» 10:14-15
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say.

Paul tells these Christian to give up idolatry. Idolatry is clearly the temptation Paul was thinking of when he wrote in v.13 that the things that tempt me are common to everyone and that God won’t let me be tempted beyond what I can bear. Let that sink in until you really believe it… the temptation to worship idols is common to everyone, including you and me.

Anyone or anything that is more central to my life, more trusted for my wellbeing, or more consuming of my time and attention than the living God is my idol. Anything that determines my priorities or arranges my schedule more that God is my idol. Ouch.

Jesus’ accusers were guilty of this: “Many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:42-43). Stature in the synagogue and acceptance by Jewish authorities became their idols.

Jesus said it in these words: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). Fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters can be idols.

Addictions, hobbies, careers, passions, and people can all displace God as primary sources of our security, pleasure, fulfillment, identity, and comfort.

They may as well be holy cows that I made from melted jewelry after I grew impatient waiting for God.

In this passage, Paul describes 3 effects of my idolatry:

1. How my idolatry affects me (vv.16-21)
2. How my idolatry affects God, (v. 22), and
3. How my idolatry affects others (vv.23-24)
   

» HOW MY IDOLATRY AFFECTS ME [10:16-21]
16 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? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 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. 21 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.

MY IDOLATRY DIVIDES ME AND MAKES ME IMPOTENT.
My front seat passenger was supposed to know how to get there. Everything was going fine until we approached that one crossroad. He couldn’t remember whether I should turn right or left. While he debated that question with himself I, having no other guidance, drove straight through.

I am divided like my passenger when I claim allegiance to Christ but look to worldly things for satisfaction. I say I want to ingest the body and blood of Christ. I say want eternal life and the assurance Christ provides. Yet I turn elsewhere for solutions and fulfillment. I’m divided and powerless.

Paul drives the point home here by pointing out that when I observe the Lord’s Supper, I don’t just symbolically ingest His body and blood. I actually “SHARE” in them.

That word “share” is much richer than it appears on the surface. You’ve likely seen the word koinonia before. It’s often used in Christian contexts to refer to fellowship. Koinonia (Greek: κοινωνία) is translated “share” and “partake” in verses 16, 17, and 20.

Its meaning is much richer than fellowship in the sense of enjoying a pot luck dinner and playing on the church’s softball league together. The fully loaded meaning of koinonia is “partnership.” It’s about working together to achieve a shared purpose. Think of partners building a business together. They are united. They work in the same direction toward a common goal. That is koinonia.

Pop that back into verse 16. “Is not the cup of blessing a PARTNERSHIP in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a PARTNERSHIP in the body of Christ?”

When I take the Lord’s Supper, I express the desire to partner with Christ in achieving the goals of His body and His blood. What are those goals? Holiness and salvation, not just for me but for the world.

Paul clarified that the pagan idols and the meat sacrificed to them were nothing (vv. 19-20). They had no mystical power. They were big fat zeros. Useless, worthless, manmade junk. Yet they also belonged to Satan, so sacrifices to them are sacrifices to demons.

There’s the important distinction. See it? The slabs of meat and lumps of cast metal weren’t bad. The worship of them was. Eating the sacrificial meat wasn’t bad. The implications of eating the meat were bad. V.20, “I do not want you to PARTNER WITH (koinonia) DEMONS.”

First century pagan temples were places to indulge. They were known as places to party and have a great time. They had the best food, the best music, the wildest crowds, and prostitutes. Their idols furthered the goals of Satan – temporary, self-gratification resulting in death.

I don’t have any experience with pagan temples, but self-indulgence is everywhere around me. It is deeply embedded in 21st Century American culture - so normalized and so personalized that it is difficult to detect.

But my choice is clear: Who do I choose as a partner and whose goals will I work toward: Demons or Christ? If demons, I will live for the benefit of myself to maximize pleasure and worldly gain; If Christ, I will live for the benefit of others to bring eternal life.

Those options are incompatible. They cannot be blended.

» HOW MY IDOLATRY AFFECTS GOD [10:22]
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

MY IDOLATRY AROUSES GOD'S JEALOUSY.

The Bible is replete with statements that God is jealous. I’m not exaggerating. I dug up at least twenty-one references: Exodus 20:5; 34:14; Numbers 25:11; Deuteronomy 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; 29:20; 32:16; 32:21; 1 Kings 14:22; Psalm 78:58; 79:5; Joshua 24:19; Ezekiel 16:42; 23:25; 36:5-6; 38:19; Zephaniah 1:18; 3:8; Zechariah 1:14; 8:2.

But unlike man’s, God’s jealousy is pure. It centers in the fact that He alone is good, He alone is God, and He alone has a rightful claim to us. His jealousy is an extension of His immense love for we whom His created in His own image.

If you are a parent, have you ever watched your children make choices that will harm them? Have you felt that deep desire to do something about it, but instead shed a tear because there was little you could do to stop them? My own parents must have felt this several hundred times with me. As a parent myself, I know the feeling well.

That is what my Father feels when I turn to the deceptive gods of the world rather than to Him. But He is not incapable of doing something about it. In fact, He will do whatever it takes to turn me around.

He loves me so much that when anything threatens me – even my own desires and actions – He will go to the cross and to the grave to rescue me. And sometimes, when my allegiance to the idol I’m worshiping is strong, He may fight directly against me for my own good!

» HOW MY IDOLATRY AFFECTS OTHERS [10:23-24]
23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.

MY IDOLATRY CAUSES SPIRITUAL HARM TO OTHERS.

When I exercise my freedoms in the self-centered way that idolatry encourages, I will commit to things that please me and be distracted away from things that are good for others. If my attention is given to the things that please me, I will ignore the needs of my spouse, my children, my neighbor, and hurting people around me.

» 10:25-30
25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; 26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. 27 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. 28 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; 29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?

So, does that mean I have to stay completely away from the things of this world? Absolutely not.

I can eat the meat that was sacrificed to idols. It’s not wrong. That meat belongs to God like everything else does (vv. 26).

If an unbeliever invites me to do what he does, I can do it! (Assuming it isn’t something sinful). Go to the ballgame with the unbeliever. Go to one of his meetings. Go to a movie. Go hang out at the bar with him. Go to his party. I don’t have to worry that I am sinning (v. 27).

But if someone’s conscience is offended by something I do, I need to quit doing it (vv. 28-29)! Maybe it’s OK, but to them it is sinful and I may cause them to violate their own consciences. I could be thanking God for the food I’m eating while destroying the faith of a weaker believer!

» 10:31-11:1
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 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. 11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

Finally, Paul refocuses me on purposeful living – living for the goal, making all my decisions based upon that goal, doing everything that supports it, and shunning anything that hinders it. That is the way Paul lived, and he offers his own life as an example for me to follow.