Bible Questions Answered:
What does it mean when it says “Let not then your good be evil spoken of?”
Riley W. / Mossel Bay- South Africa
Bible Answers:
The Scripture to which you refer to is...
Romans 14:16 KJV “Let not then your good be evil spoken of: “
In Romans 14: the Apostle Paul had been discussing whether Christians should eat meat that had been offered to idols.
(See also I Corinthians 8:)
In Romans 14:21 KJV The Apostle says...”It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.”
Again in I Corinthians 8:13 KJV “ Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”
Romans 14:7 KJV “ For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”
There may be many things, to you, that have no offense.
Going to theaters, shopping on Sundays, wearing modern clothes, etc...etc...
But to some new Christian, who is not as strong in the faith as you, doing those things could cause such a one to loose his or her faith.
Following the example of theater going, a new Christian may go to the theater and not choose the family shows that you would only watch, etc...
Shopping on Sunday, though it may seem as insignificant to many, may for others who see your example, mean to them, that you view Sunday no different than any other day.
“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”
Always some one is watching you, and what you do. And that may very well influence them to do the same or totally different things than you do.
Was it alright, for Christians to eat meat offered to idols?
Any Christian knew only too well, that there were no idol gods, so any offering was of none effect.
The meat was easy to come by, and why let it go to waste?
And yet, if some new Christian in the faith were to see older, mature Christians do that, they could misconstrue their actions, and maybe be led astray because of the actions taken.
“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”
As a Christian, we must be careful what we allow in our lives, others are watching.
May our lives lead them to the Lord, not astray from Him.
