Idol Food

Introduction: Idol Food and the Corinthian Context

We are about halfway through our sermon series in 1 Corinthians, looking at Paul's letter to the Corinthian church. The first section deals with divisions in the church. The second is about sex and Christian sexuality. Now Paul moves to a subject less familiar to us today: food sacrificed to idols.

This topic feels distant to us in 21st-century Britain for two main reasons. First, most Christian traditions don't restrict food the way the Jews did. In Acts 10, Peter has a vision of a sheet coming down with animals Jews had been prohibited from eating, and the Lord says, "Kill and eat" — marking the start of a new covenant. That's why you're free to enjoy spare ribs if you like (though, since Jesus is the Lamb of God, lamb is obviously the better meat).

Second, we simply don't encounter meat sacrificed to idols in Britain. Some of us may come from cultures where this is a real issue, but for most of us today it isn't. (Halal meat is a different issue, not meat sacrificed to Allah in the same sense, and Andrew will address that in a few weeks.)

The World of Corinth

Corinth was a multicultural, multi-faith city — Romans, Greeks, Jews, and a small minority of Christians, meeting in homes about 25 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. Andrew's commentary suggests the Corinthian church was made up of maybe 50 to 100 people in a city of 50,000.

Pagan worship was the norm, with temples to gods like Apollo and Aphrodite. Animal sacrifices were made regularly:

• Some meat was burnt at the altar.
• Some was eaten by priests and priestesses.
• The remainder was used for public celebrations or sold in the meat market.

So the Corinthian Christians faced real dilemmas: Can we attend festivals with our unbelieving families? Can we do business at a venue tied to idol worship? Can we buy meat from the market, or eat what's served in an unbeliever's home?

As one theologian helpfully put it, Paul's real concern here is venue, not menu — it's about where you eat, not what you eat.

The Scripture

Now, about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. But knowledge puffs up while love builds up... But not everyone possesses this knowledge... Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak... Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again so that I will not cause them to fall. (1 Corinthians 8, paraphrased)

From this passage, we'll consider three things: love over knowledge, God is one, and our rights versus others' conscience.

Love Over Knowledge

The Corinthians were known for their deep thought and philosophy, and they had cultural slogans much like we do today — things like YOLO or live your truth. Paul takes one of their own slogans, "we all possess knowledge," and pushes back on it.

Knowledge puffs up, while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.

Paul is essentially saying: don't let what you know get in the way of loving your brother and sister in Christ. Even if you've been to university, read every book, and heard the best scholars — you are not God. You don't know everything. The moment we prioritize knowledge over love, we become arrogant and lose the humility that keeps us reliant on God.

Then comes a beautiful reversal: *