Scripture 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13
How do we conduct our lives as believers when our decisions affect not only ourselves, but can cause harm or distress to other Christians or those in other communities around us? What do we do when our choices are technically righteous, but still harm other believers with a different interpretation? Melissa’s sermon unpacks Paul’s letter to the house church in Corinth addressing the controversy over the ethics of eating meat sacrificed to idols, a hollow but almost unavoidable practice baked into the everyday Roman life for the wealthier members of the church, and a symbol of persecution and sin to the poorer members. Within this missive Melissa reminds us that we have very few clear cut rules for how we relate to each other in controversy and still follow Jesus, but our primary goal is to take care of each other, with the expectation that the strongest might need to defer to and not run roughshod over the weakest, even if there is justification for those beliefs. Even if we are right we may still be the ones who must change our ways in order to love as Christ loved. Two things can be true – It’s complicated.
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