Category: Devotions

This title sums it up. If there was one motto that would run through Paul’s teaching on food sacrificed to idols it would be this title.

Paul’s argument was never about the food but it was always about the idol worship. He was against them going into the temple to eat where also idol worship was taking place. For they would be seen as eating at an idolatrous altar. They must have asked him further questions because Paul now speaks of the same food produced for the temples being sold in the market and also accepting invitations to homes where the same food was being served.

 “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. ²⁴ No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, ²⁶ for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” (1 Corinthians 10 v 23-26)

Unless you were a vegetarian then the chances are as you went to the meat market you would be choosing from meat that had all been previously sacrificed to some idol in the temple.

Paul is clear then: don’t go into temples to eat the meat because in those places it’s not the meat sacrificed that is a problem but it is the idol worship that is. So when you go to the market it is fine choose whatever meat you want because there is no worship there to an idol. God created it and that settles the matter.

But there’s another scenario:-

“If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. ²⁸ 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. ²⁹ I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? ³⁰ If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?” (v27-30)

It is these verses and the following ones that help us understand what to do in an idolatrous world.

So Paul has answered what to do regarding going into the temples to eat the food sacrificed to idols. Don’t do it.

Buying meat from the market even meat that was sacrificed to the idols is fine. You can do that.

Now when a non-Christian invites you round for dinner don’t be anxious about the meat, don’t make a fuss about it, just eat!

However if the owner of the house or another guest tells you that this meat is sacrificed to idols, then for their sake, their conscience, their thoughts over whether a Christian should be eating pagan food, don’t eat it. You could but don’t. If you did you wouldn’t be breaking any law but for the witness to that unbeliever it is better not to. If I can eat with a clear conscience regarding my own standing before God but also my effect upon another person whether a believer or unbeliever then no one can judge me, I am free.

It could be possible that you are a bit confused with what Paul is saying. Though it is quite simple if you view life being not about you but about God and others. Is what I am doing (or saying) righteous? I might feel I have the right to do whatever and within reason you have in your own home. But in public you haven’t. In public you are an ambassador and it is not about being right but being righteous before God and people.

Are you one of them? Or are you a bit silly? I think the lockdown brought some balance to the sensible world we were living in which the pandemic broke. Parents were suddenly joining in their children’s ridiculous dance routines on social media; I remember reading of people dressing up in black ties to take their bins out; perhaps a bit of silliness helps us all to get through certain seasons of our lives. Who wants to be sensible all the time?

But there are people who lives their lives with no sense at all. It’s not the bizarre humorous silliness but a lack of sense to the dangers that befall them. And we find ourselves rolling our eyes and thinking words like ‘unbelievable!’ One friend I know uses the phrase, ‘what’s wrong with people?!’ as they gasp at the lack of sense someone has displayed.

Some people think they are sensible and even pride themselves on how wise they are when actually they have no sense at all! I say that because the Apostle talks about them in the next verses. But first let me set the scene before we read.

I don’t think you will ever meet a Christian who seriously believes idolatry is acceptable. Neither would you find a Christian who doesn’t believe in the Lord’s supper/ Communion.

Idolatry and communion? A strange combination but Paul speaks of them both now in contrast as he commands us all to flee from idolatry.

“Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ 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? ¹⁷ Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. ¹⁸ Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? ¹⁹ Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. ²¹ 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. ²² Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10 v 14-21)

In chapter 3 and 4 we have read how the church thought themselves wise. Paul addresses their arrogance, “I speak to sensible people”.

Sensible people who claim they can then go into pagan temples and eat food that is used to sacrifice to them.

Sensible people who don’t worry whatsoever that people who have been saved from such idolatry may see them enter into the temples.

Sensible people who also celebrate the broken body of Jesus and the shed blood of Jesus during communion.

Sensible people who say idols don’t exist so they believe they only have one true altar, that of Christ.

Sensible people who deceive themselves thinking the altar of Christ can save them from the dangers of idolatrous altars.

Sensible people who are blinded in those temples to the demons that lie behind them.

Sensible people who do not believe the demonic can use their stupidity to attack them.

Sensible people who participate at 2 food tables, the Lord’s and demons.

Sensible people who are so foolish they don’t think the Lord is bothered by their behaviour.

Sensible people who have inflated egos.

Sensible people who do not give to the Lord everything.

Sensible people who think they are sensible are sometimes very unwise.

Children near a fire or a cliff face is a dangerous and an irresponsible picture. What parent would do that? And yet it is also irresponsible for children not to see the beauty and the dangers of such things. So the parent holds tightly the hand of the child or even carries them as they look into the fire or walk along the cliff.

Paul is likening the Corinthian church with the stories of Israel in the Wilderness years.

“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. ¹² So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10 v 11-13)

We have been reading the warnings of Paul to the Church. It isn’t easy reading. It can cause us to panic and it should. What Paul says in v12 highlights the fearful reality of what can happen when we decide to embrace idolatry. “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”

We have all seen the devastation of divine judgment on a person. We have heard the tears of brokenness as they realise that idolatry has deceived them. Their lives are like scattered bodies strewn on the Wilderness floor. They went in but never came out and they died there short of their true complete destiny. It is a terrible thing.

And so we panic don’t we? And perhaps this is a good thing and maybe what Paul intended. But wait. There’s no need to live in a state of anxiety. For “God is faithful” to you, v13. “He will not let you …” and “…. He will also provide …”

He is here. Another day. Being faithful to you. Alongside you and holding you up.

Where would you have been if this was not the case?!

Paul is pressing the point, the ancient stories are not just simply stories. They are examples. They are lessons for us. They warn us and teach us. If we will listen.

1 Corinthians 10 v 6 “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.”

Failure number 1: ^“Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” V7.

Paul is referring to the story found in Exodus 32 when the people tired of waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain with God’s revelation asked Aaron to build them a golden calf. They wanted to worship. We all do. The golden calf helped them to do that. And what was reserved for God was given to an idol.

A golden calf is when:- We want the direction but not the submission; We cannot wait any longer; We give way under intimidation; Something replaces God in our focus; There is compromise; There is initial joy but later judgment.

And can you see the connection? Before the golden calf they sat down and ate food sacrificed to idols.

Failure number 2: “We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.” V8.

Paul draws from the story in Numbers 25. It was the final sin in the Wilderness and it had devastating consequences. The men had sexual relations with the Moabite woman. It shows how it is easy to be seduced from your blessing. It is easy to take your eyes off your destiny. It is easy to stop searching and longing for God. It is easy to lose your hunger. It is easy to be yoked and then taken down unfamiliar paths and to behave in ways you would never believe you could. Yes, it’s easy to be seduced from your blessing. And can you see the connection? With the Moabite women they ate the food sacrificed to idols.

They were counted in but they were not counted out. They blew it and never became all that they could become. Or as Ravenhill’s haunting book title says: They drank from the River and died in the Wilderness.

 Frightening. Read it again. They drank from the River and died in the Wilderness.

Failure number 3:  ^“We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.” V9

Paul again reminds the Corinthians of their stories being symbols for the present generation. This story comes from Numbers 21 when God’s people were grumbling about God not providing for them. One of the things they said was “There is no bread! And we detest this miserable food!” God sent venomous snakes and many died. And the connection? They were grumbling about food.

Failure number 4: “And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.”v10.

This story comes in Numbers 16. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and 250 well-known and established members of the governing council of Israel became insolent and rose up against Moses. Why? They were complaining that Moses had brought them from the land of milk and honey. Again the provision of food is in the centre of the story. What was the reaction from Moses?  His immediate response was in contrast to their rising to complain. He fell facedown.  If only they had fallen down first and brought their complaint to God. If only they had learnt that to lead is to serve. But their rights for food overtook their hearts for God.

Four stories of failure all centred around idolatry, immorality and food! That is the connection. Idolatry and immorality are the 2 complaints that Paul sees of the church. He wants them to understand their history. He warns them. If you eat food sacrificed to idols, with no thought of anyone else who might stumble because of what you are doing, then it simply reflects the hearts of your ancestors which was self-centred and whose hearts God will not bless.

The Corinthian Church had leaders and members who had experienced God their Saviour, had experiences of the presence and power of the Spirit and regularly celebrated the Lord’s death through taking Communion (this letter shows us this). Paul has been taking his time in answering the question about food sacrificed to idols which started in chapter 8 and then moved into saying think about others before you make decisions and learn to restrict yourselves for the good of everyone. In this chapter he will bring things to ahead and will state how idolatrous it is to go into idolatrous temples and dine there even though they thought they had the freedom to do so. He does this firstly by taking them back to the amazing ancient stories of their ancestors.

“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. ² They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴ and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.” (1 Corinthians 10 v 1-4)

They were ALL under the cloud. They experienced the glory of God in the Wilderness years. The cloud protected them during the day and at night it burned as a fire.

They ALL came through the Red Sea. What an amazing experience. Paul uses the word baptism. Not only had they experienced the supernatural power of God in the Wilderness they knew of His saving work.

They ALL ate the same spiritual food and drink (the manna and the water from the rock which was Christ). Paul will speak to the Church about the Lord’s Supper later in this letter. But for now he likens this ancient story to the cross of Christ.

But MOST never entered the Promised Land of their destiny because they died in the Wilderness.

Their response to all that they had seen and experienced should have been a life of thankfulness. Gratefulness should have flooded their lives. But it was not there. Only two adults, Joshua and Caleb made it through.

Here is the big lessons: whatever you experienced in the past is not enough to carry you into your future. You can lose it all. The Corinthian church were not free to enter into idolatrous dining especially after having the wonderful spiritual experiences. Paul warns them.

You may enter in but you may not make it out.

Idolatry will prevent you reaching your God ordained destiny.

Does saying NO come easy for you?

Many of us have taken on too much because we cannot say NO.

• We must learn to say NO to the need.
  • Unless you know why you are here everyone will demand your time and you will give your life to everything.
  • • Saying YES to God can only happen because you say NO to people.
  • Saying NO to people can only happen because you said YES to God.
• We must learn to say NO to the unimportant.
  • The unimportant seem to always cause the greatest worry and upset.What you must do can often be simplified to just one thing.
  • The unimportant is not wrong but the important task is simply better.
• We must learn to say NO to what is not right for us.
  • If you don’t say NO then the task will suffer.If you don’t say NO then you will end up saying NO to something.
  • If you say NO to the important then you must take responsibility to help find someone who will say YES. Saying NO does not abdicate you from the problem.

The Apostle has been writing to the Corinthians in response to their question on food sacrificed to idols. He has been saying they must restrict their freedom for the sake of others. He illustrates this with the picture of an athlete, which they and us can relate to.

^“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9 v 24-27)

The athlete:

• Uses discipline as the foundation of their life.
• Is consistent.
• Has perseverance.
• Has determination.
• Has willpower.
• Has a lifestyle of restraint.
• Is resilient in the face of suffering.
• Bounces back from disappointments.
• Manages their time.

Here’s some more:

• Has their eyes on the prize, v24.
• Are strict on themselves, v25.
• Is not lazy, v26.
• Practice what they preach, v27.

And finally – they say NO more to themselves than imposing the NO on others.

No one wants to be one of those do they?

Perhaps you remember the person who said something like the following or maybe you have felt the same:-

“I feel like I’m a slave to everyone; I always try to fit in to the people I am alongside; I have looked like I belong to a variety of people, the “religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever” (the Message); that is me, blending in.”

It doesn’t feel nice does it. Except this was Paul. He is demonstrating how those who felt they were free to eat anything, even food sacrificed to idols, need to actually put cross-cultural mission at the forefront of their life. Paul changed. But not to please people. Far from it. He changed and disciplined his own life for the gospel that as many as possible would find Christ. See what he says:-

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9 v 19-23)

We too must become who we are trying to reach. We have to lay down our own culture. We have to learn, listen and have compassion for others.

Learn: their language, their culture which does change in every generation. Their food. Their beliefs and the bridges to the Trinity/the person of Christ in particular. Remember when Paul had Timothy circumcised not because of compliance but mission. That’s some sacrifice!

Listen: slow down and listen for their stories. Preaching from your soap-box isn’t the best approach. If no one is listening maybe it’s because you stopped listening a long time ago. 

Compassion: without this there is nothing. Open your eyes.

I quoted from The Message above and let me end again with words from there:- “ I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view.” May that be true of us all whichever culture we are following Jesus in and whatever language we speak. For the mission. Food sacrificed to idols? What does the mission of Jesus say?

We move into a new chapter. Paul is not going off on a tangent. This is not a chapter about answering the critics over his apostleship nor is it about him not being paid for the gospel work. It is still about the food sacrificed to idols. It is still about not using your rights to do so for the sake of the love of others who may be hurt if you do. This is the number one problem within the divisions of the church. You have rights but you don’t have to use them. We will read soon these verses:-

“If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.” (v12)

“But I have not used any of these rights.” (v15)

The message Paul is speaking is that we must surrender our rights for other people. You may be entitled to something or you may be free to behave in a certain way but you don’t have to do that. If as a Christian you enter a lifestyle that others are being saved from what does that do to the Christian community you are part of? That is the message centred around food sacrificed to idols.

But before we go into Paul’s example for this teaching this message let us ponder the first few sentences.

“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? ² Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. ³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.” (1 Corinthians 9 v 1-3)

You must be a hermit if you haven’t experienced the criticism of others. How do you respond when people doubt your validity of either your work or just being here! I have seen the crushing blows that suspicion brings. It becomes clear now that the divided Corinthian church were also divided over Paul himself.

So here are 3 helpful responses to when you feel you’re on trial from these 3 verses.

• Look at my relationship with Jesus. Paul is pointing them to his calling and story. They know the Damascus Road experience he had. You too were called. You have a story. Importantly you have a relationship with Jesus. Above everything your walk with Christ is your defence. Even if you are falsely tried and sentenced by man, their judgment is nothing compared to meeting Almighty God. What Jesus has done for you is your defence. His blood over your life is all you need.
• Look at my relationship with others. “Am I not free?” I am not a slave to anything. I am not mastered. Those are Paul’s words. Can people look at your life and even before there is evidence they say, ‘I can see it; it isn’t a surprise.” How can you be accused of being a bully when every experience of you and others is that of love?
• Look at my experiences with those who have brought the criticism about me. Paul was saying they had seen his work and the authenticity of his life. We know from the book of Acts how Paul worked hard amongst God’s people bi-vocationally. You appeal to what you have done and how you have worked. It doesn’t mean you are innocent but it reminds them to think about how they have experienced you. I remember sitting with one Pastor and asking this all important question, “Do you know how others experience you?” He didn’t and that was the problem.

Of course we all know people who have faked the above. But for you today you are not one of those people and these responses may just help you as you navigate a very difficult time of criticism.