Tuesday, October 20 — Right Isn't the Same as Loving
We all know someone who wins every argument and somehow loses every room. Sometimes, if we're honest, that someone is us.
1 Corinthians 8:1-6 — KJV
1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. 2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him. 4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) 6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
1 Corinthians 8:1-6 — WEB
1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, the same is known by him. 4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For though there are things that are called “gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many “gods” and many “lords”; 6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.
Explanation
Corinth was a busy port city crowded with temples. Much of the meat sold in the public market had first been offered to one god or another, and many social gatherings, from business dinners to family celebrations, happened in or near those temples. The young church wrote to Paul with a practical question: can a Christian eat that meat?
Some believers in Corinth had a ready answer. "We know idols aren't real, so the meat is just meat." Paul actually agrees with their theology. An idol is nothing. There is only one God. But before he says any of that, he puts a warning sign at the door: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." Being correct is not the same as being mature. You can be right about God and still be wrong in how you treat God's people.
Verse 3 turns the whole conversation around. The person who loves God is "known by Him." Faith is not mainly about what we know; it is about being known. That is humbling for people who like to have the answers, and it is a relief for people who feel like they never do.
Then in verse 6 Paul gives the church something like an early creed. It echoes the old prayer every Jewish child learned, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD," and it places Jesus right inside it. One God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we live. One Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things exist and through whom we live. Everything comes from God, and everything is for God. There is nowhere left for a rival to stand.
Yesterday we heard "no other gods." Today we learn that the "many gods and many lords" competing for attention are real pressures but not real gods. They have pull, but no power to save. That's the same tension we'll see Sunday in Judges, where people kept God's name on their lips while building shrines in their homes. Religious language is easy. A life fully given to one Lord is something else.
Think about the places where knowledge puffs up in our lives: the group text where you're quick to correct, the Bible study where you need to have the last word, the family dinner where you're technically right and everyone leaves hurt. Paul isn't asking us to stop thinking. He's asking us to let love decide what we do with what we know. A church full of people who know everything and build up no one has missed the point.
One God means every part of life belongs to Him, including how we win and lose arguments.
Thought for the Day
Knowledge can win the argument. Love builds the people.
Reflection Question
Where in your life right now are you more focused on being right than on building someone up?
Prayer
Father, You are the one God from whom all things come, and Jesus is the one Lord through whom we live. Forgive us when our knowledge makes us proud instead of kind. Teach us to use what we know to build up the people around us. Thank You that, before we knew You, You knew us.
This week we walk toward Sunday's lesson: God's Works Are Not Forgotten.