It’s Not About Me

Well, annually, God requires that we keep His holy days and feasts in their appropriate seasons, in their proper times. And we are to assemble together and worship God at those times. And in keeping His days, we are taught and reminded of His plan of salvation for ourselves and also for all humanity. And it's God's holy days and feasts or days we do look forward to every year. And today, as we turn our minds in preparing ourselves spiritually for the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, we will be considering a number of things. We're going to be considering how envy and self-seeking, those more, a little more focused details of the self that we are to be struggling against. We'll be considering how envy and self-seeking, what Paul was inspired to call part of that old man, it needs to be put off. In the new man, Jesus Christ, we know needs to be put on. And then more specifically, we will be addressing a vital aspect of how to sacrifice ourselves and laying down our lives for our brethren. So we're going to be thinking a little bit more clearly, a little more specifically, perhaps, about how we can be laying down our lives, self-sacrificing in that sense, for our brethren.

And so I've entitled today's sermon this way. It's entitled, Remember, It's Not About Me. Remember, it's not about me.

And so during the spring holy day season, which we have now entered, if you haven't noticed, well then you haven't looked at your car lately. If you don't know what I'm talking about, folks join in from Loma Linda, California or something. This time of year, everything turns a nice shade of lime green due to pollen, but it is pretty nonetheless. We are definitely in the spring season, which we know here in East Texas. We've entered it, and it will not be long. Passover will be kept here on the evening of April 21st and then unleavened bread following on, first day of unleavened bread following April 23rd. But it's during the season we were now entering that we especially recall that it was through his willing sacrifice and death that Jesus Christ has removed from us sin, our sins, and the penalty for our sins, which is death. So let's review a few basic scriptures. There's many I could have chosen, but I had to leave a few for those that will be speaking later on in the days and weeks ahead. I tried to say that in jest because we're going to be preparing ourselves. Let's turn to Romans chapter 6, verse 10 through 12 to begin. Romans 6, verse 10 through 12. And it's here that Paul reminds us who have been baptized, reminds those who have accepted God's calling and who repented of sin and committed themselves to God, and through the baptism, that we must remain faithful. All of those who are baptized must remain faithful to their commitment to God. In Romans 6, 10 through 12, Paul writes these words, For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life that he lives, he lives to God.

Likewise, you who have committed yourselves to God, you also reckon yourselves to be dead, indeed, to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lust, and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. Represent yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. We're to present our members as instruments of righteousness to God. And so it is we must continue, then, to resist sin, to continue practicing living faith and obedience to God. Let's turn over next to Colossians 3, verses 1 through 4.

In Colossians 3, verses 1 through 4, Paul again exhorts us to keep our mind set on God, to keep our focus on our calling of salvation, of the kingdom of God. And what he puts under this umbrella phrase, you might say, the things above. Colossians 3, verses 1 through 4, here Paul writes, if then you were raised with Christ, raised with Christ, meaning he's addressing, again, those who were baptized in that watery grave of baptism and lifted up out into a new life, if you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, for Christ is sitting, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things above, not on things on earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. And, of course, they're referring to appear with him in glory, referring to the resurrection, and Christ returns resurrection to immortality, the resurrection of the firstfruits. Continuing on verses 5 through 11, and so he continues, then, therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. And because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, upon all humanity, and in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these. So, even though we were baptized and we left that old way of life, or old selves, as it were, dead, left behind, we still have things to work on as we live in Christ. But now you yourselves are to put off all these. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. There's things to keep working on. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who has renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. And so again, Paul here is exhorting us to hold true to our commitment to put to death that old way of life, and to live a new life in Christ. Now in verse 12, continuing, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies. Here's what we need to be working on as well. Put on tender mercies kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has complained against another, so if you have a problem, we need to go to another. We need to seek forgiveness. And even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. It's not a should statement. It's a must statement. We have to learn to forgive. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. And so Paul again is clearly articulating and instructing Christ's followers, instructing us to hold true to their commitment at baptism, to keep up the battle that we must fight against temptation and sin, and to also be practicing forgiveness and building bonds of unity. If every one of us would be practicing forgiveness, if every one of us would be yielding to God's Holy Spirit, which unites us as brothers and sisters in Christ, just think the perfect happiness we'd have. Maybe not perfect because I guess we'd still have human sin when we be still striving against ourselves. But the unity, the bonds we'd have, the cooperation we'd have, but it takes work. It takes humility in the help of God's Holy Spirit.

Now let's turn to James chapter 3, 13 through 17. James 3, 13 through 17. And here, James writes, and he also describes our need to follow Christ's instruction, to follow his example, and to reject self-seeking, to reject bitter envy, all of these things which can cause division in the body of Christ. James 3, 13.

James says, Who is wise and understanding among you?

So which of us thinks we're really smart? Which of us really thinks we understand and know what God's truth is? Well, let him show by good conduct. Let him show it by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom, he says, does not descend from above, but is earthly, it's sensual, it's even demonic. So those attitudes we must be avoiding, those attitudes we must be rejecting. When you think about it, he says these sort of attitudes are even demonic. They are not of God. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are. And I guess we can even look to the example of our societies around us right now, what's going on in the world. I think it would fit within this definition of a wisdom that is not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. There's great division right now, and we see it, and it impacts us in various ways. But verse 17, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle. It's willing to yield. It's full of mercy and good fruits. It's without partiality, and it's without hypocrisy. That is the attitude. That is the mindset and the motivations we need to be embracing. We need to be striving to put on with the help of God. Last week, we heard a lot about hypocrisy. We came to understand more about hypocrisy, and that's part of what we need to reject. And we must continue, then, to be committed to practicing the wisdom, all the wisdom that is from above. And so we must certainly, then, be putting off envy, self-seeking, jealousy, all those things that can cause for senseless division. And when we start thinking about these things, looking at how exactly, what exactly should we be putting off, we now come a little bit closer to today's more specific subject. The subject I want to delve into a little bit more fully with you today. There's an aspect of this self-seeking that we've always been aware of. We call it self-centeredness. We could call it selfishness. My ears have locked into a term that I'd forgotten about. It's an informal word. It's a slang term. I think I first heard about it when I was a teenager, I guess it was. I was going to say how many decades, but I don't need to.

That is back in the 70s. I'm not ashamed. That wasn't so many years ago for some of you, I know.

But this term is a slang term for egotism. And it captured my ear again lately, and it fittingly defines what seems to be going on in the world today, and it defines a life of self-seeking which we must not do, even though it's so prevalent around us. And maybe because it is so prevalent around us, we have to be an extra sharp guard to not let it become our way. The word I'm referring to, the slang term for egotism, is me-ism.

Me-ism. It's spelled M-E-I-S-M, or if you want to put a hyphen in there, you may. M-E-I-S-M.

Anyone want to guess what it probably means?

Now, I got a smart audience here I can tell. Yep. Me-ism. According to WordSense dictionary, me-ism means a focus on or obsession with oneself. With, you say it, me. We teach of ourselves.

Me-ism focuses on or obsesses with oneself. Now, when I define terms, I need to know what is that like, especially abstract terms like me-ism. What does it look like?

Oh, what does it sound like? What does it feel like? Well, here's some examples of what me-ism, how me-ism might manifest itself. And some of us are probably familiar with these things.

Me-ism can appear as an obsession with one's appearance. We may find people looking at themselves a lot. When I was a kid, it seemed like with my mother, if we stood too long in the mirror, her mother would say, quit looking at yourself in the mirror and get out of here. You know, just looking, focusing too much on how we look. We're too worried about our looks. Of course, now we have something called the magic mirror in our hand. We can do the little selfies and take our pictures and send them out in all sorts of directions at the same time. People are concerned with their appearances, and we're concerned about people's concern about our appearances, too. I don't know if that sounded right, but you get my point. Me-ism can be overly concerned or even fearful, likewise, about what others think about us. What do other people think about us? Now, it's not saying it's not healthy to be aware of how you impact others or what people are thinking, but to have this obsession, to have this fear and paranoia, that can go a little too far.

Those who yield to Me-ism find that they need to be known by those who they spend time with. They want to be up close to the movers and shakers, maybe of their organization. They want to be close to the leaders. They want to be close to the people in power and not only be seen by them, they want to be known by them because it's something that fulfills a need in their hearts. That idea is comparable to the warning Christ gives us about seeking the chief seats at the table, that needing to be first and foremost, to be present at everything. Those who give into Me-ism or follow Me-ism may serve or volunteer, but they only serve or volunteer to be noticed by others.

Their motivation for serving or volunteering may not be what it should be, which is to help, frankly, to help those in need. And of course, that's to say if they choose to volunteer or serve at all. Many who subscribe to Me-ism, they don't want to serve. They don't want to help.

And those that do choose to serve, they often will only serve in ways that they like to serve.

They will never serve in ways they don't like. It's too messy. It's too icky.

I might sweat. I might get dirty.

Others involved in Me-ism often insist unfairly, perhaps as they form a bullying, that others do things in a way that pleases them, oneself, the Me, and often without regards of others, others' needs or feelings.

Now, are any of you sitting here thinking, boy, so-and-so really needs to hear this.

Now, what would that be called if you're thinking that? Yes, that too is a form of Me-ism. That too can be a form of Me-ism. It's very human, isn't it? It's very human. Me-ism can be quick to judge others, but so, so slow to judge oneself.

Me-ism tends not to hear things that would be most beneficial to that Me, to that person. They tend not to hear what they don't like.

And, of course, another aspect of Me-ism tying in with this idea of self-seeking, those who yield readily to Me-ism find themselves angry often, angry and envious, because others have things they don't have, or maybe because they don't have the newest whatever that other people have. These are things that could cause us to feel jealous.

And so, this is, again, Me-ism. This is another name for Egotism, for self-seeking, for selfishness, self-centeredness. These are part of the things we found described in James and in Paul in the reading here so far today, things that are self-seeking.

These are things that should not be the mindset or the way for those called to be kings and priests in the kingdom of God. Would you all agree with me about that? Yeah, these are things we should not be doing. They should be things we should not subscribe to. And, of course, if we do find it in ourselves, we should recognize, I need to be working on that. God, please help me, and he will help us. Me-ism, in so many ways, is akin to thinking ourselves as being God, in a sense. We want to act like God, although I'd quicken to say a very puny, teeny God. Me-ism, we should understand, is rooted in Adam and Eve's rebellion against God when they chose to believe Satan and made pleasing themselves their life's focus rather than obeying, submitting, and pleasing God.

Adam and Eve chose to decide for themselves right from wrong. They decided who or what they would worship, how and when they would submit to God their Creator and Sustainer. And, of course, only God or Creator is worthy of worship and worthy of our humble and willing submission.

We can also understand that self-seeking Me-ism was in Cain's heart.

Cain and Abel, remember? It was in Cain's heart when, out of bitter envy, he did what?

He struck down his brother Abel, struck him down, and killed him out of jealousy.

And then he dared to ask God an incredible question. It's amazing still to me.

Am I my brother's keeper? I think he had Me-ism.

Now, of course, what we find in Scripture over and over again, that Paul gives God's answer to that age-old question in various ways. To all people, Gentiles, and Jews, and especially to those whom God calls to the body of Christ, the Church, Paul declares in so many ways, as we're going to see, yes, we are our brother's keeper. We are the keeper of our brethren, especially.

We are to watch out and to help one another. And so we must not doubt it nor ignore it. We must believe it, and we must live it. With faith in Jesus Christ, we each of us must love our neighbor according to God's instruction, according to His word. And we must love and edify our brethren for their benefit, for their benefit. And just think, if we're all all of us who share God's Holy Spirit, we're all living our lives focused on God, the things of heaven. And with God's Spirit in us, we're working together to edify one another, to help one another when we stumble, when we fall, when we sin. Isn't that a wonderful, most beautiful way to build those bonds of unity in the body of Christ, to be that one body, not disjointed, not divided? Some of us know what it feels like to have limbs out of joint.

But not to be divided, but to be bound together as one.

We each must love and edify our brethren for their benefit.

Now, why? Do we dare ask that question? Why would we want to do that?

Let's look at 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19 through 20.

Why should we? Why would we want to love and edify our brethren for their benefit?

Why would we want to put out of ourself, you might say? Why would we want to give up of ourself, so to speak? Well, it's because of what Paul declares. A lot of it, we could say, goes back to what Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20.

Paul declares that we are not our own. We, we are not our own.

He says, Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?

So here we are, we little puny human beings running around saying, me, me, me, my, my, my, I, I, want, want, mine, mine, mine. Sounds rather like baby talk, doesn't it?

Don't want to offend any babies in the room. We adults can sound like that sometimes.

We're talking about me and my this, and I want that, I own this.

And here we're reminded, you are not your own. We don't even own ourselves.

We do not even own ourselves. And why is that? Verse 20. For you are bought at a price.

Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods. You are bought at a price. And yes, we've been redeemed from our sins penalty of death through the death of Jesus Christ, his precious sinless life given for our life, for ours, not ours alone, but for all humanities. And so we are therefore obligated to put aside our selfish and self-centered mindset, put away our self-centered ways, and live our lives.

And so we must be ridding ourselves of me-ism. It needs to become something that we don't give into, we don't cave into. And with the help of God's word and his Holy Spirit, we can then put on the mindset of Christ. We just have to work with God, not against him, and help one another in those times of need as well. We need to live a life of repentance from sin. We need to learn to stop saying no to service. We need to start saying yes to helping, because that's all part of edifying, building one another up, being motivated and inspired by God to do those things of love. And so we're going to be hearing much more about Christ's sacrifice and the days ahead, also about our need to live our lives, to put anew in Christ, to put sin behind us. We're going to hear much more about that, not only in this message yet today ahead of us here, but also in the days and weeks ahead.

Now at this point, I want to turn, let's turn a few pages to chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians. Let's take a chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians. In this epistle, at various times and places, Paul addresses a number of questions the Corinthians have, questions that they had apparently communicated to him and written to him. And oftentimes, scholars now recognize that Paul seems to be directly addressing those questions. And at times, he will even, we have to understand in the original scrolls, the things that were passed down to us, they didn't have things like punctuation, even in English language, punctuation to come about a few hundred years ago, really. So they didn't have quotation marks and such, but they use careful study of the text to see what seemed to understand what seems to be maybe Paul quoting what has been told to him. And so we see a little bit of that as Paul begins to address here in chapter 8, one of the questions that was posed to him about things meet offered to idols. And so in 1 Corinthians 8 verse 1, and we're going to look at this because Paul is going to use this question about concerning meat offered to idols, things offered to idols, to establish a principle about love towards neighbor, about love towards our brethren, something we need to be aware of as we learn to put aside the self and put on more of Christ.

And so in verse 1 of chapter 8, 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, now concerning things offered to idols, we know we all have knowledge. Now it's here some translators such as the NIV, the Revised Standard Version, the English Standard Version, they consider that clause, we all have knowledge, to be a quote from a letter written from the Corinthian church to Paul.

And so it could read, we know that, quote, we all have knowledge, unquote. And so he's quoting, he's agreeing with something they said to him. Within the context of what he's saying, knowledge here would seem to refer to the truth that is known about those things offered to idols, and about things about the idols themselves. We know certain things, Paul says, and he's going to discuss those ideas a little more fully down in verse 4. We'll get there in just a minute.

Well then, continuing here in verse 1, Paul then summarizes his answer, which he's going to continue to develop. It's the answer that is that knowledge of truth alone is not enough. Knowledge of its own is not enough, not even knowledge of the truth. And so he continues there in verse 1, that last sentence, that's why he says, and again this seems, it could be a quotation, knowledge, quote, unquote, knowledge puffs up. But love, Paul offers in reply, edifies. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know, suggesting there's always more for us to learn about God's Word, his truth, his love.

But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. The word love there in verse 1, love there toward God refers to agape. It's that highest form of love, that godly love. That love is not a passive love. It is a very active, it's a highly involved love. It is a love that is founded on a choice we make about our attitude, about our motivation for doing something, about the actions we will take or not take. It's motivated by agape, that godly love. And God's love in us, and living through us, builds others up. It's to build up others. It's to edify. It's to promote growth, especially spiritual growth. So part of what Paul is saying is that one's knowledge about God and his way is not enough. That knowledge must be tempered with true humility and the desire to please God by loving God and loving others. Otherwise, knowledge alone or thinking that somehow we know it all, and sometimes we can get caught up in just knowing a lot, but I can speak from experience. Knowing a lot doesn't really mean a lot.

I know I'm using the word a lot a lot.

Knowledge is really nothing unless you put it into action. Wisdom is nothing unless you put it into action. That's when wisdom, that's when love begins, when you put God's love into action. It's not enough to talk about it. It's not enough to say you know it or to memorize the Ten Commandments, which goes a long way to defining God's love. It's when we put it into action in our lives and in service and giving to others. Otherwise, just to have that knowledge can become part of our inflated ego, another aspect of our me-ism, our self-importance. And that sort of self-importance, that big-headedness about knowledge, can lead to pride in oneself in harming others and not edifying others. And there is, as we are told, Paul said here in verse 2, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. We understand also that there's always more for us to learn than to know about God, to learn about His love. And I think that, and I think you would agree with me, that has to be one of the reasons why God has this rehearse the Holy Days every year. Every year we rehearse this.

We should never come to the point and say, oh, here it comes again. We did this last year. Do we really need to do this again? Yep. Oh, yeah. Because if we don't, we will forget. If we don't, we'll begin to think we know it all. We'll begin to think, oh, I heard that sermon or something like it years ago. That's nothing there for me, nothing new. I've learned nothing. Well, if you've learned nothing, that's not the speaker's fault. That's not God's fault.

That doesn't leave a lot of places for the fault to fall, does it?

Maybe it's your me-ism, your sense of self-seeking, your sense of self getting in the way.

I hope that doesn't happen with any of us.

So the need to put aside pride and envy and to love our brethren with more compassion and selflessness, that's part of what Paul is developing here in chapter 8. And it's also just another aspect of the problems that Paul is addressing with Corinthians elsewhere in this epistle. Remember, in chapter 5, Paul had to take on their lack of understanding. They had knowledge but not a real understanding about love when they were tolerating this man who lived in sin with his stepmother.

Paul had to address that with him in chapter 5. Today we hear a lot about tolerance, but Paul has no patience with tolerating sin, and neither should we. Then there's the other chapter 6 where Paul had to correct them because they were not practicing God's way of edifying and helping one another. They're taking a brother to court. They're having lawsuits against each other, brethren against brethren in the church.

Paul had to correct them on that. And then this probably will be in a sermon or a message sooner or later as we approach the Holy Days, spring Holy Days, and Passover. In chapter 11, Paul had to correct them and give them further instruction about waiting for the brethren, about having the right attitude of humility, waiting for their brethren when they'd have that supper before Passover.

Remember, some are eating and getting drunk and not waiting for one another. That's not godly love. And so there are a number of issues the Corinthians had that Paul was having to deal with. Their me-ism was getting in the way, and he was helping them to see that their me-ism, their self-centeredness, was not compatible with God's way of love. And so here he's talking about this issue of meat offered, things offered to idols.

Let's go on to verse 4 through 6 now. Here Paul explains the truth of what we, what people understood then, what people in the church then understood about idols, what we should understand about idols, as opposed to what we need to understand about God. Verse 4, Paul writes, therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know, here's part of that knowledge, we know that an idol is nothing in the world.

English Standard Version says we know that an idol has no real existence. It's nothing. It's nothing. And we know that there is no other god but one that is the true God whom we worship. For even if there are so-called gods, he says, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are as many gods and many lords, and of course it's all imaginary, it's all figment of human imagination, yet for us there is one God, the Father of whom all are, of whom are all things, and we for him. And one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things, and through whom we live. Paul's point, we know that only God is God.

We know that idols are not gods. They're nothing. They have no power. And through faith we know, then, that there is no sin in eating meat or food offered to idols. That was an issue in Corinth. They didn't understand if that was okay or not. But then Paul adds something more, and it gets back to this idea as the title of this message is, it's not always about us. It's about not always about what we know, what we know even is true. It's not always about you or me. Continuing on verse 7, Paul instructs those who have this true knowledge about God and idols to nonetheless be considered of those who yet lack sufficient knowledge and faith, who can still be bothered by what we might call that guilty conscience.

And so in verse 7 he says, however, there is not in everyone that knowledge. Not everyone has the knowledge you have. Not everyone understands things about God the way you and I do right now. For some with consciousness of the idol, until now, eat it as a thing offered to an idol, as if it were real. And their conscience being weak is defiled. And so these members, whether they're new or young in the faith, were so accustomed to thinking of idols as being real that in their minds they seriously thought if they ate the food offered to idols or saw others eating that food, they then considered that as worshiping, as still worshiping that false God, that nothing idle. But in their conscience there was still something there. They were working through.

That all violated their conscience. To them, who are of weak conscience, that was a sin. It was sinful. So what then should be the approach of those strong in faith to their brethren who are yet weak or young in the faith? Though one has the knowledge that there's nothing inherently sinful in eating food offered to idols, Paul makes clear if eating it would violate that person's conscience, the conscience of another brother or sister, Paul says that we who have that better understanding should not eat it. We should not do it if we'd offend the conscience, if we'd be a sin to a brother. In other words, a strong must practice love and compassion toward the weak brother in order to not violate his conscience. Continuing on, verse 8 through 13, Paul adds, food does not commend us to God. In other words, food does not win us God's approval.

For neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But, bewareless, somehow this liberty, this freedom or right, this what is permissible for us to do under God's law, this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, a lot of times they sell food right next to the temple, or in these meat markets, shambles connected to the temples, the meat from the offerings that be sometimes butchered and sold in the markets. So if anyone sees you have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? They'd be encouraged to then sin, and what is their mind to sin. And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. But when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ, you who have better knowledge of God's truth, he's suggesting. 13. Therefore, here's Paul's conclusion, here's Paul's stand on this. If food makes my brother stumble, if eat meat makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. N.E.T. says, make my brother to sin. The King James says, lest I make my brother to offend. It's not about me. It's not about us. It's about recognizing the strengths and weaknesses, the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We need to be... Paul's point is, our principle here is, our actions, even though they may be permissible within the love of... within God's living law and such, our actions need to edify our brother. We need to be careful that we don't weaken his faith or damage his relationship with God in the church, within the body of Christ. So, not being mindful of offending a brother is potentially a very spiritually destructive thing to do. That Paul says he would rather give up his freedom than to offend his brother in Christ. So, the question Paul begs us to ask is, are we willing to sacrifice what is otherwise lawful for us to do so that we might edify our brothers and sisters in Christ? And this really gets down to the point of what self-sacrifice means. Self-sacrifice means giving up things that are otherwise fine and permissible. But if doing that would cause offense, cause harm for a brother or sister, then maybe we should not be doing it. In fact, Paul says we need to think twice about doing it near that brother or sister.

And so, are we living that sort of, it's not about me, way of life. It's mindset we need to be putting on. Let's also look at a few pages over 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Paul picks up again this idea of eating the meat. And again, I should make clear that some detractors out there, some scholars, will argue that this is proof that we can eat any kind of meat. That Paul is talking about clean and unclean meats. It's not. It can't be. When you pay attention to the context, it's about meat offered to idols. And as scholars will tell you, and I mentioned it here later, much of those offerings were actually clean animals. A lot of times it was goats and sheep and cattle of that sort of thing.

But he's not talking about clean and unclean foods here. Let's look at chapter 1 Corinthians 10, 23 through 33. In verse 23, Paul declares the principle of God's love that he's building to, this principle that he's trying to teach and instruct time and again here in this epistle and elsewhere in the Bible and his other letters, a principle God's love were to live.

And this principle, obviously, is going to be contrary to our proclivity for me-ism. And so Paul begins verse 23. Again, he's quoting, apparently he's quoting what some Corinthians have said and what some Corinthians believe. And so he says, quote, all things are lawful for me.

To which Paul says, but not all things are helpful.

Corinthians are saying all things are lawful for me. Oh, did you hear me emphasize that?

It's that me-ism. But Paul says, in contrast, but not all things edify. That's the point he is making earlier in chapter 8. And again, he's using parallelism here to emphasize that meaning. The new international version translates verse 23 this way. And again, it captures that the Corinthian sense of self versus where Paul's trying to point them, you've got to give up yourself for the sake of the brethren at times. He says, I have the, new NIV reads, I have the right to do anything, you say, but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything. Paul replies, but not everything is constructive. And so I think that helps us understand that principle. And so the Corinthians are saying such things as all things are lawful for me, or I have the right to do anything. Well, that reveals what seems to have been a common attitude among the Corinthians at that time, in the church at that time. That was their expression of meism. And it showed their spiritual immaturity. It showed their need for greater humility and a better understanding about living God's way. And Paul loved the Corinthians. He loved them. They were his brothers and sisters in Christ. He loved them. He wanted them to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. And so he takes great effort in this letter, sometimes repeating himself, it would seem to us, and I'm sure he definitely was, trying to emphasize that point, trying to help them understand it from different aspects, different angles. And so again, the point is those who follow Christ must be conscientious not only about God, pleasing God, but about helping their brethren.

In verse 24, Paul's principle comes down to this expression, which is very important and easy, I think rather easy for us to remember, and maybe a little tough at times to do. Verse 24 says, Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. And again, imagine if we're all doing that. We all have God's Holy Spirit. We all have the same desire to help build up our brethren, our brothers and sisters. Think what powerful unity, what a powerful bond, the help of God's Word and his Spirit we would have, what bond of fellowship as we continue to work on this. I know we're doing this, but I know we all can work more to improve this. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. And then continuing verse 25-27, Paul gives another example regarding meats offered to idols. Again, it's not about unclean meats. Verse 25, Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, Paul says, asking no questions for conscience sake.

The conscience sake about meat offered to idols, not clean and unclean foods. Verse 26, For the earth is the Lord's in all its fullness. If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner and you desire to go, well, eat whatever is set before you. Yes, they may have bought it in the meat market. Outside Apollo's, not Apollo's restaurant, but Apollo temple, I guess you could probably go to Aphrodite, a Greek restaurant in Tyler or something if they have one. But that's not what he's talking about, is he? He's talking about meat offered to idols. He goes, says, Go eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for conscience sake. So he says, Don't worry about it.

But then he goes on to verse 28, However, but if anyone says to you, This was offered to idols, do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you.

And so we read it out loud, but perhaps the scenario is more like some of them have gone to this person's home, and the person, brother sitting next to you, says, This meat was offered to idols. You ever heard that kind of whisper? And what do you do? Oh!

That indicates this person may have a problem with that, so maybe I shouldn't do this because I don't want to vex them or offend them or do something like that. This is offered to idols, Do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you. And for conscience sake.

I think I read that. Verse 29, Conscience I say, Not your own, but that of the other, for that person's conscience. So again, we see Paul's instructing that although one may have the freedom to eat meat, to do something permissible has been offered to idols, once you not eat it, in order not to harm the conscience of the brother. Again, with this principle of avoiding me-ism, it's not about us. It's about our brother.

And then verse 29, Paul concludes this section by asking the sort of questions, posing the sort of questions I'm sure he heard many times. And perhaps these are questions you've heard posed to you, or maybe these are questions we ourselves have asked. Verse 29, I'm going to read New King James, and I'm going to read from the New Living Translation. New King James says, Paul asks this question, sort of question we'll often hear, Why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience? Why is my right to do what I want to do judged by somebody else? Verse 30, But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of, for the food over which I just gave thanks?

Well, let's look at New Living Translation. The wording here may be a little easier for our ears to grasp. New Living Translation says, For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? That sound a little clear? Verse 30, If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it? Again, we're not talking about cleaning and cleaning food. He's talking about food offered to idols. So if it's permissible, but this person has a problem with it, why should I let his offense keep me from doing what I want to do? You ever ask anything like that before in your life? I won't look. In other words, why should we have to change our ways just because someone else is going to be offended by what we're doing, even though it's okay with God? Well, what's your answer?

It's verse 24 again. It's verse 24 again. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well being. The principle is the essence of how we're to practice God's love toward one another.

Now again, this is primarily addressing questions of sin. I'm sure it's easy to offend somebody. I'm sure something I do is going to offend somebody. Maybe the way I... well, I'm not going to tell you my mannerisms that bother me, but I'm sure there are maybe little quirks and things we do that maybe offend people, but this more specifically is talking about things that could make... not doing things that could make a brother stumble and sin. The point Paul is saying, if we truly understand God's love, we're trying to put on more of that mind to Christ, we need to become less self-focused. We need to lay down our lives for others. And so then Paul concludes the section of the letter, verse 31-33. Therefore, whatever... whether you eat or drink, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do... so now he's taking this meat thing and made a principle to apply to every aspect of our interaction with our brothers and sisters... or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things. He's not talking about sinning just to please other sinners. That's not it. In not seeking my own profit, I'm not seeking my own profit of benefit, but the profit or benefit of many, that they may be saved, that He's going to help them in their way of salvation. Now, we may be too polite to say it out loud, but at times we may feel it to be terribly unjust or unfair that we have to put aside whatever is permissible for us to do, just so we don't offend a brother or sister. But that's what Paul's talking about.

And if we feel it's terribly unfair and unjust, that could be an example of where we need something to work on. We do have something to work on with God's help. That's an attitude we may need to be working on. You see, whenever that old man, that old self, that old me, in us, the me and you, makes us feel inconvenienced or put upon, and we want to say, no way. We want to dig in our heels. We need to check our attitude. We need to check our attitude. Let's look at Romans 15, verse 1 through 3. In fact, let's go back a few pages. Romans 15.

We might want to check our attitude by reading these words of Paul in Romans 15. When we feel inconvenienced, when our me-ism is demanding its own way, Romans 15 verse 1, Paul wrote this. He's writing a similar message, of course, to the Romans. Romans 15 verse 1, We then, who are strong, such as being strong in the knowledge of the truth or of love of God or faith, we then, who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. It's the same, similar message. But here's the kicker in verse 3. Why? For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me, or the insults of those who insulted you fell on me. Christ, in other words, did Christ always do what was pleasing to Christ? Of course not. He's our example. Christ committed no sin. He did nothing deserving such suffering as he underwent. He did nothing deserving of a cruel and painful death.

And yet he willingly took our sins upon himself, didn't he? He died for you, and he died for me. That's part of what this season reminds us of. It helps to put us in a more humble attitude so we can be more reflective. We can do perhaps a more prayerful, good job of examining ourselves for sin. He took our place so that the way to salvation, the way to everlasting life, would be available to us and to all people. And again, all this was according to the plan and love of our Father, our Heavenly Father. The Father wants us. He wants us to be part of his family.

In Jesus Christ revealed this knowledge, this plan to humanity. He revealed the Father to us and revealed to us what it means to love God and what it means to love our neighbor. It means giving up something of ourselves, a very important something of ourselves. Christ loved us. He gave his life for us. Where to imitate Christ, we must lay down our lives for each other. That's a formula to a degree. And so our obligation is clear in this point. We must learn to be willing to put aside self and me to do what is right for God and others.

It's not about me. Now again, just be clear, in all that we consider today, all that Paul's talked about and James, all that I've said or I'm trying to say, all that we've considered, it has nothing to do with tolerating sin. We're not to tolerate sin. That's a big buzzword in society today, isn't it? Tolerance. I'll tolerate you, although they really don't, if you tolerate me, which they absolutely demand. That's not tolerant. We don't tolerate sin.

Notice that Paul is addressing those who have been called of God. He is addressing those who are choosing and wanting to learn and live God's way. Paul is addressing those who are in the process of being ever more committed to God. He's addressing those who are repenting from sin. They're seeking God's forgiveness. They are wanting to follow Christ's instructions and examples to be more like Christ. He's talking to people that really don't want to sin anymore.

And if we do see a brother or sister doing something sinful, Jesus Christ gives us the process to go through. The process, before we go to our brother in private to address what is a sin, what there's something they're doing, we go with humility. But before we ever go, we humble ourselves. We check ourselves. We get a great big crowbar and pull the board or the beam out of our own eye. Remember that part? Yeah. Take care of ourselves. Make sure our own attitude, that me-ism isn't getting the best of us, and so in self-righteousness, we go to correct a brother. That doesn't work. That is not part of the formula. We have to correct ourselves, get our own attitudes right, so then we can more humbly help our brother. And not to say that you're all wrong, but let me help you. I have troubles, too. Let me help you get to a better place, and would you help me get to a better place when I need your help. And so Paul's inspired instruction is a call for us to put aside self-centeredness. It's a call to put aside our pride and ego, and to do what's beneficial for our brethren and ultimately for the entire body of Christ, the church. But of course, because God's love is love, it goes both ways at the same time. As we help another, we help ourselves, because that's the way God's love is. Now, some of you by now, I'm sure, might be wondering, well, how do we apply this practice of self-sacrifice to our brethren in real life? We don't have meat markets offering meat, selling meat off of dietals, so what would be something comparable? What could be something comparable? And I'm not sure. Could it mean that we need to stop humming jingle bells every time it snows? Because sometimes it really might perturb a brother who is pestered with thoughts of Christmas. He just gave Christmas up, and now you're humming what he thinks is a Christmas... Jingle Bells is not a Christmas song just to be accurate, but it immediately sets us off down that coho lane, right? I still remember the Christmas program I was in in kindergarten at that one-room schoolhouse. It makes me really sound old, but I do. I'm not going to do the choreography, but I remember. So maybe we need to give that up, for the sake of a brother. It may mean that when we practice hospitality and we have people over to our homes, it may mean that we don't have our usual glass of wine with dinner that evening because of a brother, our guest in our house, struggles with alcoholism. We wouldn't want to do that and make it a terrible temptation for him, a temptation to sin. You know, it could even mean... maybe I'm being a little silly here... it could even mean, perhaps, that we don't buy and eat those chocolate bunnies that you can get for half price after Easter, right? And then munch on them next to a sister who is struggling because she has very fond memories of Easter with her family, and it brings it all back up and makes her uncomfortable.

I don't know. I'm just throwing some ideas out. There's a principle. Now, there are many other possible scenarios how we might need to make a personal sacrifice. They are small in order to edify our brother, but we must be prepared to do it by learning now and always to keep putting aside ourselves, to keep being willing to put aside our freedoms, what's permissible for us, putting aside our freedom and the wants and things we like to do and can do in order to love our brothers and sisters better, and avoid those things that may cause them to sin. They're coming along just as we had to come along, and we're still coming along, and we need to be mindful of that with one another. And so, as we do approach the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, with God's Word and the help of His Spirit, we are to be examining ourselves for sin, to be putting sin out and putting in more of God's mind and way, to be redoubling our efforts to repent from all our self-centered ways. And so, I'd encourage us then in the days and weeks ahead, and of course, always and forever, as long as it takes, let's keep putting off the old man.

Let's keep putting off any traces of me-ism and be putting on the new man, Jesus Christ.

Let's be building up one another by laying down our lives for one another.

And let's be less concerned about our rights and more concerned about being right with God.

And let's remember those important words, it's not about me.