1 Corinthians 8:10

For if. man see thee who hast knowledge sitting at meat in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols?

'For' -a case in point.

'a man' -'someone' (NASV); in the context the Christian with an idolatrous past (1 Corinthians 8:7).

'see thee' -note again, nothing is said about this brother eating with the "knowledgeable" brother, or sitting next to him, or even being invited by him. Rather, another Christian simply see's you.

'who hast knowledge' -rather than being. compliment, this might be. jab at some of the Corinthians. 'the Corinthian pretension of superior enlightenment, shown in 1 Corinthians 8:2 to be faulty in Christian theory, now discloses its practical mischief....is represented as. sort of bravado--a thing done to show his "knowledge", his complete freedom from superstition about the idol.' (Ex. Gr. N.T. p. 843)

'in an idol's temple' -at this point Paul doesn't discuss whether it is right for the "knowledgeable" Christian to be in such. place, obviously the "knowledgeable" one considered it. "right". In this verse Paul is focusing in on the damage that is done to the weak brother's spiritual condition, which will lead into the truth that the strong brother is in the wrong (1 Corinthians 8:12).

'be emboldened' -'strengthened' (NASV).

Lenski has. good comment at this point:

'will his conscience be edified?' This has an ironical sound...It seems that the strong and the boastful members of the Corinthian congregation justified their inconsiderate action toward their weaker brethren by saying that they wished "to build up" these brethren and make them strong. Paul asks: "Is this the way in which you build them up?" (p. 345)

The Corinthians might of been trying to justify their abuse of liberty by saying, 'Well when they see us eating, they will know that nothing is wrong with it, they will be encouraged to do the same, we are only trying to help our brethren.'

Paul responds, the only thing that you are "encouraging" these brethren to do, is violate their conscience! Your not leading them to spiritual maturity, your leading them to hell!

Modern Application:

There must be an application in these verses for Christians who boldly assert their right to smoke, drink, gamble, listen to filth or watch movies drenched in immorality and profanity. And not only that, but they invite new converts (people who are trying to escape from such influences) to join them in such activities..brethren, the last place we need to take. new convert to, is an R-rated movie!

Some Christians are infected with the same wrong thinking that some in Corinth were caught up in. The ironic thing is some people in the world are desperately trying to break away from it, and then they run into Christians who are trying to walk as close to the line of sin/worldliness as possible. Who needs to convert who?

The Church at the end of the 20th century seems to be filled with members who are desperately trying to "prove" to the world that they aren't any different from the society that surrounds them and that basically they can do everything that everybody else can. This isn't the Christianity that. world lost in sin needs to see.

In fact, if you listen to the conversations that some Christians have with their non-Christian friends, family, co-workers or neighbors, it seems that often the Christian is trying to prove that he/she knows just as much about "worldly things" as anyone else does, "Hey, I'm not. prude or anything".