Big Idea: Christ followers must aim to become imitators of Christ in all they do. Their testimony to their relationship to Christ trumps their Christian “rights” and leads to a rejection of contexts that hamper this testimony.

Understanding the Text

After a rather direct warning to the “strong” Christians in Corinth against self-assuredness and the pursuit of personal rights at the expense of the “weak,” Paul now returns to his earlier differentiating argument about the relationship between idol meat and faith. The issue is a theological one. It is not that idol meat has evil powers but that its celebration evokes the jealousy of God and blurs the testimony of exclusive devotion to Christ. Covenantal loyalty is at stake! This section functions as a clarifying conclusion to the preceding …