Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. - 1 Corinthians 8:9

Today's Scripture Reading (April 1, 2024): 1 Corinthians 8 & 9

We like to think that we have a right to do something. As a result, we get upset when we feel that someone is stepping on our rights. I have a right to do what I want to do. I grew up in a Christian denomination that believed that the consumption of alcohol was a sin. No studies were ever done, and I am not sure a study would have received honest answers, but I suspect that a significant portion of the church drank alcohol anyway. Partially, the reason was because people felt they had a right to drink. Alcohol is a social issue about which the Bible seems largely silent. There are cautions that we should not get drunk or drink to excess, but the moderate use of alcohol is not prohibited, even though I have known people who have wished that the Bible was clear in its prohibition. One elderly friend ridiculed Eugene Peterson's "The Message" translation of 1 Timothy 3, saying that leaders in the church should "not be overfond of wine." Her opinion was that church leaders should not partake of alcohol at all, but again, that is not what the Bible says.

My response to the alcohol debate has always been that as a Christian, I can drink; it is my right to partake of alcohol, but I don't. The reason that I don't drink is not because the Bible prohibits it (it doesn't) or because of denominational regulations (my current denomination does not prohibit alcohol use.) I don't drink because I don't want to be a stumbling block for someone else. We live in an addictive culture, and alcoholism and alcohol abuse are significant problems. I don't know who struggles with alcohol, but what I don't want is for them to see me drinking and be tempted to do something they cannot do. I have the right to drink, but I choose not to exercise it.

Paul cautions us to be careful with our rights. It isn't alcohol that he is speaking about, but the food laws. Paul agrees that Christians have the right to eat anything, disobeying the Jewish food laws. But just because they had the right did not mean they should exercise it. The problem in Paul's eyes was that less mature people in the faith might be unable to make the intellectual jump from food that God had prohibited in the past to the new rights of a Christian. So, if it will be an issue, don't eat it. Your rights are not worth the destruction of your brother and sister.

In discussing any of this, I keep going back to Cain's question in Genesis 4; "Am I my brother's keeper" (Genesis 4:9)? Paul is reminding us that the answer is yes, even though Cain thinks it should be no.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 10