Month: August 2017

Digging in Deeper: 1 Corinthians 8:9

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“But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

When it came to the issue of eating or not eating meat that had been offered as a sacrifice to an idol, Paul’s position was that because idols were nothing, eating the meat was not in any way morally problematic in and of itself.  In other words, the act was not sinful.

But…for some folks in the church, the idea of eating such meat was really problematic for them and for their conscience.  Some Gentile background folks who had grown up as pagans and who were really into idolatry before following Jesus could not eat the meat without being tempted back into their old life.  Similarly, many of the Jewish background believers couldn’t eat it without feeling like they were sinning against God by participating even indirectly in an act of idolatry.   Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Corinthians 8:1-3

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“Now concerning food offered to idols; we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’  This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up.  If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.  But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

You’ve perhaps heard the phrase, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”  The idea is that when we get just a little knowledge, the temptation is to think we have more than we actually do.  When we try to act on that knowledge, if we are not willing to listen to those who have even more, we can quickly find ourselves in a tight spot.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Ecclesiastes 6:3

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“If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

While Solomon seems to promote a kind of “eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” hedonistic fatalism here, I think there’s something more afoot.  As he has surveyed the world around him, he has noticed that there are many who pursue much, but whether they obtain it or not, when the pursuit becomes their god they can no longer enjoy the fruits of their labors whether larger or small.

Better in this life is to seek to find all the enjoyment we can in the things we have, working hard to see them increase, but not to the point that work becomes the end instead of the means.  The best life will always be found in working hard, delighting fully in what we have (and among the chief ways to do that is to use it for the benefit of others), all with faithfulness to the Lord as our guide.

O God of Vengeance?

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I was reading the other day in Psalm 94 and I came across something that really caught my eye.  In the first verse, the psalmist proclaims this: “O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!”

O God of vengeance?  I can think of a lot of things for which to praise the Lord.  I could praise Him for His goodness, His love, His mercy, His compassion, His justice, His righteousness, His faithfulness, His generosity, His protection, His plans, His gentleness, His care, and I could probably keep going here for a while.  You may want to go get a sandwich and come back.

The point is: There are lots of things for which we could easily offer praise to God.  Vengeance doesn’t usually (or ever) fall on that list.  Why would the psalmist offer praise like this as the start of his poem and why would that particular song get picked up for the collection of sacred songs that were counted as Scripture?   Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Corinthians 7:6-11

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“Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)‬‬

Singleness, marriage, and divorce are tough issues to talk about.  They are emotional ones.  Singleness is a difficult journey in and of itself.   Cultural pressures to be sexually active regardless of marital status combined with pressures from the current culture of the church for everyone to be married and which suggest that singleness is a kind of second-class status make it even more difficult.  Marriage opens us up to a level of intimacy that is often a lot scary and hard to maintain.  Its “til-death-do-us-part” mantra is daunting, especially when you start it young.  And, once again, culture puts all kinds of pressure on us to make it something entirely less sacred and permanent that it was designed to be.   And, because of the intimacy of marriage, divorce is always messy.  If the Scriptures are right in that the married couple becomes one flesh, a divorce for any reason is akin to amputating a part of our body, and not something small like a toe.  It’s more like taking off an entire leg or arm.  In other words, these are big issues.   Read the rest…