1 Corinthians 8:1-13: The Idolatry of the Thing Denied

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 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 8:1-13

We all have a history of sinning. There are triggers which lead us down patterns of behavior that we know are sinful yet seem unavoidable and distress us as reminders of our weakness. Those triggers are specific to our past. Only those closest to us may know us well enough to recognize the cause, only the effect.

Those who aren't close to us, may unintentionally stumble on something that triggers us and that can't be helped. And it isn't their fault. It is our relationship with God, after all. But if they know of something-something innocent in and of itself-something that they know is a problem and yet they still choose a that path, what is that? Is it not an abuse of the freedom we have? 

The hardest part of not choosing to exercise my rights is when "not choosing" happens over and over again. It is when my freedom is effectively denied by your repeated weakness. That is really frustrating. But if we focus on the one thing we are denied then we will forever be robbed of the joy of the ten thousand things are permitted. If our joy is tied to that thing, it has become an idol--a sad substitute for all of the generosity of God and a barrier between us and our neighbor. The one thing denied may be a way of God showing me more of himself and more of the beauty he has placed around me.