Thinking. Loving. Doing.: A Call to Glorify God With Heart and Mind by John Piper & David Mathis

Author:John Piper & David Mathis
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Religion, Christian Life, General
ISBN: 9781433526510
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2011-09-07T22:00:00+00:00

Think Hard, Stay Humble 101

ing Psalm 139, speaking about the presence of God. Yet you were

worried about the presence of John MacArthur?”

Foolishly defending myself, I began to explain to my wife all of

Dr. MacArthur’s accomplishments. I hoped at least to help her see

why I would be afraid. Her response was, “And all of his righteous

deeds are as filthy rags.” Ouch.

Written in Love

I have come a long way since those days, but I would be lying if I

told you I hadn’t given any thought to the fact that I was going to be preaching to some of my heroes when I delivered the original version of this chapter at the 2010 Desiring God National Conference

in Minneapolis.

Yet, by the grace of God, I think I was able to look beyond all

of that and think more about loving them. I asked God to help me

use whatever giftedness I have for their benefit and edification. He gave me love for them. And now I ask him for that love for you, the

reader. This chapter is written in love. I have been praying for you, that you would love God and others more as a result of this study of 1 Corinthians 8.

What Matters in Eternity

Think about this: those of us who are in Christ will be together one hundred years from now. I’ve tried to write this chapter in light of that—thinking that I will see your face one hundred years from now.

And two hundred years from now. With that perspective, I ask, “What

can I write to you in this chapter that will matter in eternity?” Oh, God, help me love these readers.

This passage in 1 Corinthians 8:1–3 is so fitting for this book

because it addresses people that technically have the right theology but are wrong because of their lack of love. As I’ve studied this passage, the Lord has taught me so much. But the main thing he did was

give me love for you. I hope, as you read this chapter, that you see me as your brother in Christ now and into eternity and see that God

wants us to have love for one another.

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102 Thinking. Loving. Doing.

Meat Offered to Idols

The issue in 1 Corinthians 8 that Paul addresses is meat offered to

idols. The Corinthians had come out of pagan backgrounds. They

once had worshiped idols. They had believed that meat was inhabited

by demons, so they would offer the meat before their idol. The idea

was that the idol would cleanse the meat of the demons, so when

they consumed the meat, it would be clean and inhabited by their god rather than by demons. It was an act of worship to their idol. They

had grown up doing it this way—and some of them were still affected

by this way of thinking.

But some of the Corinthian believers who were more knowledge-

able were saying, “Idols aren’t real. Now that we’re Christians, we know that idols are a farce. Just eat the meat. It’s not a big deal.” But the weaker Christians who had spent their

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