I originally wrote a version of the following in reponse to a blog post of Messy Christian. I wanted to put it in mine for posterity.

One of the main points of the chapter that we talked a lot about basically states that we should be aware of the conscience of our brethren and to be prepared to sacrifice our liberty out of concern for the other’s sensibilities. Simply put, these sensibilities can lead to sin. Rightly or wrongly, a person’s sensibilities can lead them to sin even if the actual action is not explicitly sinful because “…whatever is not from faith is sin.”

In this chapter, Paul is surprisingly sensitive to the stigma surrounding the use of food in religious observance in a way that says to me that it is not always about being correct about an issue or whether one is at liberty to do a thing, rather that sometimes it is the Godly thing to “self-censor” for the sake of unity and love. For, like Corinthians says, “If I … know all mysteries and all knowledge … but do not have love, I am nothing.”

Self-censorship because of fear is never right but to be aware and sensitive, loving Christ’s body over our liberty is always a good call.

People need to be challenged just as much as they need to be able to voice there opinion. Neither of those needs can hold a candle to our responsibility to love though. It is not so much about what one can or cannot say, or do, rather it is about our relationship to one another and the responsibilities that brings.