7).
Paul here defines what is happening when a weaker brother is stumbled. There are two things in the world—one belongs to God (meat) and the other to the devil (false worship). Through the practice of idolatry those two things are tied together, and are deeply connected in the minds and hearts of those in bondage to the devil. When such a person is converted, he comes out of his idolatry, but is not yet free of that association.
A strong Christian, for whom there is no idolatrous connection between the meat and the idol it was offered to, eats the meat, and all that happens is that he has a good meal. Afterwards he sighs in gratitude and reflects on how the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. But a weaker Christian, freshly converted from idolatry, sees the strong Christian doing this and says to himself that it must be alright to eat the meat (which it actually is), but he cannot do it without getting re-entangled in the idolatry again.
An analogous situation in our day would be an innocent thing (wine) associated with a sinful thing (a life of drunkenness). Someone converted out of drunkenness may have real trouble disassociating the two. What happens when he sees a strong Christian exercising his liberty with alcohol? Or take someone who had never listened to rock music without getting stoned first. What happens when he sees a stronger Christian listening to rock? He thinks he can do it . . . but he can’t.
Pastor Doug,
Do you think you could flesh this out regarding our current discussion regarding mask-wearing?