Love Builds Up

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ²Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; ³but anyone who loves God is known by him. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3

Conflict in the church is inevitable. Whenever people gather together and strive to live and work together there is bound to be disagreements, tensions, and conflict. Conflict is not a sign of an unhealthy church, in fact many times conflict allows important issues to surface that had not been previously known or addressed. How conflict is handled is the key. Running away from a conflict or denying that it exists is rarely helpful. Instead, if church leaders are able to create the space for conflict to be named and for people to share their thoughts in ways that are respectful, situations can be addressed in ways that bring positive results and healthy growth.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth about a conflict about whether or not Christians should be permitted to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. He frames the issue in way that doesn’t focus on food, but rather the tension between “knowledge” and “love.”  The knowledge is that there is only one God and that other gods or idols are not real and “no idol in the world really exists.” (8:4) There is only one God and any contrary claim is false. The issue is some of those with this knowledge began eating sacrificed meat in the presence of new Christians. These new Christians, whom Paul calls “weak” are troubled by seeing more mature Christians eat sacrificed meat. After all, many of these new Christians just left pagan religion behind to confess there is only one true God. Now they see more experienced leaders doing the same pagan practices they abandoned? It is easy to see how this would be confusing and cause new converts to stumble.

So while Paul acknowledges that those with this knowledge are technically correct, he asserts that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. In other words, a mature and loving response to this situation is to take into account how other people respond when considering the best decision. If as followers of Christ, we are arrogant about our knowledge we are only puffing ourselves up. But it is even more important to help build up the Body of Christ, by helping all people grow in faith. Paul admonishes those with knowledge to take this into account and charges them with responsibility for those under their care:

So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. ¹²But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 1 Corinthians 8:11-12

The ethical principle Paul espouses is being sensitive and compassionate toward others is a virtue and that actions which tear others down unnecessarily are immoral. There may be some things, like the core of the gospel, that are worth stubbornly insisting on, but in many cases we need also to consider the impact our behavior has on others. The church is God’s people assembled together, mutually building one another up for God’s kingdom work. Let us all pursue the love the builds up rather than settle for knowledge makes only ourselves look good.