Welcome back to the final episode in Series 3. The overall theme of this series is idolatry. Paul has been dealing with the key question concerning eating food sacrificed to idols. We know that idol worship was a major problem for the Corinthian church. He started dealing with this issue in Episode 1, in chapter 8, but if you have followed through this series, you will have noticed that Paul talks about some other issues and then he comes back to the key questions in this final episode, and gives some very practical advice to the Corinthian church. 

In the last episode, Paul was using the history of Israel to explain the danger of idolatry - worshipping gods other than the God of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He referred to a number of incidents that happened in the early history of Israel. Paul was thinking about one of the worst occasions when they were in the wilderness, having come out of Egypt, by Mount Sinai, and the people rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He had gone up Mount Sinai, to receive God's revelation and the Law - the Ten Commandments - and because he was away for a long time, there was discontent amongst the people. Paul had been thinking about the story of the golden calf. It is an amazing and shocking story told to us in the book of Exodus in which, whilst Moses was up the mountain hearing from God, and having remarkable encounters with God, the people went to his brother Aaron, who was also in leadership in the nation, and said they wanted a god to worship who they could see in the form of a statue or an image. In the ancient world all worship was through statues or images of the ancient gods. They created, from their own jewellery, an amazing golden calf and they used it as an image. Paul was thinking about how they started worshipping an idol rather than worshipping the God who was at that time revealing himself to them. 

Paul ended that description by reminding his readers that idolatry brings judgment. This is an important principle in the Old Testament and in the New. Idolatry brings judgment on the people of God. If we choose to worship and give devotion to other things apart from God himself, we will lose the blessing of God in our lives and may bring about his judgement. That is what happened to the people of Israel, and this is why Paul wants to help the Corinthian church avoid making the same mistakes.  

The Corinthian Context 

Now we are going to consider Paul's further answers to questions about eating food sacrificed to idols. Like all ancient cities in the Roman Empire there were temples, shrines in the streets and usually places in each home where there was a shrine for worship to a local god or goddess. In Corinth, there were two main gods who were worshipped. One was the goddess Aphrodite, who was worshipped in a temple on a hill, a few hundred metres high, about a kilometre outside the city - so an easy walk to get there. Hundreds of people would go there regularly. They would go up the hill, into the temple and offer sacrifices. They would offer animal sacrifices to Aphrodite, who was considered the protector of the city of Corinth and the surrounding region. There was also a temple in the middle of the town to the god Apollo and many people went to that temple as well. The sacrifices were made, and then ritual meals took place in the temple compound, where people would eat the food that came from the rest of the animal that had been sacrificed. A small part of that animal would be burnt in the sacrifice and the rest would be used for food. These were the things that Paul was dealing with, and which were discussed in the first episode of this series. He now comes back to this issue, and he gives some more practical advice to the Corinthians.  

The Spiritual Power of Food 

"Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons; you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” 

1 Corinthians 10: 14 - 22 NIV 

At the beginning of this passage, Paul makes his basic and key command: “flee idolatry”. This is the second of two similar commands that he makes in this book. In 1 Corinthians 6: 18, he says: “flee immorality” talking about all the sexual practices of Corinth. Here he says, “flee idolatry” and he points out that food eaten in the context of worship has spiritual power, both positive and negative. 

He looks at the positive first, speaking about the Lord's Supper, or the Communion: “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread we break a participation in the body of Christ?” When we gather together for the Lord's Supper, or Communion, or the Eucharist, we are participating in a physical activity of eating food – bread - and drinking wine. These are the symbols of the death of Jesus. Jesus commanded us to participate in the Communion, and that this should be an act of remembrance so that we remember his death; the body representing his physical body, broken on the cross, and the wine representing the blood of Christ, shed on the cross. This is a remembrance, but it is also a spiritual participation. There is power in the communion. It connects us to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is present. As we take part in this symbol, the Holy Spirit makes Christ real to us. Our faith is built up and we are strengthened. We are also strengthened in our connection to one another. We are all together sharing in the Communion. Communion can be a wonderful and very positive experience in our Christian life. I always look forward to it. We have a monthly Communion service in our church, and I always look forward to that moment. I am anticipating connecting with God in a meaningful way every time that it happens.  

Paul says that in the same way, in the Old Testament, when the worshippers came to the Temple, or the tabernacle, they brought a sacrificial animal to be given over as an act of worship. The priests would take the animal, and slaughter it. Then they would take a part of the meat and burn it in a sacrifice. The rest of the meat was available, and the worshipper could share in some of that food with the priests and eat together. Paul says this was a positive experience because they were worshipping the living God. So, there is a spiritual power in these acts of eating as commanded by God in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. It strengthens our faith; it strengthens our community; it strengthens our connection to God; it gives revelation about Jesus Christ. That is the positive side.  

Paul then goes on to compare and contrast this very strongly with eating food sacrificed to idols. He says here that the Greek gods, like Apollo and Aphrodite and all the other Greek gods, are not real gods in themselves. They don't have the power that they claim to have. They are not real personalities; they are imaginary personalities that have been created by the culture of the Greeks and the Romans. But what he points out is, that behind them is real spiritual power. It is demonic spiritual power. Paul had a clear view that humanity is caught in a spiritual battle between good and evil, between the work of God and the Holy Spirit, and the activity of Satan and evil spirits who will always seek to deceive people and turn them away from the living God. 

The very act of participating in giving sacrifices to pagan gods and eating the food of the ceremonial meals in the temple, opened people up to demonic influence in their lives, even though they were Christians. Paul said, they shouldn’t participatewith demons through these activities. It is dangerous. They cannot worship God on a Sunday, by taking the Communion or the Lord's Supper, and then go on another day up to the temple of Aphrodite and participate in those pagan sacrifices. You can't do those two things together without causing real damage to yourselves, because you are drawing on the presence of God, and then inviting the presence of demonic activities with the pagan sacrifices. Paul explains that this is always wrong. In the modern world there are similar questions to ask concerning Buddhist or Hindu practices, or other traditional tribal practices or witchcraft practices, which involve sacrifices, acts of worship, sometimes eating ceremonial food and the risk is of being connected to demonic powers. 

Food from the Market  

“‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive.  No one should seektheir own good, but the good of others. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?”
1 Corinthians 10: 23 - 30 NIV

Paul now is dealing with some practical questions that follow on from what he has taught about what happens in the pagan temples. One practical issue that arises is: if a sheep, a goat or a cow is sacrificed in the temple, a small amount of the meat of that animal would be burnt up in the sacrifice. Some other part of that animal may be eaten in the temple compound in a ritual meal, which Paul has just described, but often large parts of that animal would be sold into the meat market and could be bought by citizens of Corinth from the market in the centre of the city. This is where Christians might go from the local church and buy the meat that has been sacrificed at the temple. This raised questions. “What should we do about the meat that we buy in the marketplace?” Paul's answer was, “Don't worry if it has been part of a sacrifice in the temple or dedicated to the god or goddess of that particular temple. Just buy the meat and eat it.” His argument is that the Holy Spirit, who is within us, is greater than any spiritual influence that there might be in that food. Don't worry, don't be afraid, you won't be spiritually contaminated by that action. So, you don't have to ask the person who sells you the meat where the meat has come from. Did it come from the temple? Did it come from a local farmer or from a distance? You don't have to ask any of those questions. You just eat and buy what you find in the marketplace.” 

Not Eating – as a Testimony 

Then Paul goes on to another question. “What happens if your non-Christians neighbours on your street invite you, a Christian family, to come and eat a meal with them and they are serving meat with their meal? Do you need to worry about where that meat comes from?” Paul says, “No. Don't make any inquiries. Don'tthink about it. Don't worry about it. It is not going to harm you. The only exception to that is, if in the conversation, the neighbour says to you, ‘By the way, this particular meat that we have here was part of the sacrifice to the god Apollo.’ Then, as a Christian, don’t eat that meat - not because it will damage you, but because it will give a bad testimony to the gospel. You politely decline to eat that food.”  

These are very specific questions that had come out of Paul's discussion with the Corinthians. The key question is given in chapter 8: 1. Paul wants to help the Christians to live wisely. The basic point he has been making all the way through in chapter 8 and now again in chapter 10 is, “Don't worry about ordinary social occasions and eating food that has been given in the market, and where it comes from. None of these things will harm you because God will protect you from these things. But God won't protect you if you choose to eat as an act of worship to another god. Therefore, we should not expect his protection if we disobey God and if we give devotion and worship to idols. Paul says, you are inviting the activity of demonic spirits into your life if you do that. His warning is clear, and his practical advice is clear.  

Eat to Glorify God 

 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God — even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 – 11:1 NIV 

Our first priority is to seek to glorify God by all our actions. We should think carefully about our practical actions, including the eating of food and socialising with people. Paul wants us to be practical in all those areas and to glorify God by not giving any ground to demonic forces in our lives through acts of disobedience and acts of idolatry. The second priority here is to think about others, particularly in the way we act. We do not want to cause unbelievers, or believers, to be offended by our actions when they compromise our commitment to God.  

Reflections 

For some people following this, you may think, ‘I don't live in a world where these things happen and so it seems quite obscure to me.’ Maybe you live in a technical Western society or in an urban situation and there are other problems, but not this particular problem. 

You should remember that there are many millions of Christians in the world who do live in societies in which other gods are actively worshipped, and in which there are ceremonies of worship to those other gods. I have mentioned the gods of Hinduism and the worship in Buddhist environments, and these are two major examples. They force us to think, ‘Should we be participating in acts of worship in those other religious contexts?’ Many of us live in societies where witchcraft is prevalent and the sacrifice of animals, particularly of chickens, is widespread in those societies. This is a dangerous form of idol worship to get involved in. Paul wants us to keep separate from all of those things.  

We have to ask for wisdom in the application of this teaching. Wisdom in our society. If we live in a modern Western society and we are not dealing with these religious issues directly, we also need to think, what idolatry really means. Idolatry means giving loyalty to gods, or powers, or values other than God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We can do that in these religious ceremonies - in food sacrificed to idols - but we can also do that in allowing, for example, materialism and money to take hold of our minds and our hearts, so that we are completely committed to those realities, and to pursue the gain of money at any cost, and push God out of the centre of our life. That is another form of idolatry.  

Idolatry is always a risk. It is always present in the culture surrounding churches. It is always a risk in churches. Paul faced a very major issue with idolatry here in Corinth, as represented by pagan worship in the temples and by Christians who had decided there was nothing wrong with participating in that pagan worship and in the ritual meals where food sacrificed to idols was eaten. Paul made his position very clear. This is wrong. It should never be done by Christians because we risk invoking the power of demons in our lives and we risk being bad witnesses to those around us. This episode, and this series, have a lot to teach us, even though it comes from 2000 years ago and a very different situation in Corinth. 

Thanks for being with us in this series. I hope you will join us as we continue our journey through 1 Corinthians and move on to our next study, which will be concerning various aspects of public worship.