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CAN CHRISTIANS EAT WHAT’S OFFERED TO IDOLS?
Over 80% of Indians worship idols. Christians are hardly 3 % in this country.
We are constantly challenged to befriend the non-Christians, especially the Hindus who
are the largest segment of our society, in order to share the message of the love of God with them.
When invited they gladly join us for our birthday parties and Christmas dinners. They have no problem
in eating the food we serve after offering thanksgiving prayer. But when they invite us to their festival
dinners or send us pongal or sweets, we hesitate and they are justifiably offended. Relationships get strained.
Some believers eat anything freely, whereas
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others are apprehensive. What does the Bible say about this?
Conditions similar to ours existed when the New Testament epistles were written. Eating food offered to
idols was one of the hot issues apostles Paul addressed while writing to the young churches. In his first
Corinthian Epistle he discussed this issue at length in two chapters, 8 and 10. When we read them carefully
this is what we learn-
Strictly speaking, idols are “nothing” (8:4;
Isa 37:19;
Jer 16:20;
Gal 4:8). As such any food offered to
them cannot be contaminated. However, for the idol worshipper it symbolizes something supernatural.
Commenting on their point of view Paul calls idols as “demons” (10:20). This figure is in their mind.
According to the idol worshipper the food becomes sacred when offered to idols. No Christian can accept
food from an idol-worshipper if it is given in this sense or with this understanding (10:20,21,27).
We can politely refuse it with a smile. If they still insist, we can receive it courteously but later
quietly give it away to a foodless platform-dweller or a beggar.
The apostle mentions three places where food offered to idols will be served- (a) temples (b) houses
(c) marketplaces. A Christian under no circumstances can join a dinner inside “an idol’s temple”(8:10).
This public act will dishonor Christ and discourage new Christians who have denounced idols to serve the
living God. But when invited to a family dinner of an idol-worshipper we can go and eat “asking no question” (10:27).
No true friend will try to trap us like Balaam or Jezebel (Rev 2:14,20). Next comes what is sold in shops.
Muslims chant a prayer before butchering animals. Hindus place sweets and savories in front of pictures of
gods and goddesses immediately after making them in restaurants or stalls. We need not bother about these
things but can freely buy and “eat whatever is sold…. asking no questions because the earth and all its fullness
belong to our Lord! (10:25,26). All animals and birds and plants and trees belong originally to the Lord and they
are for us to enjoy because we belong to him! Everything is sanctified by the word of God and a prayer of
thanksgiving (1 Tim 4:4,5).
The underlying principle that Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 8 & 10 as well as Romans 14 is that no knowledge
of the truth or liberty in Christ should be used to “wound the weak conscience of our brothers and sisters or
to “become a stumbling block” to them
(1 Cor 8:9,12). While there is nothing wrong, in the absolute sense,
in eating whatever is served to us, it is sin if our eating makes a brother “stumble” or “perish”
(1Cor 8:13,11).
Nothing we do must offend others
(1Cor 10:24,32,33;
Rom 14:14,15,21).
To summarize: Don’t compromise on the truth; don’t antagonize idol-worshipping friends; don’t despise weak
believers. 1 Corinthians 10:32 can be paraphrased as, “give no offence, either to the nominal Christians or
to the non-Christians or to the born- again Christians!”
This essay has been taken from the Book “Frank answers” by Brother R. Stanley, a renowned Christian teacher
and founder of Blessing Youth Mission, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
Suresh Manoharan
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The list of essays to follow
- Can Christians eat what is offered to idols?
- Is Childlessness a curse?
- The ways of protest
- Should women cover their heads while praying?
- Casteism in Christians
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