At the time of St Paul, you bought your meat from the market place, but it had all been slaughtered at a nearby temple by a priest who had dedicated that meat to his god. For most Christians in Corinth, they knew that those ‘gods’ were not real like the Christian God was, and most happily ate meat, giving thanks to the Christian God. But still, if they were invited to a business meal or the celebration of a friend, and it was held in the dining room of a temple: that caused issues for those who weren’t so secure in their Christian faith. The problem for them was that it could drag them back into worshipping the old gods they had previously worshipped. It could also drag them back into a life ruled by old fears and worries.
When some Christians figured that their freedom to eat meat was far more important than the well-being of their Christian brothers or sisters whose faith wasn’t so secure, Paul had strong words to say.
Knowledge is important, but not if it puffs the person up (1 Corinthians 8:1) and they then ignore others. Of course Christians are free to eat meat if they choose, even meat dedicated to other ‘gods’, who are really no gods. But the vital thing is to show love to your Christian brothers and sisters, whose faith may not be so secure as yours. If your freedom causes them to sin, then you have sinned against Christ (1 Corinthians 8:12).
So don’t use your freedom in a way that damages others. Paul said that if his freedom to eat meat caused weaker Christians to fall back into worshipping other gods, then he happily ate vegetarian. Sometimes it’s the right thing to forego your rights and freedoms for the sake of others.
