At Corinth, if you bought meat at any store, there was a good chance it had been used in pagan sacrifice. Sure, the believers could go vegetarian or stick to fish and chicken. That wasn't the problem. But if they went to a friend's house for dinner, or to a restaurant, they risked violating their consciences. We face choices a lot like the Corinthians did.
Tough choices can limit our contact with nonbelievers.
As we struggle with these issues, we may receive counsel from Christians who seem more interested in sharing their own knowledge than in helping us deal with the problems. The same kind of folks hung out in Corinth too. Before we approach such debates, we must make sure our hearts are in the right place, even if we're confident of our heads. As Christians, we don't need a church full of balloons, puffed up and ready to pop their hot air. Instead, we need a church where everyone builds everyone else up.