Thank you both for taking time and energy to offer your thoughts on this scripture. I officially declare the discussion drought on these passages as over.
Please consider my comments below as my
first reaction to what you said, which may not end up being my Final Answer. I want to know what you think before deciding. I think it is very important and I don’t want to conclude anything in haste.
Could St. Paul be refering to God when he says “I”…He was a rightous jew…? This maybe far left field, but thats what first strikes me and considering his talks about the Lord in this regard…
Thank you for your ideas, and with the disclaimer, I promise I won’t jump to any conclusion.
I’m not sure what you are saying, as I’m not familiar enough with Paul’s own journey and what he considered himself to be. Are you thinking maybe Paul was talking about his own past when he wrote that? What do you mean by “talks about the Lord?”
I’ve noticed, you always manage to bring it up.
I very much doubt that St Paul encouraged Christians to go ahead and engage in pagan worship in order to get close to those people and maybe convert them. Christians were often killed for their faith back then, for refusing to worship false gods, and we have a number of martyrs to confirm that. We should always be very careful not to cross the line. We can respect other religions without accomodating them and without behaving like they are equally true.
Then what do you make of his term “became like,” as in “became like one outside the law” in verse 21? In what ways did he become like them? To what extent would he act like them, if he were to avoid actually worshiping with them – at least from outside appearances?
Actually I just thought of something for the first time … if Paul acts like others with whom he does not agree, by trying to follow Paul’s example are we at risk of being hypocrites?
But this has nothing to do with the OP and his situation because he is not dealing with pagan worship but with protestant church service. A different thing altogether.
I see there is a difference, but I’m not sure why the passage wouldn’t apply here. Wouldn’t pagan worship be “worse” than singing praise with Protestants? Sure, neither one is in agreement with Rome, so in that way they are alike, but at least the Protestants make the claim that they are followers of Christ.
Regarding acting like those we are with, we also have:
1 Cor 10
27 If an unbeliever invites you and you want to go, eat whatever is placed before you, without raising questions on grounds of conscience.
28 But if someone says to you, “This was offered in sacrifice,” do not eat it on account of the one who called attention to it and on account of conscience;
29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other’s. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?
30 If I partake thankfully, why am I reviled for that over which I give thanks?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
32 Avoid giving offense, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God,
33 just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved.
Before I read this passage for myself, I had a dilemma that may relate. I had been invited to a formal business dinner, and was asked to indicate whether I would prefer a chicken plate or a steak plate. I didn’t want either because it just happened to be on a Lenten Friday. I was angry to be in that situation. I didn’t want to miss it because it was important to my boss, but neither did I want to sit there and eat the vegetables and send back the main course – after all, I liked to eat, plus I was afraid I’d have to give an explanation and I didn’t really want to get into religious debates at the dinner.
I asked my pastor what I should do, and he said, “Alan, go ahead to the dinner and eat what they give you.” I thought it was a one-time dispensation, but a few years later my wife told me that she heard a homily (we don’t always go to the same Mass since I have to go to 8 am but she doesn’t) where the priest gave a similar scenario and said we should eat what we are given.
The part I found most striking was verse 29, “I mean not your own conscience, but the other’s. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?”
Given the way I was brought up, it was unheard of to behave in accordance with another’s conscience and not my own. The more I reflect on this, the more it seems to make sense, if we are to be “fishers of men.” Avoid scandal – not just against Catholics but with others when I am around others – so that we may win their respect. I don’t always go along with that, though, as my wife once gave me a t-shirt and instructed me to wear to a concert by Rich Mullins (author of “Awesome God”) in Emporia, Kansas. I obeyed her, of course. It turned out the concert was in a Protestant Church and we were surrounded by Protestants.
The shirt was,
“Top 10 Reasons to Remain a Roman Catholic.” The front had reasons 10 through 2, and on the back was reason 1, the Eucharist. Mullins read the shirt after the concert and loved it, which made me feel better because during the concert I was very self-conscious about it. There’s more to the story because right after he read the shirt, a friend of ours asked Mullins to do
a concert in Wichita for Marriage Encounter and he agreed.
The rest is history.
Alan
