(972)
* * * * *
People are just as prone now as in the days when Paul wrote
his first letter to the Corinthians to insist on their “right”
to do whatever they think there is “no harm” in. “An idol does
not affect meat one way or the other,” said Paul. “Very well,”
replies the Corinthian Christian. “Mr. A. invites me to dine
with him to-night, and I am going. He will have on his table
parts of an animal which he has just been sacrificing in the
temple of Venus, but what of that? He might have sold it to
the butcher, and then if I had bought it, no harm would have
come of eating it.” “Not so fast,” says the apostle. “If that
supper is part of the worship even of an idol, you may dishonor
Christ, of whose body you have partaken, by even seeming to
worship other spirits. And even if you could afford it, others
would stumble.” “But shall my liberty be circumscribed by the
narrow-mindedness of another?” “Certainly,” says the apostle.
“That is what we live for--to help others, not to eat and drink.”
(973)
* * * * *
It counts for much when men in high station have the moral courage to
condemn unworthy things.
President Taft walked out of a local theater in the first year
he was President because he disapproved of the character of the
play that was being produced. Friends of the President said
that he was disgusted with the performance. The first act was
too much for Mr. Taft and his sister-in-law. They saw nothing
amusing, interesting or instructive in the depiction of typical
scenes in a house of bad character. In order to avoid attracting
attention and exciting comment by going out while the players
were on the stage, they waited until the curtain fell on the
first act and then left the theater.
(974)
See COURAGE; LIVING THE GOSPEL; PRECEPT AND PRACTISE.