LIBERTY, LIMITS, AND LOVE
By Steve Zeisler
As we approach Mother's Day I want to read to you some nuggets of wisdom
shared by mothers in a recent publication. "When we want some privacy,"
one mother wrote, "we throw jellybeans out the window and send the
children to hunt for them. It can give us 10 to 20 minutes, depending on
where the jellybeans land." Another wrote, "I told my two kids
that although I cannot always keep everything equal as far as clothes, treats
and time spent with them goes, when they reach adulthood and they add everything
up they will find that it does come out exactly equal. They actually buy
that!" Another said, "When my son was six he forget how to dress
and brush his teeth, so I said I would not let him be seven. He got it together
real quick!" Another shares, "When my son says he is going to
run away, I ask if I can go with him."And finally, "I bake spinach
into their cookies!" Truly, parenting is a difficult but wonderful
calling.
As we have already observed in our studies in Paul's first Corinthian letter,
the apostle frequently comes across like a parent giving advice to an unruly
child. The Corinthian church could well be described as adolescent. The
new Christians who made up that body tended to be arrogant, brash and enthusiastic-traits
that are sometimes synonymous with adolescence. To put it mildly, the Corinthians
lacked wisdom; the degree of maturity necessary to balance the enthusiasm
of their fast-paced society. Thus, much of what Paul writes in his Corinthian
letters is corrective in nature.
First Corinthians has a literary characteristic that is worth noting. Much
of it was written in response to a letter which the apostle had received
from the church in Corinth, a letter which raised several questions which
he proceeds to answer. Thus, when Paul uses the phrase, "Now concerning,"
which he does in several instances throughout the letter, this is an indication
that he is going to take up another of the Corinthians' questions. The opening
verse of chapter 7, for instance, says, "Now concerning the things
about which you wrote..." Again, in verse 25 of this chapter we read,
"Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord,..." Chapter
12, verse 2: "Now concerning spiritual gifts..." And 16:1, "Now
concerning the collection for the saints,..." This phrase then should
alert us to the fact that Paul is about to answer another of the Corinthians'
questions.
We take up our studies again in this letter this morning with chapter 8,
yet another section which begins with the words, "Now concerning."
In chapters 8 through 10, the apostle will be dealing with the subject of
idolatry, of things sacrificed to idols, and with the problem that idolatry
introduces into the Christian life. Chapter 9, however, is a bit of a digression
from this topic. In using his own life as an illustration of the truth he
has just taught, Paul raises an issue I would like to take separately next
Sunday. Chapters 8 and 10, however, deal directly with idolatry and how
Christians should live in light of it.
Idolatry is much easier to identify in cultures other than our own, just
as idolatry is easier to identify in the lives of others than it is in our
own lives. When as a staff we visited the Middle East earlier this year,
we found that area to be extremely religious. There were manifestations
of religion on all sides. To us, coming from California, much of what we
saw expressed in religious activity looked peculiar, even idolatrous. As
we visited the various ancient and contemporary sites we saw at times remnants
of specific idols. We observed, for instance, Canaanite altars upon which
these people sacrificed their own children in idolatrous worship. We saw
empty pedestals upon which once stood Roman idols.
Modern religious practices, however, looked equally strange to us. Minarets
sprout all throughout Middle Eastern cities, overlooking mosques where the
call echoes five times each day summoning Muslims to observe rigidly controlled,
repetitious prayers. I recalled the words of Jesus, "when you are praying,
do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose they
will be heard for their many words..."
The behavior of the Orthodox Jews seemed just as peculiar to us. They follow
extremely detailed rules about diet and dress, a practice which they feel
will please God. Again, the words of Jesus came to mind, "it is not
what enters the mouth that defiles the man but what comes out of the mouth,
this defiles the man."
There is no lack of Christian shrines in these countries either. Sacred
buildings are layered one upon the other. Inside, the smell of incense permeates
the air. Icons hang in the dim light. People speak in whispers. We remember
what Jesus said, "neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall
you worship the Father. True worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and truth."
Exposure to forms of religious expression as they are practised in a foreign
culture therefore enables us to easily identify what we could call idolatry.
But although it may not be readily apparent to us, idolatry is no less prevalent
in our own society. The problem is, we are so familiar with it we do not
recognize it. It is idolatrous to appeal in a ritual to an unseen and secret
world of spiritual powers to grant us life and blessing. In making such
an appeal we hope to gain the attention of spiritual powers to do good to
us, to grant us life within, to help us deal with our own sense of powerlessness.
Idolatry thus is practised in order to gain personal advantage.
Consider how important a part appearance plays in our concept of self-worth.
Many in our culture are so concerned with how they look that they base decisions
about human worthiness on outward appearance. Ellen Goodman has written,
There are more than the usual number of unguents and elixirs that promise
to rub the age out of our skin, and preserve our energy. There are more
than the usual products to cover gray hair and fill in the face lines. There
are more than the usual admonitions to leg-lift a path to eternally youthful
thighs. Add to the list Minoxidil for the bald, Retin-A for the wrinkled,
lipo-suction for the middle-age spread. Those of us who once had two scant
choices, aging gracefully or foolishly, are offered a much larger arsenal
of weapons for the battle against looking our age. Men who could accept
their baldness, or the ridicule of a toupee, now have the chance to grow
hair again. Women and men who had to accept their crows' feet, or risk the
knife to retrieve the younger tauter skin, can now chemically iron their
wrinkles. In modest ways, aging has begun to look like a personal choice.
How far are you willing to go to stay the same?
People who choose to hide the aging process, however, forfeit an important
part of themselves. They feel they must resort to science in order to retain
their self-worth. But it is idolatrous to depend on physical appearance
for personal value and inner peace.
Others subscribe to secret and mysterious founts of information that promise
to maximize their money by helping them make judicious investments. They
think that inside information will bring them the prosperity that eludes
others. Just as the Canaanite idolators 3,000 years ago called upon their
gods to bless them with rainfall, we today call upon the economic gurus
to bring about economic well-being.
Some parents today are endeavoring to achieve eternal life through creating
"designer children." Attempts at detailed manipulation begin prenatally
and continue through high-pressure childhoods. Such children will somehow
reflect credit on them, they feel. Their interest is not so much in the
children but in their own sense of immortality. They want to continue living
through their own creations. In this they are no different than the ancient
idol-worshipers. Their motives are the same. Only their methods have changed.
That is why the wisdom of the apostle Paul in these three chapters of first
Corinthians is as pertinent to us today as it was two thousand years ago.
We need to hear this just as much as the Corinthians needed it in the first
century.
I would like to begin by summarizing in two main points what the apostle
is getting at in this section. In these points Paul will illustrate a tension
in which the Christian must live. Verse 4 of chapter 8 is an excellent summary
of the first point:
Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols,
we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there
is no God but one.
Idolatry is foolish, is what the apostle is saying. Man's attempts to influence
his well-being by appealing to anything or anyone other then the Living
God is wasted effort. It's nothing but superstition. It won't work. There
is but one God. Mankind must live in the light of his glory. All attempts
to circumvent his sovereignty and transcendence are doomed to failure. Idolatry
therefore is foolishness. In actuality there is no such thing as idolatry.
The apostle's second main point, the other side of the tension, is expounded
in verses 19 and 20 of chapter 10:
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.
Although the idols which people worship are powerless-they are nothing,
as we have already seen-behind them are wicked forces which, if we are not
careful, can overpower us. Behind all worship of idols, from pillars of
stone to high tech, are the designs of the evil one who seeks to take advantage
of people's foolishness. We could summarize Paul's train of thought therefore
in the two short admonitions: Be free!, and Be careful! Be free, because
there is only one God; be careful, because the wicked one is the force behind
idolatry.
BE FREE
Let us look more fully at the first part of the tension. Chapter 8:
Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all
have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If any one supposes
that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if
any one loves God, he is known by Him. Therefore concerning the eating of
things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol
in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called
gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many
lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things,
and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,
and we exist through Him.
However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the
idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their
conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we
are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But
take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to
the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's
temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things
sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined,
the brother for whose sake Christ died. And thus, by sinning against the
brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against
Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat
meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble.
In his commentary, Marcus Dods imagines the scene as it might have taken
place in Corinth:
On the occasion of a birthday, or a marriage, or a safe return
from the sea, or any circumstance that seemed to call for celebration, it
was customary to sacrifice in some public temple. And after the legs of
the victim, enclosed in fat, and the entrails had been burnt on the altar,
the worshiper received the remainder, and invited his friends and guests
to partake of it either at the temple itself, or in the surrounding grove,
or at his own home. Here again a young convert might very naturally ask
himself whether he was justified in attending in attending such a feast
and actually sitting down to meat in the idol's presence.
A man just returned from a dangerous journey sacrifices to his
god in gratitude. Then he takes the leftover meat and invites his friends-including
you, who have recently come to faith in Christ-to celebrate with him. As
you sit down to eat you wonder if your partaking of the meat endows a degree
of credibility on the idol to which the meat was sacrificed. Are you not
denying your new Lord by your apparent affirmation of the power of the idol
to deliver your friend? This is the difficulty which the apostle is addressing
here.
Christians, Paul is saying, are free men and women. As such, they are free
to eat anything. They can even eat sacrificed meat without fear of contamination.
They do not deny their Lord by exercising their freedom. Why? Because "the
earth is the Lord's and all that is in it," as the apostle will go
on to say in chapter 10. The Christian has been set free from superstitious
restrictions. He does not have to worry about bringing ruin upon himself
if he fails to comply with such externals. We are a free people, sons and
daughters of the King. We do not need to concern ourselves with such trivia.
The apostle continues this argument in 10:23:
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 wish to go, eat anything that is set before you, without asking
questions for conscience' sake. But if anyone should say 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 slandered 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, that they may be saved.
Paul recognizes that the Christian's standing in Christ endows him with
freedom to eat whatever he wishes without fear. That is why he says, "the
earth is the Lord's and everything that is in it." If we understand
the gospel in truth we have no need to live rigid, bound-up lives.
But there is another side to this. In our freedom we must be willing to
forfeit our rights for the sake of others. We must not exercise our freedom
at the expense of others who do not know better yet, those who still fear
idols. If our freedom to indulge in what they consider forbidden inclines
them to fall under the influence of idols once more, then we of course should
deny ourselves. Now you do not have to agree with them. In fact you had
better not agree with them. What you are doing rather is giving up your
rights for their sake. Choose to act in love, not in arrogance.
There are many issues today where Christians differ over what is right and
appropriate for them. Some of us have invitations into associations and
friendships that others fear and guard against. Dancing, the theatre, certain
sporting events, etc., can be a source of struggle for some. There are some
who worship sports teams. Their relationships and personal well-being depend
on how their team is doing. Going to a ball game, or watching one on television,
may be a perfectly acceptable pastime for me, but for another this seemingly
innocent and neutral choice may be an unhealthy reminder of a time when
his involvement in these things approached idol-worship.
In other words, something I can live with or without may be a threat to
someone else's young spiritual life. For instance, I play golf occasionally
with a friend who cannot even abide a semblance of competitiveness about
the game. Once he had a philosophy that demanded he compete all the time.
To him, everything became a matter of winning or losing. Although the other
partners in our foursome have no problem with buying a coke or a hot dog
for their opponents if they lose, even this insignificant reward for success
in competition is for him a distraction that he cannot handle at this stage
in his growing Christian life. We try not to even keep score because that
plays to a weakness which he still struggles with.
Other Christians feel that certain types of humor cannot be entered into
by them. We could expand the list to include country clubs, rock music,
junk food, jewelry, alcohol, even certain aspects of parenting. What may
be perfectly acceptable behavior for you and your children may be disturbing
to others. Because they associate certain practices with memories of their
own past, you who are free should seek to be generous and loving toward
those who perhaps have good reason for their fears.
Christians ought to know that they are free people. They should live their
lives openly before God and man, but they should never allow this knowledge
to become arrogance which diminishes others. I know some Christians-they
describe themselves as former Catholics-who ridicule other Catholic believers
because they still retain a commitment to their church. They feel that some
Catholic worship practices are superstitious, thus they affect an air of
self-righteousness when they interact with believing Catholics. Their arrogance
only serves to produce division, not love and understanding.
Others who have become charismatic Christians look down upon those who are
less spiritual, those who are not privy to their mystical knowledge. Some
ex-charismatics in turn condescend to charismatics whom they feel are immature
and have not discovered higher truth. One is as arrogant as the other. But
the apostle's word to all is that Christian freedom at times had best play
a secondary role to Christian love. Be free, yes, but be willing to give
up your rights.
All of this comes through recognizing the fact that idols are nothing and
need not be feared. There is but one God. We need not be bound by superstitions
and fears. We stand free before our Lord.
But there is a tension, another side to this. Christians are required to
be careful, as we will see in chapter 10.
BE CAREFUL
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers
were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized
into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food;
and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual
rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most
of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.
Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil
things, as they also craved. And do not be idolators, as some of them were;
as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood
up to play." Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three
thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did,
and were destroyed by serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were
destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example,
and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages
have come. Therefore let him who stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation
has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the
temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to
endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Here, Paul reminds the Corinthians of Israel's history in their wilderness
journeys. As God's chosen people the Israelites had unparalleled advantages.
They had been freed from Pharaoh's tyranny. They were present when the Red
Sea parted to allow their escape from Egypt. They had seen many miraculous
occurrences in their wanderings. Furthermore, they had the spiritual ministry
of Christ always present with them to sustain and encourage them. Despite
these many blessings, however, they began to "crave evil things,"
according to Paul. They became idolators. They practised immorality. They
tried the Lord. They grumbled. Dark and evil forces began to get their attention.
Christians, too, are prone to do the same thing. We, too, have all the advantages-in
fact, many more advantages than the Israelites did-yet we too can find ourselves
entrapped by wickedness. Thus there is no contradiction between Paul's word
in 8:4, "there is no such thing as an idol," and his admonition
in 10:14, "flee from idolatry." Both of these concepts are true.
If you are a free man or woman in Christ you need not be bound by superstitious
restrictions. Yet at the same time we must be careful. We must flee idolatry.
No temptation in itself has the power to require your falling to it. You
do not have to sin. The Lord will provide a way of escape. We never have
to be taken advantage of, but we are in danger of succumbing if we do not
choose his provided "way of escape." So while we are free, we
yet must be careful.
Verses 15 through 22 set out a twist to the problem of being trapped. This
deals with the assimilation of two things, "the table of the Lord,"
and, "the table of demons," i.e. mixing together Christian worship
and the worship of other things. Do not attempt to do both, is what the
apostle is saying. You cannot be involved in full Christian worship and
yet worship money, or immorality, or other things.
So there is a tension in the apostle's advice in these chapters. There are
no such things as idols, yet we must flee idolatry. Fears, superstitions
and hang-ups should not lord it over us. The gospel empowers us to rise
above such things and makes us free. Yet, look what happened to the Israelites.
Despite all the advantages they possessed they began to crave evil things.
Christians too are prone to crave evil things. There is no idol, yet we
must flee idolatry.
"Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ," says Paul in
11:1. This verse really belongs at the end of chapter 10. It is possible
to walk Christianly in the midst of these tensions. We do not have to forfeit
our freedom, nor do we have to succumb to temptation and evil. Here Paul
is suggesting that he succeeded at imitating Christ as he walked one day
at a time, as he made godly decisions one at a time. "Follow me,"
then, is the apostle's advice to Christians who are coming after him. We
do not have to be fearful and bound up, nor do we have succumb to wickedness.
We can live up to our calling.
Lord, we know that we are prone to lose our way. We can fear
the power of idols and live huddled, frightened lives, or we can give in
to the siren song of arrogance and license. Make us capable, as you did
with Paul, to live upright, Christian lives. Make us loving, strong, honest
and righteous. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Catalog No. 4069
1 Corinthians 8,10
Eleventh Message
Steve Zeisler
May 1, 1988
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