Life Project Blog

1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1

We have seen passages in which Paul is so blunt that his meaning is hard to miss, but from our perspective, this is not one of those. If we aren’t careful, we can quote verses from this passage and use them to ‘prove’ both sides of the argument, not to mention things that aren’t even being discussed. For me, the key to following this passage is to remember who Paul is writing to (the church in Corinth), and what he has said about them previously (that they favor the philosophies of men).

With this in mind, we can discern that in 10:23-30 there is a sort of conversation going on between Paul and his readers. At first, we can see slogans and responses, then questions and answers, and finally, beginning at 10:31 Paul’s clear teaching.

“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 seek their own good, but the good of others. (10:23-24)

“I have the right to do anything”. There is a slogan we hear a lot in our day too, and Paul is using it to refer to an attitude held by many of his readers. Notice that each time it is used, it is followed by a reply from Paul: but not everything is beneficial; but not everything is constructive and then: No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. The slogan is not Paul’s teaching, it is being refuted here.

Then Paul includes some questions that he is anticipating his readers would ask him as they might try to assert a right to something, in this case, to eat food sacrificed to idols…

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?

These questions do not represent Paul’s teaching, but rejoinders his readers might throw back at him. When you see this, the rest is clear enough; we shouldn’t go to the market, or go to someone’s home looking for trouble, but if we are informed that a food was sacrificed to an idol, we should abstain, both for our sake and for the sake of the other, as a testimony to our belief in Christ.

Then Paul concludes the entire section with a clear principle:

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. (10:31-11:1)

The section ends here, with these words summing up the entire discussion that began with 8:1. We might look at this and be tempted to conclude that it doesn’t apply to us in the 21^st century because we don’t usually encounter meat sacrificed to idols these days… “but if I do, I’ll keep it mind.”

This, however, is a principle that should apply to most any set of circumstances, or most any controversial subject, and the funny thing is, we might be tempted to offer the same kinds of objections that the Corinthians did so very long ago, we might even say something like, “Those church people just want to control me.”

Have you ever heard that one? Have you ever said it yourself?

I can honestly say “yes” to both questions… I have always found that such a statement is particularly effective when followed by a lengthy rant about how mature the speaker is, and how immature everyone else is. Maybe there’s a little bit of Corinth in all of us.

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. (10:14-17)

Paul does an interesting thing here; interesting and brilliant. Appealing to their reason, and asking them to judge the issue for themselves, he brings up communion, mentioning the cup and the loaf. When we all drink of the cup, we participate in Christ’s blood; when we eat of the loaf, we participate in the body of Christ. We all partake of the same loaf, and we are one in the Body of Christ… Right?

Yes, excellent, that’s right.

Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? (10:18)

Why yes, they do 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. (10:19-20)

BAM! See what Paul just did?

Back in chapter 8, Paul agreed that an idol is nothing, and that the meat sacrificed to the idol is nothing; it’s just meat. Now, as he sums his argument up, he completely turns it around; when you participate in the meat you know to have been sacrificed to an idol, you are participating in the sacrifice as well as in the meal, just as in the old Jewish system, and in our communion. So, even though the idol is nothing, and you don’t mean anything by it, knowingly eating from the pagan sacrifice is an acknowledgement of the demon it was sacrificed to, and that we mustn’t do.

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? (10:21-22)

Verse 21 is the bottom line in this controversy; there’s no way around that. You might rightly ask, however, “Didn’t he say eating that food was OK if you understood that an idol is just a hunk of rock, and that having been sacrificed to a non-existent god was meaningless back in chapter 8?”

Yes, he did. Lucky for us, we haven’t quite finished the section yet…

1 Corinthians 1-13

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. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (10:1-5)

As we move into a new chapter, and because it begins with the word “for”, we need a reminder of what Paul has said previously, since Paul seems to be drawing a conclusion in these verses.

9:27… 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.

10:1… 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.

As chapter 9 was coming to an end, Paul was exhorting the people to take his teachings about self-sacrifice for the sake of others seriously, encouraging them to behave as athletes in training to set aside some of their freedom for the sake of Christ. He continues in this chapter with another example for their instruction, this time from Israel’s history, to make the same point.

This section, 10:1-13 is being used to show that the Israelites were God’s chosen, His elect, His beloved. They had been freed from captivity in Egypt by God’s mighty hand when He parted the waters of the Red Sea, when He provided them with manna, when He gave them water to drink from the rock, and as He led them through the Wilderness by cloud and by fire: If there ever were people who were favored by God, and who could literally see the works of His hands, these were those people.

Yet, in spite of all this, they succumbed to every kind of temptation, and came to ruin. Honestly, I cannot imagine that anyone, not even these proud and worldly Corinthians could miss the connection Paul was making between the Israelites, and the Corinthian Church. Taking no chances, Paul continued:

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 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. (10:11-13)

This paragraph, as it talks of temptation and holding firm, ties back to the end of chapter 9 and the sports training metaphor, and the idea that an athlete in training will push him or her self to attain the goal for which they train. Paul’s clear intention here is that we must push ourselves to overcome whatever temptation may come our way in order to attain our goal in Christ, and to avoid being pulled off in the direction of ruin.

Before we conclude for now, I must once again remind you that this passage is part of a three-chapter section on idolatry; food sacrificed to idols. In the next section, Paul returns to that topic, and begins to sum up the points he has made…

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. 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. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 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 9:24-27

As Paul so often does in his letters, he shifts to a sports metaphor to finalize his point. Remember, he’s been telling the people that they must be willing to make sacrifices for other people and for the sake of the gospel, and here he expresses the same thought in a different way. Likening Christians to an athlete in training, he uses the sacrifices great athletes make in training to living for Christ.

An athlete training for a big event will adhere to a strict training regimen that includes a strict diet. They will push themselves to the limit of their endurance to win the prize, and during their training, they will abstain from all kinds of things, because they want to win their event.

In the same way, we who are followers of Christ must be willing to do whatever it takes, to endure training, to make personal sacrifices, and to impose self-discipline, to share the gospel with those around us, and to help them through that growth process that we call “making disciples”.

While Paul has made this point, he still hasn’t completed the section, for he isn’t addressing problems of self-discipline and sacrifices; remember, this is a section about idolatry. As he continues in chapter 10, his discussion will focus more directly on the lesson he is teaching…

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 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. 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 (9:19-21)

In the previous section (9:1-19) Paul has moved into a proof for his teaching in chapter 8 that Christians need to be willing to sacrifice certain things that they may be entitled to as a matter of “right” for the sake of other believers and for the gospel. In 9:1-19 he shamed the Corinthians a bit, reminding them of all of the “rights” he had sacrificed for their benefit. Here, he moves on to sum up this argument. He does so by once again using his own approach as an example to them.

In verses 19-21 we see a discussion of Paul’s behavior and “law”. He behaves as a Jew when he is dealing with Jews, as a follower of the law, when dealing with followers of the law. He behaves as a non-law follower when dealing with people who aren’t under the law. Yet in all things he is under the “law of Christ”, which is an interesting statement which involves a great deal of scholarly theorizing today. While Paul doesn’t really define this expression, he is demonstrating it in his teaching; that we should be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of others and for the gospel of Christ.

He continues:

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. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (9:22-23)

He moves from law as a model to weak and strong, or we might say, immature and mature. However he might describe the situation, the outcome is the same: We make personal sacrifices for the sake of others in the cause of Christ, for this is the way of love.

1 Corinthians 9:1-18

Assuming that you have read these verses, I must begin by reminding you that we are still in a section about Idolatry, and food sacrificed to idols specifically, in this letter of correction and instruction to the church at Corinth.

You will no doubt recall that in chapter 8 Paul essentially set forth a proposition that food sacrificed to idols can be eaten by those who understand that an idol is nothing more than a hunk of rock, and that there is no actual significance to a sacrifice to a hunk of rock. A person with such an understanding has a right to eat the food. However, many of our brethren do not have this understanding, and as a consequence, they would have their faith severely challenged by brothers and sisters participating in eating such food. Paul ended the chapter by saying that we should forgo our right to eat such food whenever it could adversely impact our “weaker” brother or sister.

Beginning in 9:1, Paul has undertaken to prove this assertion by pointing out all of the rights he has chosen not to exercise himself, for the sake of the gospel. In doing so, I think it is fair to say that he really shames people who complain and moan about being expected to make a sacrifice for the sake of other people, for he points out a wide range of sacrifices he has made personally for their benefit− can they not undergo such a small sacrifice for their brothers and sisters?

People are funny, aren’t they? We all look around us and see everyone else having such an easy time. We struggle with finances, yet our neighbor has so many nice things. We have marriages with real challenges, but the guy next door has a beautiful wife who never complains, or an attractive husband who always finishes his “honey-do” list. Our boss has such an easy job and makes so much more than we do. The Smiths’ children are so perfectly behaved… it goes on and on.  The good folks in Corinth probably thought they’d be better apostles than Paul was. It never even crossed their minds that Paul was not only preaching and teaching day and night; he was also working to support himself.

I would like to think that anyone over the age of 40 has figured out that the grass on the other side of the hill isn’t really any greener than it is right where we are standing, that everyone has their struggles and their problems to deal with; we all win a few and lose a few.

But them, sometimes we forget…

1 Corinthians 8

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. (8”1-3)

With these verses, Paul begins the next section of the letter, which runs through 11:1. For best results, we need to keep in mind as we go through the section that it is indeed three chapters in length with three subsections; more about that as we continue. Of course, we can easily see the shift in topic in verse 1, which will remind us of Paul’s structure as we have seen in multiple times before now.

He begins this section in an interesting way, with a contrast between “knowledge” and “love”: But knowledge puffs up while love builds up (1n). This is the dominant thought of the chapter and is reinforced by verses 2-3.

 Paul makes the point that an idol, representing a pagan god, is nothing other than a hunk of rock, for these are non-existent “gods”. There is only one God, the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ. These other so-called “gods” are nothing (8:4-6).

Yet in Corinth and other cities and towns of that era, there were still new Christians for whom that fact had not yet quite sunk in, and should they eat food that had been sacrificed to an idol, they would still think of it as something significant, and for them, eating such food would be highly problematic, even though there was no actual reality to the idol or the sacrifice (8:7-8).

If a Christian is clear about this, eating such food is not a problem, but in doing so, we must be careful, for if a brother or sister who doesn’t understand this yet should see us, they might be tempted to partake it thinking they are free to participate in pagan rituals, which would be a sin against Christ. For our parts, we too would be sinning, for in doing this, we will have caused our weaker brother or sister to fall back into the old ways− and we wouldn’t want to do that, would we (8:9-13)?

At this point, Paul’s dominant though becomes crystal clear:

But knowledge puffs up while love builds up

The very idea that a hunk of rock is a god is silly, and so is the notion that there is there is even such a thing as a “sacrifice” to a god that doesn’t exist… Pure nonsense! I’m hungry, and that meat is perfectly good food and I’m going to eat some of it because I can, and it’s my right to do so. That is the “puffed up” part.

How often do we hear this kind of thing today: It’s my RIGHT to do this!

The way of love, however, is quite different. Love is willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of someone who understands less than we do; it’s a pity we don’t see more love in action today.