Living in Christ: First and Second Corinthians

Transcription

1 Living in Christ: First and Second Corinthians Diocese of West Texas Fall 2012 SESSION FIVE 1 Corinthians 8: It s Not About Being Right, Even When You Are! What may at first glance appear to be the most irrelevant chapter of 1 Corinthians to people in our day and time ( Now, concerning meat that has been sacrificed to idols... ), is actually one of the most useful for day-to-day Christian living. Here Paul lays out the patterns of ethical reasoning that he considers to be foundational for Christian moral discernment. Begin this session by reading through all of 1 Corinthians 8, then we will discuss it piece by piece. Historical Background: Meals, Meat, and Sacrifices Our working assumption about the eating of meat in the Greco-Roman world should be that meat-eating always entailed a sacrifice. Most people had access to meat in their diets only very rarely, and they counted on public festivals, provided for by the wealthy in the community, as occasions to eat meat. Some people in our time think of sacrifices as primitive or violent vestiges of ancient religions, but in some ways our meat-eating practices are much more violent, and show less regard for the lives of the animals. In cultures where butchery and sacrifice were more or less synonymous, the taking of the life of an animal was a serious event, and always to the honor of the gods (or God). Sometimes the extra meat left from the offering of sacrifices was sold at a discount, making it very appealing to people who could not usually afford meat. The biblical scholar Stanley Stowers writes: Except under extraordinary circumstances, Greeks ate only meat that had been sacrificed. An early imperial inscription from Pisidia tells how the servants of Meidon ate unsacrificed meat. An offended god, Zeus Trosos, struck Meidon dumb for three months until the god gave instructions in a dream to record the incident for posterity.at a birthday party, a city festival, a social club wherever people ate meals with meat a sacrifice took place. When the gods were thanked, placated, or beseeched for blessings beginning a meeting of the city council, setting out for war, after the birth of a child, entering manhood Greeks sacrificed. All

2 2 significant political bodies in the Greek city...were male sacrificing bodies that conducted no significant political activity without sacrifice. 1 Voices in Conversation To make sense of 1 Corinthians 8, it is helpful to remember that Paul has gained knowledge of issues in Corinth through a variety of means: a letter, a delegation, and other oral reports from members of the community who have visited him. These different ways of receiving information also represent different factions in the community: the literate and sophisticated; the illiterate; the confused; the alienated; the overlooked. Paul brings these different voices to the surface in his handling of the issue of eating idol-meat. When Paul introduces a statement in this chapter with the phrase, we know that... he is most likely quoting a statement from the more sophisticated members of the congregation, who know and understand things theologically at a level that the simpler members of the congregation do not know. Sometimes in these statements, Paul may actually be repeating something that was a part of his own earlier teaching in Corinth, but that has become misunderstood, and is now causing havoc in the community. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 Let s write these verses in a way that will help us to hear the different voices and to see how the argument works: Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that all of us possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him. It is entirely possible that Paul has taught at some time that all who are in Christ possess knowledge, perhaps meaning knowledge that the world does not have, the knowledge of God s power being revealed in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Stanley Stowers, Greeks Who Sacrifice and Those Who Do Not: Toward an Anthropology of Greek Sacrifice, The Social World of the First Christians: Essays in Honor of Wayne A. Meeks, ed. by L. Michael White and O. Larry Yarborough, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995).

3 3 Paul downplays the absolute value of any kind of human knowledge, by pointing to its effect on community relations. There is always the danger that possessing knowledge or sophisticated understanding of theological issues will constitute a reason for one group in the community to look down upon others. Of far more importance in Christian community is love. The only really lasting knowledge is God s knowledge of us, not our knowledge of God or anything else. Ironically, it is only when we love that we live into this deep well of God s knowledge of us. One implication is that even the simplest members of the community may love well, and thus have the deeper knowledge. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 We continue reading: Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that no idol in the world really exists and that there is no God but one. Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth --as in fact there are many gods and many lords-- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. The issues Paul raises here are not unlike issues in our own world. Just as we live in a pluralistic society in which people of different religions and social and cultural backgrounds are living in close proximity with one another, Paul s gathering of Christians in Corinth was surrounded by people of different customs and beliefs. Paul affirms the point made by the sophisticated there there is nothing to fear from idols who have no real existence or power (the first two statements in italics). All power comes from the one God, the God of Jesus, who made heaven and earth. The third set of lines in italics may contain an early Christian creed that Paul has shared with the Corinthians. God is asserted as the One from whom every person comes, and the goal of every person s life. Jesus Christ is depicted here as the Word or reasoning or wisdom of God, through whom all things have come into existence. The concept hearkens back to the logos

4 4 of 1 Corinthians 1. The opening verses of the Gospel of John express a similar view of Christ as the instrument of God s bringing the world into being. God is our beginning and end, but Christ is our present reality, and it is thus implied that his manner of self-offering should therefore be our model, as in the wisdom of the cross, in chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 8:7-13 The final verses of our chapter: It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Here, Paul brings to the fore those simple members of the community whom the stronger members probably find easy to forget or to dismiss. In effect, Paul is giving the voiceless a voice. He puts forward their plight: when they see the more sophisticated members of the community eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols, they make the assumption that eating this meat constitutes reverence toward that idol. The key element in Paul s moral reasoning is this: HOW DOES YOUR ACTION AFFECT YOUR LEAST OR WEAKEST BROTHER OR SISTER IN CHRIST? Here, the weaker neighbor is harmed by becoming confused as to the reality of the one God of Jesus Christ, to the exclusion of other gods. Food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. In my opinion, both of these statements are quotations from the stronger or more theologically sophisticated members of the community, and they may be quoting Paul himself from an earlier visit or letter. They are correct, but their very correct-ness may cause harm to their brother or sister in Christ. BUT take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. This liberty of yours is a reference to the Corinthians freedom to eat whatever they choose, since no idol has any real power or existence.

5 5 That liberty, however, is a danger to the less sophisticated. FOR if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Here is the crux of Paul s argument: the weaker members of the community are precisely the little ones for whom Christ died. By the upside-down logic of the cross that we have discussed earlier in SESSION TWO, Christ seeks out the weak, not the strong. When the sophisticated members of the church confuse the simple members, they, in effect, negate the power of the cross. Weaker and stronger members of a church actually make up a family together, a household of God. A trespass by the strong against the weak constitutes a trespass against Christ himself. This is the strongest possible case that Paul could make for restraint. THEREFORE, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. Finally, Paul uses his own behavior as the model for the Corinthians. Paul would forego any liberty in order not to harm one of Christ s little ones. A Summary of What We Have Learned Paul does not correct a single element of the theological reasoning of the strong. Every element of belief that they have put forth is correct. And yet - by acting on these correct beliefs without regard for their weakest brother or sister in Christ they have actually been undoing the work of the cross! This chapter thus reveals the outlines of Paul s process of ethical reflection: The essential Christian movement in ethical deliberation is not the simple question, Is this right for me? but, How will this action of mine affect my most vulnerable sister or brother in Christ?

6 6 QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION Questions for an individual or small group doing the study: In Paul s day, a Christian s eating of meat sacrificed to idols could be interpreted in at least two ways. Either the person is denying that the god behind the idol has any real power or existence, or it could mean that the person was in fact honoring that god or idol. Gambling might have some similar issues around it in our day. Some would say that gambling is un-christian because it denies the power of God s providence for those who are faithful. Others would say that gambling is neither good nor bad, as long as the gambler is not cheating anyone or putting his or her family at risk. Can you think of other issues that would present a case like Paul s, one that would be neither clearly good nor bad in itself, but that might be confusing to another member of your church? Have you ever restrained your behavior on account of the conscience of someone else? What is the limit to that - can it be harmful to restrict yourself too much to what is acceptable to someone else? Do you tend to err more on the side of acting presumptuously, or on the side of not wanting to upset someone else? Notice that Paul s point is not that Christians should only do what is acceptable to everyone in their community. The issue that divides people in Corinth is truly undermining the faith of the weaker members of the community. Can you think of an issue that scandalizes members of your Christian community in the same way? How does each side see it? Does one side have more power than the other? How can they treat one another with respect and care? Paul has a method for determining what is right. He asks himself, How will this action affect the weakest member of my community? How do you go about discerning when to act and when to restrain yourself? The issue in Corinth has arisen within the church itself. In your opinion, do Christians in our context have a reason to safeguard the consciences of the unsophisticated who are not necessarily Christians? Have you personally ever needed to restrain yourself from using a strength of yours, in order to build up someone else? Questions for a Vestry or Gathering of Church Leaders: As frequently happens in Paul s moral discernment, this passage calls for the person or group in discernment first to think about relationships of power. Who has the most power in Corinth? What do you think their power is

7 7 grounded in (literacy, wealth, spiritual giftedness, education, social status)? Within your own setting, how are power relations developed, both in your community and in your church - are they grounded in relative financial worth? status in the community? longevity in your parish? political affiliation? by having a certain role in the parish itself? Do you think the vestry or other church leaders have a role in leveling the playing field within the parish? How would this happen, practically speaking? People in parishes are often reluctant to think about relative status and power in their church, and yet those relationships play a role, as we all know. If you are on the vestry or another important commission of your church, how do you think you appear to the rest of the parish? What do they expect from you? How can you use your power for the good of the whole community? Paul brings the voices of the voiceless to the table, so to speak in 1 Corinthians 8. What voices tend to go unheard in your parish? How might you bring them into your decision-making process?