Christians: How do you regard vegetarians? Is our refusal to eat meat an insult to God?

Question

I was at a holiday gathering last night and a woman there that I reagrd as a good friend and happens to also be a Christian was a bit concerned about my vegetarianism. The main point she made was her belief that animals were placed on Earth by God exclusively for humans to eat.

Is my refusal to eat the meat that God supposedly left us a sin?

PSF11: You look to me as someone who is projecting your own motives onto others. Where did I say I was offended? Actually, throughout the conversation I was really amused.

Answer 1

No, go ahead and eat all the vegetables you want.
In Daniel Chapter 1 he ate only fruits and vegetables and after a certain period, was shown to be healthier than those that ate the choice meats.
Romans 14 is a whole chapter based on different practices and that Christians are not to judge those that don't share in the same eating practice, and Sabbath practice.
"One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him." (vs 2,3)
"He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he give thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God." (v 6)
"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." (v 13)
Eat up all the fruits and vegetables you want, I know my kids won't mind, that's less for them to eat.

Answer 2

God made the plants also. It is certainly not a sin to be a vegetarian. Read Daniel 1:8-16. It is also not a sin to eat animals. Read Genesis 9:1-6. It IS a sin to condemn another person based on what they eat. Also it is sin to offend another by what you eat in their presence. Read Romans chapter 14. We are to walk in love, being considerate of the feelings of others-even if we must put some of our freedom on hold at times to accomodate someone else's misconceptions.

Answer 3

There isn't anything sin full about being a vegetarian.
The Bible doesn't say anything about eating animals until after the Flood, so there is an argument that everybody was one until Noah came out of the Ark.
As for animals being "for us" I'm not so sure. We were created to tend the Earth and our Authority over creation is only derived from God's - it is not inherent in the Human condition. All of creation belongs to God and we are the Stuard's of it. In other words, God created the animals for their own sake, that we eat them is a secondary concern for their creation, same as plants.

Answer 4

No, we can choose to eat what we want, but there is a problem with making it a rule that people can eat certain foods and attaching it to religion., like (no offense) religions that say you have to eat Fish on a certain friday, no meat! Read this scripture...
1 Timothy 4:1 says... However, the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons, by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, marked in their conscience as with a branding iron; forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth. The reason for this is that every creation of God is fine, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified through God’s word and prayer over [it]. So eat what you want,lol

Answer 5

I think that your friend is interpreting the Bible in her own way. I think it all comes down to respect. You may not eat meat, but do you respect those that do? I think you do... so there is a balance in your way of life.
To think that God put animals on earth strictly for the humans to eat is a very primitive way of thinking. Animals came before humans. Adam and Eve is a story, not a factual event. It teaches us a lesson: listen to the word of God!

As long as you live like a Christian, I don't think you need to worry about being a vegetarian.

Answer 6

I can't believe that people would get insulted about someone not eating meat. If God didn't want us to be vegetarians then he would've said... don't be vegetarians! Right?

I'm not saying that people are animals but... did you know that Panda bears used to eat meat also? The pandas that ate meat had shorter life spans than the pandas that ate only bamboo.

If you don't want to eat meat - that is your choice. If there were no more animals for us to eat on this planet... what would you eat then?

Don't let her get you down.

Answer 7

Say vegitarianism is not against anything in the bible and she shouldn't try to push her own conjecture on other people and keep her made up ideas about God's will to herself.

She might argue vegitarianism is unatural for human beings. Simply ask her how natural her car, clothes, TV's, even her light switch is. She'll stutter just long enough to shove your salad in her conservative face.

After this pop your collar and point at her with both hands by your hips like the Fonz and say "Sick burn!" before casually turning 360 degrees and walking away.

Answer 8

It is not a sin, but there is no biblical reason to avoid eating meat. God did put the creatures of the earth here for us to consume. In Acts we see that Paul is confronted with the problem of eating non-kosher foods (animals with cloven feet, etc.) and he is visited by God in a dream that says it is perfectly fine for him to consume these animals - they are a blessing from God.

You are not sinning by maintaining your vegetarian eating habits, but God did creates the animals for us.

Answer 9

no.....you may eat whatever you wish....her belief is a bit off the wall, god didn't give them to us to eat....or else Adam would have been instructed to eat them when they first came to him, the very first animals were not eaten until after the flood, and that was only because the ground was to wet, and had no vegetation for noah and his family to eat, so eating meat was then adopted...but it had to be completely cooked all the way. her belief is coming from the fact that God put all things here for us to maintain it, we can do with it what we wish with respect, and care, and love. Deciding what you want to eat is your choice and in no way conflicts with your belief in God or Jesus, and is in no way a sin....unless you practice glutony.


for the cain and abel answer above...he's sort of right..but it wasn't because the sacrifice was bloodless....abel was a herder...so his would have been an animal, but Cain was a farmer, so his could only be what he farmed, the problem was, Abel brought his best livestock to God happily and willingly, Cain brought what was left over, kept the best for himself, and even that he brought unwillingly, God doesn't want us forced to do his will, or to love him, he wants us to chose to, and to do so willingly and gladly.

Answer 10

I'm not. In the beginning animals were placed on the earth for humans to enjoy, and I don't mean with barbecue sauce. Then after the fall of man we were ALLOWED to eat the meat of animals.