27 How to Use Your Freedom Without Playing With Idols (1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1)

Krisan Marotta: You're listening to the Wednesday in the Word podcast, and I'm glad you are. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. Today we're gonna look at 1 Corinthians 10, verse 14, through chapter 11, verse 1, and this is the 27th talk in our series on 1 Corinthians. You can follow along with lecture notes for today's talk on the link below the podcast, or you can find them on my website, Wednesdayintheword.com slash 1 Corinthians 2.7. You'll find lots of helpful information to improve your Bible study on the website. There's no charge, no spam, no advertisements, only Bible study. So let's get started. We're finishing chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians today, and this is the conclusion of a section that began in chapter 8. And I'm including chapter 11, verse 1 because I think that verse more properly goes with this argument. The church in Corinth has been arguing over the issue of whether it's okay for believers to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols. One group insists that that's perfectly okay. We have the right to eat this meat and the freedom to eat this meat because there's nothing wrong with eating it. The idols are fake and the meat is just meat. But the other group is arguing that eating the meat is a form of participating in idolatry and we should abstain. In chapter eight, Paul agreed, yes, it is okay to eat the meat, but that freedom is not absolute. If eating the meat sacrificed to idols would cause someone else to stumble, then we should avoid eating it out of love for our neighbor. Then in chapter nine, Paul used his own situation as an example of how we ought to limit our freedoms and exercise our freedoms. And he argued as an apostle, he has the right to take support from those he preaches to. But also in that chapter he tells us that he declined support for his own sake as well, that his free choice to work instead of taking support showed that he believed this gospel he preaches, that he valued the gospel he preaches more than money, and he isn't just in it for the money or doing it out of compulsion. The Corinthians are facing the same kind of test in this question of eating meat. The test is is the gospel the real and valuable truth that I claim to believe such that I'm willing to limit my choices and my freedoms to gain it? Or do I just want to have my own way and eat whatever I want to eat whenever I want to eat it? Chapter ten then continues that theme. Paul used the example of the Israelites in the wilderness to remind the Corinthians that each individual has to choose to follow Christ. It's not enough to be part of the tribe and go through the motions of being religious. You have to personally believe the promises of the gospel. And I'm going to go through eleven one because I think that verse belongs in the section. And we're going to cover a lot of verses today because we've been discussing these ideas for the last three chapters, and he's summarizing them. So they should be familiar to you if you've been listening along. So I'm going to start in first Corinthians ten fourteen and read through eleven one. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, you judge what I say. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that these things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he, are we? All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good but that of his neighbor. Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience sake, for the earth is the Lord's and all it contains. If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience sake. But if anyone says to you, this is meat sacrificed to idols, do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for conscience sake. I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's, for why is my freedom judged by another's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I ashamed concerning that for which I give thanks? Whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved, be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ. In this section, we find Paul wrapping up two themes that he's been talking about since chapter eight, and it's important that we understand both of them. The question has been, is it okay to eat meat sacrificed to idols? And one of his themes is that the way we exercise our freedoms says something about us. And Paul has argued yes, in theory we are free to eat the meat sacrificed to idols, but in practice we need to act out of love for our neighbor. If the impact of my eating such meat is that I cause another to stumble, then I should limit my freedom and not eat the meat. And some in the Corinthian Church, in their sophisticated knowledge, have pressured other immature believers to join them in eating which would violate their conscience in this matter. And Paul has argued it is unloving and dangerous to encourage another believer to do what that believer thinks is wrong. And Paul has been exploring this question of considering the impact of your actions on other people. Are you becoming a stumbling block to other people inciting them to disobey God even though you are right in thinking the action itself is okay? You're right in your understanding, but they don't agree with you, and if you pressure them to join you, you are encouraging them to disobey God. So that's the first theme. The second theme is the idea that the Corinthians want to exercise their freedom because of a cavalier casual attitude toward idolatry. It's not just that they want to eat the meat, it's that they also enjoy flirting with idolatry. They see themselves as cool and hip and sophisticated in skating along this line and dabbling in idolatry. And notice Paul starts this section with therefore flee from idolatry. At first read that's confusing because on the top level, no one on either side of this debate is engaging in idolatry. The meat eaters know the idols are fake and the abstainers are abstaining. So why would Paul start his conclusion with therefore flee from idolatry? Well, I think he's addressing this other level, this third level, as I called it in the last podcast, of maybe they're crossing a line that they ought not to be crossing. Paul suspects that they are insisting on eating the meat and encouraging their immature neighbors to join them because they're really kind of soft on idolatry and they want to participate a little bit. He's addressing this underlying agenda they have. They're not just exercising their freedom, they are verging on participating in idolatry itself. And Paul's been hitting both of these themes. Not only do you need to be mindful of your impact on others, you also need to be careful that this freedom you're exercising isn't a covering for your own sinful desires and an excuse to indulge yourself in things you shouldn't. So Paul starts with his second theme. Let's read ten fourteen and fifteen again. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, you judge what I say. I think there's a bit of sarcasm in this language. You'll remember from the first four chapters of the letter that some in Corinth had concluded that Paul was not wise, and they saw themselves as the ones who were in fact wise. Now Paul clearly does not think they're particularly wise or mature in the faith, but they think they're wise and mature in the faith. They base their argument to eat the meat on their knowledge. They know the truth about idols. They know that the idols are fake and the meat is just meat, while these other guys, they're just confused and naive, but they know better. When Paul says I speak as to wise men, I think he's saying, You Corinthians think you're so wise? Okay, judge what I say. Doesn't this make sense? While he is being a little sarcastic, I don't think he's mocking them. He calls them beloved in the previous verse. I think he's gently prodding them. Stop and think. Start making the right choices. Think about what I'm saying. Doesn't this make sense? And then he goes on to make his argument in ten sixteen through eighteen. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel, are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? So the key word in this section is sharing, and this is the Greek word coininia, which often gets translated as fellowship. The idea of this word is having a share in something with someone else. I am joining and partaking with the rest of the group. If I have fellowship with a certain group, I belong to that group. I participate in whatever benefits you gain by being in that group. In our modern Christian vernacular, we tend to use the word fellowship as a synonym for friendship or simply going to the same meeting place at the same time. But the idea, I think, is more that we are fellow believers, we belong to the same tribe, we are members of the same body. And the picture Paul's painting is when we share the cup and the bread in the Lord's Supper, we're participating together in the life that Christ gives. We belong to Christ. We share together in the life of Christ. When we take communion together, part of the symbolism is that together we share in the life of Christ. We share this cup and bread because all of us are looking to the same Savior and to share in the life that Christ offers. And we do this together because we see ourselves belonging to Christ. And Paul mentions two religious meals here. He mentions the Lord's Supper communion, a ceremony where Christians commemorate the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf that brings life to us. And he talks about eating at the Jewish temple. At the Jewish temple, you would make a sacrifice, typically a meat offering of some kind, and after the ritual was over, you could eat part of the meat that was left. So this was a very similar practice to what was happening in the pagan temples. And Paul's saying, look at these two religious meals. Aren't the people who participate in this ritual saying, We share in this group? We are part of this group. This is the group we belong to. When we take communion, we're saying we share in the benefits of the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood together. When the Jews ate the meat in the temple, they were saying we share in the benefits of the sacrifice to our God. Okay, think about what I'm saying, you wise Corinthians, what do you think you're saying when you eat at the pagan temple? If the Jews had gone to the temple and then gone home to eat afterwards, it wouldn't have been the same kind of meal, even if they ate the exact same meat at home that they had just sacrificed in the temple, because eating at the temple is part of the ritual, it's part of the symbolism. We're eating together because we belong to the group of people who look to God for life and blessings, and we are looking for these sacrifices to be effective on our behalf, and we're eating together to celebrate that hope together. These religious meals are intended to be about more than simply eating. They're about sharing, they're about participating. When I take the Lord's Supper, I'm saying I want to be part of God's people. I want to share in the benefits of the sacrifice of Christ. If I'm not interested in Christ's sacrifice, then I have no business participating. Likewise, when the Jews ate at the temple, they were saying we are part of God's people. They want to share in the benefits of the sacrifice they just offered and the promises of God. The eating of these meals then is about sharing, belonging, being part of the group. So what do you think you're saying when you eat at the pagan temple? Now Paul is not saying that there is some property in the food itself that makes you part of God's people. He argued earlier it's just plain meat, the idols are fake, there's nothing mystical or magical about it. And he hasn't changed his mind on that. But he's saying the meal has symbolism. The meal is about koinania. It's about fellowship and sharing. It's about sharing in the life of Christ and saying together we are in this group of people who hope in the promises bought by the blood and body of Christ. They are intended to remind us of something. And at a minimum, they say, I left that group and now I'm part of this group. When I take the Lord's Supper, I say I belong to Christ. When I go to the Jewish temple, my actions say I'm part of the Jewish people. When I go to the pagan temple, my actions say I want to be part of this pagan God. And he's warning them, you can't be in every group. You have to choose which group you want to share in. He explains that in ten nineteen through twenty two. What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons, or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he, are we? I think the strength of his warning here and what he's saying tips us off that this issue is about more than the freedom to eat meat. The Corinthians are flirting with idolatry and they're dabbling in idolatry, and Paul is strongly warning them against trying to have a foot in both camps. Why? Because while it's true the idols are fake, the demons are real. Now he's not saying the meat is tainted and you'll get possessed if you eat it, because he's going to end this section by saying, look, if someone serves you meat, don't ask where it came from, just eat it. The meat itself, as he argued earlier, is not the problem. It has no magical power. But remember the history of Israel. They would meet these other people who worshiped other gods, and then they would start participating in the rituals and sacrifices to these other gods. They didn't always renounce Yahweh, they just tried to have it both ways. They tried to incorporate both sets of practices. They mixed in a little pagan practice with their worship of the Lord, and the prophets rebuked them for that. And that's the kind of thing Paul's warning against here. To choose to add the practices of some other god is to choose against the Lord. God has said, Look, I have no partners, I only have competitors. If you want to worship Baal or Malek, then you have decided not to worship me, the Lord. Worshiping both gods is not an option. You choose the Lord, or you can choose one of all these other gods or all the other gods, but if you choose the Lord, he is the one and only one you can choose. As we talked about in the last podcast, idolatry is mixing the worship of other gods into the worship of Yahweh. It's looking to someone or something else other than Yahweh to bring you life and blessings. So idolatry is playing both sides of the table, trying to keep any and all other gods happy rather than recognizing the creator and author of the universe as the one and only true God. Just like the Israelites slipped into these practices of the pagans around them, the Corinthians are being tempted by their culture to slip into their pagan practices. And we know from the early chapters that there is a group in the Corinthian church who is really attracted to the sophisticated, powerful, beautiful, elite people of Corinth. They want to belong to that group. And they wanted Paul to change his message so that that group would like it better. Paul was embarrassing to them because he offended this group. And that group probably eats at the temple. And if the Corinthians eat there too, they can sit at the table with them, sharing the meals with them, and belong to that elite, sophisticated, powerful people of the town. They don't want to look like these other stodgy Christians who think Jesus is the only way and who listen to Paul and won't set foot in a pagan temple door. Now, obviously I don't know their exact motivations and thinking, but that seems likely to me given all the pieces of evidence we have about what was going on in Corinth. It's a plausible explanation for why Paul is giving this warning. No one knows exactly what they were thinking, but downplaying the exclusive claims of Christ in order to find acceptance in the community is a likely possibility. Whatever their motivation, Paul seems concerned that some of the Corinthians who are insisting on their freedom to eat the meat are in fact drifting into idolatry. They're mixing a little pagan practice into their Christianity, and Paul's saying that's not an option. Choosing a little bit of other gods is choosing not to belong to Christ. You may know the idols are fake, but the demons are real. There are other forces out there who would love to knock you off the path of following Christ. They would love to entice you into a little idolatry because that's all it takes. God is a jealous God. You follow him and no one else. And if they can get you to take a little step off that path in the direction of an idol, then they've got you. So remember, a religious meal says I'm part of this group. I share in this group. The problem is not the meal itself, the problem is participating in a meal that's dedicated to a deity other than God. Because part of the symbolism of taking that meal is I belong to this other God. And Paul is warning them there's the creator God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there's everything else. And behind all those other gods are the powers of evil, the demons. The pagans may be ignorant about what they're really doing. If they're not sacrificing to God, they're sacrificing to these other powers besides God, but you should know better, you Corinthians. And his concern is that I would knowingly and deliberately associate myself with a meal that says I belong to this other God when in fact I do not belong to them. To that group. 1021. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. He's saying you can't belong to both groups. You can't go on Sunday to the Corinthian church and take communion and then on Monday go to the temple dining room and partake of their religious meal. You can't have it both ways. You may know there's no idol, but that's not the message you're sending. You're sending the message I am part of something other than God, and that's a line you should not cross. You're sending the message that you are part of something you should have nothing to do with, and you need to decide which community you want to belong to. In 1022, or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he, are we? Jealousy is the word that God used when he insisted that his people worship him alone. He says in the Old Testament, I am a jealous God. The analogy he's using is like a husband who wants his wife to be faithful to him alone, God is jealous. He's not satisfied with the answer, Oh, but honey, I come home to you too. The husband has a right to be jealous, and that's the analogy. God is like the jealous husband, and Israel is like the adulterous wife who is messing around with other gods. And Paul's saying, what you're doing here in these temple meals, you're putting yourself in the same place that Israel was. You're messing around with these other gods. Don't you know that's gonna provoke the Lord to jealousy? Do you think God's gonna look the other way? Do you think that you're stronger than he is and you can prevail against him? You can toy with him and go behind his back and think he's not gonna notice? Not gonna happen. You have to decide which group you belong to. You can't eat at both tables. Now Poco's back to his other theme of thinking about your impact on others, and the issue I think at this point shifts from am I being idolatrous to how do my actions influence others? So ten twenty three and twenty four, all things are lawful but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good but that of his neighbor. You may recognize this language from earlier in the book. Paul used it when he was discussing sexuality, and now he's using it again in this context. And he's saying, Yes, it's lawful to eat the meat sacrificed to idols, but is it worth doing? It's legal, but does it edify? The question is not whether it's okay, whether it's legal. The question is are my actions harming someone else? It's not enough to be able to say, look, I'm following the rules. The rules allow my behavior. I have to ask what impact is my behavior having? Now we've talked about this quite a bit in the last few podcasts, so I won't go through that line of thinking again. Let's look at his summary. This is ten twenty five through twenty eight. Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience sake, for the earth is the Lord and all it contains. If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience sake. But if anyone says to you this is meat sacrificed to idols, do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for conscience sake. This is Paul's summary of what your conscience should lead you to do. So he says, First, at the meat market, just buy the meat. You don't need to ask where it came from. You can buy it and you can eat it. The meat at the meat market no longer belongs to any idol. There's no symbolism in buying it. In fact, it belongs to the Lord. You can be grateful for the gifts he gives you, buy it, take it home and eat it. Second, if you go to an unbeliever's house for dinner, just eat the meat. Don't ask where it came from, it doesn't matter where it came from. This meal is just a meal. It has no symbolic value and you have the freedom to eat the meat. But if someone says, hey, this meat is sacrificed to idols, implying they're concerned about it and they understand eating it to be wrong, then don't eat it. Don't send the message that it's okay to do that which you believe to be evil. When you become aware that you're communicating a message that you have no business communicating, then you need to stop. Likewise, if they invite you over to dinner and say, this is idle meat, and they see it as a significant fact of worshiping their God, then don't eat it. If they're essentially saying, Does your faith in Jesus keep you from joining me in idolatry? The answer is yes. If they would interpret your eating as joining them in idolatry, then you ought not to eat. So it's all about what they understand you to be saying. It's all about what message am I communicating to others? I don't want to send the message that I don't care about what's right and wrong, and I don't want to send the message that I can participate in the worship of other gods. Then he clarifies in ten twenty nine and thirty, I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's for why is my freedom judged by another's? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks? Paul's saying, In my own conscience, in my own understanding of what's right to do, I'm free to eat the meat. That hasn't changed. Just because someone else thinks differently about the question does not change my conscience. I'm free in my own home to do what I want and no one else's conscience is in view there. My freedom hasn't changed. I will exercise that freedom when appropriate, but I care about you and I will choose not to exercise my freedom when it helps and edifies you. So I think he's stopping to clarify, look, theology hasn't changed, I haven't changed my understanding, don't get confused here, I haven't changed my understanding, I am still choosing to act based on what message I'm communicating to those I'm with. Then in ten thirty one through eleven one, whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. Be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ. The sophisticated Corinthians pride themselves on being theologically hip. They know there are no idols, but they like to be edgy and partake of the temple meals, and maybe they're secretly wanting to continue a little bit of their Pagan practices, or maybe they just want to be part of the sophisticated, beautiful people in town. In either case, their actions are not being done to the glory of God. They're not stopping to think about how their actions are being interpreted by others or what message they're sending. And they're not stopping to consider the fact that they're sending the message you can follow Jesus and worship these other pagan gods. No problem here mixing up these religions. And that's a message they ought not to be sending. And as they push immature believers to join them in eating, they show how little they value loving their neighbor. As they dabble in idolatry, they show how little they value God's exclusive claim on their lives. They are making God's claims trivial in the way that they're pushing their freedoms. So knowing what's right and wrong is not enough. We have to consider what message our actions communicate to others, and we want that message we communicate to be to God's glory, to reflect his values, like love my neighbor as myself, to reflect his claims, like he is a jealous god, and you should worship no other gods, and to reflect the fact that we belong to him and no other god. And Paul says this is how I live my life. When I'm with Jews, I limit my freedoms so that the Jews will not think I'm an evildoer. When I'm with Gentiles, I participate in practices so that they hear the gospel and know they don't need to earn their salvation by keeping the law. When I'm with immature believers, I make sure I don't push them to do what they believe is wrong, but when they have confused or misunderstood the gospel, I speak the truth in love. As Christ did not serve himself, but served us, so I, Paul, seek not to serve myself, but to serve others, and you do likewise. Let me make some closing comments on this section. First, this admonition to flee idolatry is very relevant to us today, even though you probably don't have a pagan temple in your neighborhood. The key of idolatry is giving God a competitor. Idolatry is looking to find life and blessing from some source other than God. There is no other power, person, or thing that will grant me life and blessing. I'm not gonna find life and belonging to the in crowd in beauty and health and wealth and fame in prestige, in resume stars. We get caught up in all those things and we think that's where I'm really gonna find success and fulfillment and happiness, but it's just not true. I can participate in the good gifts of this world because the earth is the Lord and everything in it. But I have to put first things first. I have to get right with God and understand what He wants for me. We live in a world filled with competitors to God that tempt us to believe we have to deal with them and satisfy them and not God. They may not be pagan temples, but they tempt us to the same kind of idolatry, and that's the kind of thing Paul is saying flee. Second, let's talk about this idea of fellowship, of belonging to a community. God said he's calling a people for himself. Jesus talked about calling his people. Paul tells us we are part of Christ's body. The two greatest commandments are love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. There's a group of people that God is calling together to inherit eternal life, and the fact that I am part of that group, or not part of it, is significant. The Lord's Supper symbolizes that I am part of that group. When I partake of that meal, I'm saying I want to be saved by the blood of Christ, but it's a communal meal. It's meant to be enjoyed together, and we are also saying we're on this journey together. We together hope in the life of Christ. Over and over again, the New Testament says loving God means loving the things of God, and that includes loving God's people. So we ought to think about what our actions are saying to people. What does it look like both to the world and to immature believers and make sure that we're communicating the right message? Finally, let's go back to this idea of a stumbling block. In our culture today, people think that they have the right not to be offended. And it's getting a little out of hand, I think. But Paul is not concerned that I never do anything that offends someone else. Sometimes you have to be offensive to stand up for the gospel. The idea he's communicating is that you have to consider the welfare of the other person, that I want to communicate the right message. And sometimes the right message is offensive because the world will find the gospel offensive, but we still need to act in a way that communicates the gospel and what is true. If someone thinks a particular practice is wrong or evil and I urge them participate, then I'm confusing the gospel. I'm communicating that the gospel includes pursuing evil or mixing in idolatry. So the guiding principle is not am I being offensive? Because sometimes you're gonna have to be offensive. The guiding principle is what message am I communicating and is it the truth of the gospel? You've been listening to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. My mission is to teach you both what the Bible means and how we know. I really appreciate you listening, and I have three favors to ask. Subscribe to the podcast, leave a positive rating or review wherever you listen to your podcast, and tell a friend. And if you can only do one of those things, telling a friend is best. I don't accept any advertising on my website, nor do I ask for donations, but it does encourage me to hear from you about what you've learned. So please send me an email or a comment or a question and leave a positive rating on your favorite podcast platform. To find out more or hear previous episodes, go to wednesdayintheword.com. Our theme music is graciously provided by Reggie Coates of Heartfeltmusic.org. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.