Page 126 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 23
P. 126

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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