1 Corinthians 8

Before I begin in 1 Corinthians 8, I have to preface with a story.
This one time when I was a little girl, my older cousin Kristi and I were at my grandparents home. We only had one rule and that was to not rough house in my grandmother’s formal living room, where all the really expensive stuff was. One day I saw Kristi jumping up and down off the couches and doing flips all around this large room. Being that she was older and I looked up to her as an example of how I should behave, I mistakenly did the same thing she was doing. After my grandmother heard the shatter of one of her expensive plates from South Korea, only then did I realize that it’s easy to mislead others either intentionally or accidently.
The same example applies to 1 Corinthians 8, I think Paul is trying to tell us that our actions in our everyday life can have an influence on others whether we realize it or not. Our obligation as Christians is to hold each other accountable and lift each other up. Each of us are at a different point in our walk with God, we should always be aware of how we may be influencing fellow believers and how they may be influencing us. I like how Paul best explains it in verses 9 and 10, how we can hinder the weak in our everyday witness:
9.Only be careful that this power of choice (this permission and liberty to do as you please) which is yours, does not [somehow] become a hindrance (cause of stumbling) to the weak or overscrupulous [giving them an impulse to sin]. 10.For suppose someone sees you, a man having knowledge [of God, with an intelligent view of this subject and] reclining at table in an idol's temple, might he not be encouraged and emboldened [to violate his own conscientious scruples] if he is weak and uncertain, and eat what [to him] is for the purpose of idol worship? (AMP)
A touchy subject that Christians are always debating is drinking. Does drinking ruin ones witness and cause others to stumble? In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul uses the example of meat and its representation of worshipping false idols. In our society today drinking represents being drunk; this is sin. (Eph 5:18). When a new Christian sees a more mature Christian out drinking socially, that new Christian could think it was okay to drink because they don’t know how many drinks that mature Christian has had. Paul explains it best in verse 12 and 13:
12. And when you sin against your brethren in this way, wounding and damaging their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13. Therefore, if [my eating a] food is a cause of my brother's falling or of hindering [his spiritual advancement], I will not eat [such] flesh forever, lest I cause my brother to be tripped up and fall and to be offended. (AMP)
So if something we are doing could possibly hinder someone else’s walk with Christ maybe we should take a step back, pray, and reassess our priorities. We all make mistakes, it’s part of our everyday life, but we should make sure we’re not the source of the mistakes to be made by others no matter what it is.
With His Love,
Laura