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Not saying grace in the presence of unbelievers |
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Brothers,
since I know that there are some who think that we who are sons of God must
give thanks for the food we are about to eat only when we are at home with
other brothers, but we don’t need to give thanks for the food when we are
together with unbelievers or in the marketplace or somewhere else, I exhort
you to expose this way of thinking and doing. Know this, that
you must give thanks to God before you eat wherever you are. With regard to
this, I remind you that Jesus gave thanks to God for the five loaves and the
two fish before five thousand men besides women and children (John 6:11; Matthew
14:19), and that on one occasion Paul gave thanks to God for the food he was
about to eat in the presence of more than two hundred unbelieving people (Acts
27:35-37). |
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Do not be
ashamed to give thanks to God for your food in the presence of unbelieving people
because this act also is a testimony to them. For it reminds them of the fact
that there are some persons on earth who believe that their food is given to
them by the God who is in heaven and thus (unlike the unbelieving persons,
who don’t think at all that the food they eat is given to them by God in His
mercy) they give thanks to Him before they eat. |