Christian teens are asking us some tough questions and that’s how we like it! We started this series several years ago to help teenagers get answers to the questions that concern them most. If you are a Christian teen or the parent or teacher of Christian teens, we invite you to send questions to us.

Here’s our next question.

Q: This question speaks to Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians about eating food offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 8. My vexation is that I cannot believe that my conscience determines what right and wrong are; I can only believe that it helps me find out what right and wrong are. For me to believe that my feelings determine (in disputable matters) what is sin is to put my foot into the quagmire of moral relativity.

A: Great question!

1 Corinthians 8 deals with “things offered to idols.” Romans 14, which mentions “disputable matters,” deals with Christians who believe they “may eat all things,” and other Christians who believe they may eat “only vegetables.” Romans 14 Christians also disagreed about the importance of certain “days.” Some esteemed “one day above another,” while “another esteems every day alike.” Paul’s counsel was to “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” 

Why would Paul write that in Romans 14? Because of what he wrote a verse before – “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.” Even though the person who only ate vegetables is called “weak,” Paul still required the stronger brother or sister to treat the weaker with respect. Why? Because each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”

In 1 Corinthians 8 that Paul wrote about people “with knowledge” and people “without knowledge.” Paul started by saying that “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” That’s a key to understanding the attitude Christians should have toward each other. Just like Paul wrote the Romans, he wrote the Corinthians that edification is the goal within the Christian community, not judgment. 

The context is “the eating of things offered to idols.” That’s interesting in light of what Paul agreed to with the other apostles and elders from the Jerusalem church many years earlier. They wrote a letter to the church in Antioch, which was a mix of Gentiles and Jews, “that you abstain from things offered to idols.” (Acts 15:29) Paul mentioned that meeting and the apostolic letter many years later when he went up to Jerusalem (Acts 21:25). 

Abstaining from “things offered to idols” was important to early Christian leaders because of their commitment to the one true God and Lord Jesus Christ. However, some Gentile Christians did not have that knowledge and “until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.” What’s Paul’s advice? “But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.” Paul’s advice continued: “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.” That sounds similar to what Paul wrote in Romans 14 – “but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”

Food was a big part of religious observances in the ancient world. It still is in many nations today. The importance of days was a big deal in the ancient world, and still is today. Christians have been caught up in their disagreements about food and days since the early 1st century AD. It has led to many divisions within the Christian community. Paul’s declarations in 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14 should be our guide to how to address disagreements so they do not become divisions.

Paul wrote in both 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14 that to do something you know will “wound” the weak conscience of a brother or sister is to “sin against Christ.” As Paul wrote the Corinthians – “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” That’s even in light of the fact that Paul wrote the Romans, “I know and am convinced by the Lord that there is nothing unclean of itself; to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

Paul did not want the good work of the Christians in Corinth and Rome to be “spoken of as evil.” He wrote that “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Paul encouraged Christians to “pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” There’s that word again – “edify.” God wants Christians to do whatever they need to do to assure the edification (building up) of others. 

But, some would say, I have the freedom (liberty) to do whatever I want when it comes to what I eat. Did Paul address that? He did. “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.” It’s important that we all realize that what God does in the life of a Christian is His “work.” For us to say that we have a “right” to do what we want even if it hurts a brother or sister is to say we have a “right” to “destroy the work of God.” 

Paul went on to write to the Romans – “It is good neither to eat meat or drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

There are some things in the Bible that are clearly called “sin.” There are other things in the Bible that are left up to the conscience of the believer. Paul wrote that he knew and was “convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Many Christians like to point to that verse as they claim they can do whatever they want, eat whatever they want to eat, drink whatever they want to drink, go wherever they want to go, etc., because Paul wrote he was convinced by Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself. What those Christians fail to do is read the next part of the verse – “Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love.” Instead of looking at our dinner plate, we need to look into the face of our brother to see if we’re doing anything to grieve them. If we are, we are no longer walking in love. That means we are no longer “edifying” our brother. That’s where things go sideways “if’ we want to obey Christ.

I think a “disputable matter” is more than something we are not entirely sure about. I think disputable matters are those things that God does not directly address. The Greek for “disputable matters” is diakriseis dialogismos. It means passing judgment on someone’s “reasoning.” Interestingly, the word dialogismos means “reasoning that is self-based and therefore confused.” That’s why Paul used the word “weak” in both 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14. There are Christians whose reasoning is self-based and confused.

The Greek word translated “weak” is astheneo. It means “feeble, ill, sick.” What is a strong (healthy) Christian’s responsibility to a weak (unhealthy) Christian? To help them gain strength and become well. Might that mean your giving up some of your freedom (e.g. time, energy, money, resources, personal rights and freedoms) to help them get well? Absolutely! That’s what Paul is addressing in 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14. The strong should help the weak, even if it costs the strong some of their freedom, their rights. That’s love. That’s what Jesus did for us. When we were weak and without hope, He came from Heaven and died for us so that we might have everlasting life – that we might have abundant life – that we might become healthy and well.

So, how does a strong Christian help a weak Christian become healthy and strong? We do it by knowing God’s Word, obeying God’s Word, and putting God and others ahead of our own desires. However, helping a weak Christian become strong means they also need to know God’s Word and obey it. Strong Christians should be “dogmatic” when God’s Word is dogmatic (true). Many people view dogmatism as a strong opinion. Opinion is not how we build a strong Christian life. We become strong by believing the truth. The truth is in God’s Word. If a weak Christian disagrees with a strong Christian, the strong Christian should not cave in to what’s true just so the weak Christian is not offended. The truth is often offensive. What strong Christians should not do is be offensive in how they present the truth. Be humble. Be loving. Be kind. Patiently teach the weak believer the truth.

Take any controversial subject in the world today. Christians across the world will think differently about many of them. First, is the subject something clearly addressed in God’s Word? If it is, Christians should study the Word together and agree on what God says is true. Second, is the subject something not clearly addressed in God’s Word? If it isn’t, Christians should respectfully discuss their “reasons” for believing one thing or the other and learn from each other.

Thank you for your questions! We hope these answers help.

Next Time

In the next part of our special series, Tough Questions From Christian Teens, we will answer this question —

What about disputable matters?

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.