Stumbling - 1 Corinthians, chapter 8 - Is this an example?

[The_Patriot21]

how was the couple wrong? the Bible doesnt prohibit drinking-just drunkedness and causing others to stumble. Theres no evidence that they caused anyone to stumble, just to gossip. Granted, the rest of the story may shed some light on it, but at this point I don't see how the original couple did anything wrong.

[MorningGlory]

how was the couple wrong? the Bible doesnt prohibit drinking-just drunkedness and causing others to stumble. Theres no evidence that they caused anyone to stumble, just to gossip. Granted, the rest of the story may shed some light on it, but at this point I don't see how the original couple did anything wrong.

 

I think I was looking at it from my own little mountain top; I don't drink alcohol.  But, you're right, the Bible doesn't condemn a little wine. 

[Ezra]

how was the couple wrong? the Bible doesnt prohibit drinking-just drunkedness and causing others to stumble. Theres no evidence that they caused anyone to stumble, just to gossip. Granted, the rest of the story may shed some light on it, but at this point I don't see how the original couple did anything wrong.

Since this was a church gathering, that should have been a no-brainer. It was not a private party. 

A group of people at this church decided to go to one of these Hollywood Bowl concerts and so they coordinated a trip

[The_Patriot21]

how does being a "church" event make any difference? where in the Bible does it say you can drink sparingly, as long as its not at a church event? I mean even Jesus drank wine during the last supper-which one could argue was the first "church" gathering. So what is so "wrong" about it at a "church" event.

 

And even if we assume there is a problem with drinking at a "church" event, I read nothing that this was a church sponsored event, just that it was a group of people in the church. They all knew each other from church sure, but that doesnt make it a church event. I go shooting with friends I know from church, does that make those priarie dog killing sessions a "church" event, or merely friends who know each other from church, enjoying time with each other? 

[Openly Curious]

First off let me say that this thread will likely be presented in stages. The title, about stumbling and first Corinthians chapter 8, is not going to be the primary focus at first but you should read that chapter before reading what I am about to post so you have it fresh in your mind what some of the issues being discussed are about.

I am going to give you a story, and I want to limit the discussion to this specific elements in the story and not get sidetracked with other examples of what it is to stumble someone or to get too caught up in the details of this Bible chapter. There will be a time and a place for that later in this thread. I want you to give your inputs to develop that topic further but later on in the thread.

For now, if you can control yourselves, just speak to the specifics of the following story. Thank you!

 

In Southern California there is a place called the Hollywood Bowl. It is a large amphitheater which is primarily used for musical performances. Sometimes in the summer it features a program of classical music and fireworks.

 

There was a couple who attended a large church about 20 miles from the Hollywood bowl. A group of people at this church decided to go to one of these Hollywood Bowl concerts and so they coordinated a trip where they all got on a bus and went there for a nice summer evening of festivities.

 

One of the features of these summer concerts is that people are allowed to bring food and drink into the event and have a dining experience along with the music and fireworks.

 

The couple which I have already mentioned brought along a picnic basket. When they got their seating position at the Hollywood Bowl they opened up the picnic basket and pulled out a small tablecloth and set it upon the bench seats there at the Hollywood Bowl.

 

Then they got out a bowl of tortilla chips, and a bowl of salsa and enjoyed their snack. From the picnic basket they produced a tall dark green glass bottle and two champagne glasses. They filled their glasses with the pale amber effervescent beverage and enjoyed it slowly until the bottle was empty.

 

This happened on a Friday evening. The following Sunday morning, this couple went to church as was their habit. The pastor of this church had been doing a series of sermons from the book of Romans. However on this particular Sunday, the pastor deviated from his plan to teach from the book of Romans and instead taught from 1st Corinthians chapter 8.

 

He spoke about how it is possible for Christians to stumble their brothers and sisters in Christ by what they eat or drink. Near the end of the sermon, the pastor spoke about a recent incident that he had heard about.

 

Someone from the congregation had come to him and this person was quite upset, because she had gone to the Hollywood Bowl event and saw there, a couple from their church who was openly drinking champagne.

 

The pastor became noticeably upset and in a scathing tone of voice said; "How dare you!" He then seemingly berated the congregation for their lack of love and sensitivity for their brothers and sisters in Christ. Of course for all we know there was just one couple to be blamed for this but the pastor was not giving a sermon to a couple nor confronting them directly, most likely he did not know who the couple was.

 

Perhaps this created a sense of frustration for the pastor knowing that this problem existed in his congregation but he was not able to direct his concerns to the couple, so the whole congregation received a sermon on the topic and the unknown couple became an object lesson.

 

The pastor calmed down a bit and continued his sermon and gave an example from his own life. It turns out that this pastor used to enjoy and drink wine. He would do this, after he had become a Christian, but in the privacy of his own home, certainly not in public. He did this, because he did not want to cause offense of any brother or sister.

 

Later, he was convicted that he should not even drink wine in the privacy of his own home, just in case by some chance someone would learn of it. He said that he did not see in the Bible where the drinking, in and of itself, was considered sinful. Jesus Himself, the pastor pointed out, turned water into wine. However, the pastor said, because I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord, I will not drink wine even in privacy because I don't want there to be any chance at all that I might cause offense to them.

 

The above story is true, but the story is not complete. I wanted to get these details in here because later on I will have a follow-up question.

 

I have told this story before, in the chat room here at Worthy Christian Forums. If you are one of those people who know this story, please do not respond to this thread at this time, but feel free to return to comment once I asked the follow-up question.

 

My questions for now are:

 

Based on the story above, how many people did something wrong or handled something poorly?

 

Which characters did something wrong (if any), which characters exercised poor judgment, and what things do you think that they did wrong or should have done better or another way?

 

Looking forward to your perspectives.

Interesting, My personal thoughts focused and turned toward the believer who attended the same church as the ones they saw drinking the champagne at the same music festivities they too were attending that were going on. Then I thought about the love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13 known as the love chapter and what it says about the love of God towards others. After pondering on that love for awhile I came to the conclusion thus far. That I think that it is actually the one(s) who actually saw the other believers drinking champagne at the festival was actually the one ultimately that caused all the offenses or events to happen as they did by not keeping it quite which is what God's love in a person would have done according to 1 corinthians 13 in this particular scenario. Circumstance in other ways may would have to be different like going and getting another witness and going before the church but this was not one of those types of scenario's here in the story that went on. And I am only focusing on the story of the festival and what happened and not corinthians 8 as you have asked. I have not read through this entire thread as of yet just now reading the OP as my time is tied up for me to do so. I do hope I'm not behind so much I'm already lost before I get started.