Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 8:5-7 (New Living Translation)

5 There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. 6 But for us,

There is one God, the Father,
by whom all things were created,
and for whom we live.
And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things were created,
and through whom we live.

7 However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated.

This is part of a longer discussion doing what is Godly and not hurting someone by crossing their culture or family history. In these verses, the topic is eating food in or near a temple where another god is worshiped. To some persons, eating that food is an act of worship to another god.

The writer is trying to explain that there is only one God. These temples and their food practices don’t matter—they are meaningless.

To me, the key phrase is at the start of verse 7:

However, not all believers know this.

Oh, okay. So, let’s patiently explain this. And let’s be sensitive to the influence of culture and family history and tradition and all other sorts of things that will make the explanation far more difficult than I think it should be.

Not easy. Lord, help me.