Page 126 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 23

But in the New Testament, the disciples and later “This meat was offered as a sacrifice!”, then do not
the first missionaries traveled at least in pairs. eat it, and do so with considera�on for the person
God does not see us as lone warriors and we should who drew your a�en�on to it - more precisely, with
not see ourselves as lone warriors, not at work, not considera�on for their conscience. Note that I am
in our free �me, not in the church. talking about the conscience of others. As far as my
The body of Christ includes not only the Chris�ans own conscience is concerned, I am free. But why
in my congrega�on, but everyone. I am connected should I behave in a way that violates the other per-
to all Chris�ans worldwide. This also means that my son's conscience so that he condemns my free-
small, modest contribu�on is complemented by dom? I could par�cipate in the meal with a prayer
other modest contribu�ons from millions of Chris�- of thanksgiving. But should I be reproached for
ans to the greatest project in the history of the something for which I thank God? Whatever you
world. I want to be part of it! do, whether you eat or drink or whatever - behave
in such a way that God is honored and that you are
The third conversion not a hindrance to anyone's faith, neither to Jews
In addi�on to conversion to Jesus Christ and to the nor to gen�les, nor to the church of God. I also act
church, there is a third conversion, conversion to according to this principle: in everything I do, I take
the world. For God's world encompasses every- everyone into considera�on. I am not looking out
thing, his whole crea�on and also those who are far for my own advantage, but have the many other
from God. (And not all people living away from God people in mind, because I want them to be saved.
are far from God.) “World” must not be confused 1 Corinthians 10:23-33
here with worldly, in the sense of carnal, sinful or I would like to take up Paul's radical conclusion for
the desire to get along without God. The world is us here: At the heart of the third conversion is no
meant here as crea�on. longer the ques�on “What is forbidden?”, but
Like all conversion movements, i.e. steps “away “What builds up?”, but not just myself, but “What
from something, towards something new”, conver- builds up the other?”, with the difficult challenge of
sion to the world is associated with fears that expe- respec�ng the conscience of the other in the pro-
rience so far will be dismissed and that the new cess.
could lead me away from the path of faith. I would not recommend every movie I watch or
every book I read to everyone else. I first examine
Taking account of the conscience myself to see what effect the movie or book has on
How far does the freedom given to us in Christ ex- me, whether I keep a clear conscience before God,
tend when we turn our gaze to the whole of crea�- and ul�mately whether these media edify me, i.e.
on? Paul discusses this above all in his first le�er to whether they are good for my rela�onship with
the Corinthians on the basis of the ques�on of whe- God. I then check whether others can also be edi-
ther or not one may eat meat consecrated to idols. fied by it.
“Everything is permi�ed!” you say. Perhaps, but not An example: Before I studied psychology, I studied
everything is therefore helpful. - “Everything is per- German and History. Later, I hardly turned my
mi�ed!” But not everything serves the community. a�en�on to literature for over twenty years. Then I
Everyone should look out for the benefit of others, picked up an old “classic” again and read Sartre's
not their own. What does that mean in concrete “Nausea”. I was fascinated by the concentrated lan-
terms? When meat is sold on the market, you don't guage, its dic�on and message of disgust. I under-
need to check whether it has been sacrificed to an stood Sartre's world view, even though I don't share
idol. You can eat everything without hesita�on and it. And in a sense, reading this book edified me by
with a clear conscience, because “the earth and reinforcing the beauty of our faith in my eyes as a
everything that lives on it belongs to the Lord”. The contrast. So for me it's not a problem to read athe-
same applies if someone who does not believe in is�c existen�alists, but I would not recommend it in
Christ invites you to eat and you accept the invita�- general.
on: You can eat everything that is put in front of you I would like to address another fear regarding the
without hesita�on and with a clear conscience and third conversion: the fear of pulling on a foreign
do not need to inquire where the meat comes yoke shared with unbelievers.
from. However, if someone explicitly says to you:

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