1 Corinthians 10

When we began this foray into the world of meat sacrificed to idols, we noted that Paul would address at least two specific questions: 1. Are followers of Jesus Christ allowed to eat meat sold in the public meat markets when that meat was originally a part of pagan rituals? 2. Are followers of Jesus allowed to eat food at the pagan rituals themselves?

We have already been considering the first of these questions, but now Paul turns his attention to the second. While all good food can be received with thanksgiving as a gift of God, there are some settings that make our participation in the surrounding party inherently sinful and always to be rejected. In particular, there is no way that a Christian should think that it is acceptable to participate in pagan temple worship feasts, and then think it a safe thing to participate in the Lord’s Supper as the icing on a multi-religious cake.

It is not safe to assume that participation in the sacraments erases every other offense in our life like some kind of ritual magic. As with the buying of indulgences for future sins, such practices have no sweet fragrance before the Lord, no matter how lofty the signature and seal on the piece of paper telling you that all is well. God cares about faith and holiness. Anytime we use the Lord’s appointed ordinances as ways to pursue unbelief and sin, we are not only missing the point, we are seriously compounding the problem.

The Old Testament covenant community not only had a system of sacraments; they also had a heritage of great acts of divine deliverance. The Passover and the Exodus from Egypt were wonderful moments. If there was something of a baptism in the slight mist of waters that came down on the Israelites as they walked through the Red Sea on dry land, if there was something of real communion with God as they enjoyed water that poured forth from a rock, then the substance of those rituals was in Christ Himself. The people of the covenant were to believe in the One who was to come, and to obey the Lord of glory. Instead, their death in the wilderness was a testimony to their unbelief, and to their failure to obey. No amount of ceremonial water could cover over their willful rebellion.

Why was God displeased with them? For one thing, they thought it permissible to participate in his rituals and in the old games of paganism. This is precisely what some in Corinth are suggesting, that grace allows them to be part of the Lord’s Supper and also to continue to go to pagan temples. God is a jealous God. He does not tolerate false gods well. He loves us too much to permit that kind of unhealthy spiritual intimacy with that which is less than nothing. We cannot say that all the death in the wilderness was just about life under the Law. It is also for our instruction, lest we be so easily overcome by practices that will destroy us.

God can deliver us from even the most ludicrous and evil paganism. He regularly provides a way out for us in mercy. But His warnings are a part out the gracious exit door from that which is destroying us. We do not go out the back door of pagan temples only to decide that we would be wise to go in the front door again as a matter of Christian liberty. “After all they have good meat in there.” Certain bargains are too good to be true, and the spiritual person, the heavenly-minded saint, will do well to flee from such supposed liberty.

Think about the very idea behind religious sacraments. They are outward signs and seals of deep spiritual realities, whether good or evil. If we eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord’s Table, we do so because we understand that we have a fellowship and communion in the body and blood of our Savior. We are participants in something powerfully great. But when we eat at the table of gods that are no gods at all, we are rubbing shoulders with evil entities that we do not understand, even demonic beings. We cannot have it both ways. Either we want intimacy with the true God through Jesus Christ and the sacramental system He instituted, or we want a relationship with a false god. To expect the true God to be satisfied with our confusion on this point is not a reasonable request. He loves us too much to go along with such an arrangement.

God will not be mocked. Do we want to anger the God who sent His Son to rescue us such a horrible cost to Himself? Eating something from the meat market is one thing. That may be fine, though we still need to consider the teaching of love in light of the exact circumstances. But doing something that could be reasonably interpreted as participation in an idolatrous ritual must be out of the question for those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God.

Remember the cross in all things. Is the course you are pursuing consistent with the love of God and the glory of God as perfectly expressed in the cross of Christ? If not, may God show us a way out. Surely He will provide a way out for us. Angering the Lord, disgracing His Name, damaging the conscience of a weak brother, or putting a stumbling block in front of someone who needs to turn to God – these things cannot be acceptable options. The Lord who has shown us the way to righteousness and mercy through the cross will surely lead us in the way of the love of Christ.