Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin,
I will never eat meat again,
so that I may not cause my brother to sin.
Aren't we a little too ready to insist on our own legitimate freedom? Sure, we know that meat offered to idols doesn't mean anything because idols aren't real. Or we know that animals don't have the same royal dignity of humanity and that we are free to eat them. Other than meat, we may, for example, watch programs which contain scandalous themes because we know that they are not affecting us. Even if all of this is true what does it matter if we're throwing stumbling blocks in the road of people who don't yet know Christ?
What if a vegetarian or a vegan could more easily listen to a Christian who abstained from meat? What if an academically inclined atheist can't take seriously a Christian who indulges in a show like Game of Thrones? These are real possibilities. It does not mean we necessarily need to try to do everything to make everyone happy all the time. That's impossible. But it does mean we need to hold these freedoms loosely.
Letting go of legitimate freedoms for the sake of others is a step closer to being able to love our enemies. Enemies demand from us even what is not simply a freedom but a right. They tread on the dignity which is our due. They disregard our possessions and person and even cause us bodily harm. But we are in fact called to love our enemies.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
The one through whom all things exist prays for those who persecute him as they lead him to a cross and nail him upon it. Jesus himself teaches us the mercy of the Father. He gives us the ability to stop judging, to stop condemning, to start forgiving, and to start giving to others out of love. He empowers us to get beyond the walls of self-protection that surround us. In him we can love and not count the cost.
Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
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