You must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—or I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.—1 Corinthians 8:9,13 NLT
With freedom comes responsibility. Christ purchased our freedom with His very own sinless blood. A high price was paid for us to experience spiritual freedom, access to the presence of God, and complete dominion over our adversary Satan. With our freedom comes a responsibility to maintain a witness to the world and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
In Paul’s day it was eating meat offered to idols which caused weaker Christians to stumble and fall. Today there are a number of issues that could hold a believer’s credibility in question. They could especially be issues for new believers. For example, social drinking, attending an R-rated movie, buying lottery tickets, etc. don’t seem to be a problem to some believers yet is a stumbling block for others.
I don’t believe in legislating morals because I believe in the grace of God influencing people from the inside out. Yet we should be careful to avoid the appearance of evil for the sake of our Christian witness. We don’t want to make others stumble and we don’t want to make light of the great sacrifice Jesus made for the freedom of all who would believe on Him. Let’s be responsible with our freedom, love always takes the higher road and never insists on its own way.
Finish Strong! 