Paul writes to resolve this conflict of thinking and practice of eating meat sacrificed to idols in Corinth. He breaks it down into two issues: knowledge and love.

Ben Witherington, in his commentary on the letters to the Corinthians, says, "In Paul’s view the issue is not what kind of meat one eats. It is, rather, the social and moral effects of eating in certain contexts. Thus, this discussion is primarily about interpersonal behavior not about cuisine."

Karl Barth writes in his book Church Dogmatics, “The Christian life begins with love. It also ends with love, so far as it is an end as human life in time.”

Let me put it another way: Knowledge is the means - love is the end.

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NRSV) - “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

1 Corinthians 10:23 (NRSV) “All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

The butterfly effect is not just about global weather, it is about Christian community as well. We are interrelated as a Christian community. What you do impacts me. What I do impacts you. Public, private, good, bad, all of our lives impact the other.

When we begin to recognize the truth that faith, while personal, is never private, then we begin to embrace the inter-relatedness God intends.

In her book A Theology of Love, Mildred Bangs Wynkoop says that, "sin has consequences in life, so holiness has consequences in life."

The earliest Methodists in America said that by making disciples they would "reform the nation, particularly the church by spreading Scriptural holiness."