Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 5:50 pm

I read 1 Corinthians 7-8 today, and chapter 8 contains an idea that I need to keep hold of. We often consider whether something is a sin or not before we go ahead and do it - at least, we should. Sometimes we even look at something and say, "Well, I'm not sure it's a sin, but it goes against my conscience, so for me it is a sin, because it's not from faith." All of that is well and good. But once we're certain something is not wrong, or against our conscience, how often do we consider whether it goes against a fellow believer's conscience and influences them to do the same? Verse 9 says, "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak." and verses 11-12 say, "So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. / When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ." Wow. That's pretty intense. It's incredibly important not to make others stumble, so just because I know something isn't inherently sinful doesn't mean that doing it is guaranteed not to be a sin. Does that mean God arbitrarily decides when something is okay or not? No, it means that He has designed us to look after one another, and so it's not okay to cause each other to stumble, since we should be building each other up. The sin is not the action taken, but the lack of care and concern for those around us. God's heart is consistently for others, and so should mine be. If someone has a rule of conscience, I need to respect that, not because I think they're right but because I care about them and don't want to cause them to stumble. I'd like to think those around me would do the same for me. As we all build each other up, we will be strengthened so that we can live the life God has called us to, not just a life of judging trifles or insisting on our rights.