when salvation of others is at stake - 23rd week thursday 2014

Here is a beautiful passage from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians: "Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up."  The background of this passage is the question whether to eat or not to eat meat offered to idols.  Pagan Corinth offers meat to their gods and goddesses then some of these are brought home or are sold to market to be eaten.  The question is, are we allowed to eat this meat or not? 

For Paul knowledge will tell us yes, we can eat meat offered to idols because in the first place there are no idols, there are no gods and goddesses except the one true God.  So knowledge informs us that there is nothing wrong to eat meat that was offered "to mere thin air."

But there are some among us who are weak in faith and when they see us who are more knowledgeable eating meat offered to idols they will be scandalized and they will turn away from the faith.  So though knowledge allows us to eat meat offered to idols, love prohibits us for this can scandalize others and drive them away from the faith.   This is the context of the Paul’s injunction:  knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.  Love has primacy over knowledge. 

In the letter to the Romans Paul said, “all food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble or be scandalized.”  In the name of love we must be therefore be ready to sacrifice anything (our pride, our superior knowledge, our principles even) if the salvation of another is at stake.