Buckeye Burger Anyone?

Daily Reading: 1 Corinthians 8-9

Scripture Focus: We all possess knowledge.  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.  The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.  But the man who loves God is known by God. (1 Corinthians 8.1-3, NIV)

Devotional Thought: Near The Ohio State University in Columbus, is the Buckeye Grill.  They serve a sandwich called the Buckeye Burger.  I have some friends from the great state of Michigan - Wolverines! - who would not be caught dead in the Buckeye Grill.  If I brought them a Buckeye Burger they would gag on it.  I know other, more reasonable, Wolverines who wouldn’t think twice about eating a Buckeye Burger.  “It’s just food, and I’m hungry!”  Perhaps we could say that reasonable Wolverines possesses a knowledge that rabid Wolverines do not.  And, with that knowledge comes the freedom to eat the forbidden food.

Paul was satisfied to allow everyone to find his/her own level of participation in the Corinthian meat markets.  The reasonable Corinthians, however, were getting rabid about it.  Puffed up in their knowledge, they ridiculed and pressured others to conform to their behaviors. 

Paul really didn’t care what they ate.  Jesus, after all, had declared all foods clean (Mark 7.19), so what was the big deal?  The big deal was love.  Everything we do ought to be shaped by love – God’s love for us, our love for God, and our love for others.

Though I probably won’t be running into an idol meat market any time soon, I will undoubtedly be confronted with people who have different opinions from me on how Christians ought to live.  Wherever there was room for disagreement, Paul believed that we ought to allow others freedom.  The guiding principle, though, was love, not selfishness.  My freedom may allow me to participate in certain behaviors, but love may prohibit it.  When faced with that choice, Paul said choose love.

So, can anybody tell me where I can find a Wolverine Burger?

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your beautifully diverse Church.  I rejoice that there is freedom in the body of Christ.  Help me to live within that freedom according to the ultimate principle - LOVE!  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 110.5-7

5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefsover the wide earth.

7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.