1 Corinthians 10:14-33 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. Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices 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. 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? “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. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 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. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. 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? 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.
Paul is telling the Corinthians, who are participants in the body of Christ, that they should do all for the glory of God with a focus of bringing the Good News to others. He is asking them not to seek their own good in life but the good of many, so the people around them might be saved. Paul’s life demonstrated that he was a faithful disciple. He dedicated his life completely to God’s will. As Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25) As did Moses, he had crossed the Red Sea, escaping from slavery to the world. Now he was leading many people through the desert of life to the Promised Land. As a dedicated servant of the living God, he reached out to the Gentile world, preaching the Good News of salvation to them. In doing so, he experienced many hardships and constant threats of death. However, he ignored his own well-being and became a slave to all people so that they might be restored to their Creator. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. (1 Corinthians 9:19) Now we see him advising the stronger Christians in Corinth to govern their behavior of freedom IN CHRIST for the benefit of the weaker brethren. Even though free from sin and the expectations of others, they should consider other people in the way they live. Weaker Christians in the faith might stumble by their freedom, such as eating food given to idols. These weaker Christians might be having a difficult time disentangling their lives from their old ways of idol worshipping. The freedom of the more mature Christians might cause others to once again believe in these no-gods as gods and that they should be worshipped. Also the people outside of the church might consider those in the church who eat food given to idols as hypocrites and their story of only one God to serve as a lie. Paul understands that true salvation sets people free from the bondage of sin, but he is also exhorting them to use the freedom God has given them wisely and with constraints. 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. The Corinthian Christians should live their lives for the benefit of others. If eating food given to idols hurts the conscience of someone else, they should forgo eating anything that is given to idols. The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 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. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. Paul encourages the Corinthians to consider others before they think of what they can do or not do. 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.
Freedom is a necessary awareness in a Christian’s life. This step of knowing who we are IN CHRIST separates us from a cultish life. Cults demand people to follow prescribed rules, and any step outside of these rigid rules is condemned. But Jesus did not come to us to establish rules in our lives and to condemn us. He came to us to restore us to the grace and mercy of God. The Corinthians were free from the bondage of sin. Now they had to figure out how to live circumspectly for the benefit of others who examine their new-born lives. If they use this freedom unwisely, they can interfere with other people’s dedication to God. The Pharisees had problems with Jesus because He sat down with the sinners of the world. They condemned Jesus for such inappropriate activity. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5: 29-32) Jesus had freedom. He was despised by the cultish Pharisees. Cultish? Yes, because their hearts were not right with God. They were living a life to please their fellow man, maybe other cultish people, but not a life for God, one of mercy and grace. In the Corinthian church, Paul wants the Christians to consider others before themselves, for others might need a doctor. If they are weak in faith, they should strengthen their faith by following God’s love for others, to daily sacrifice their lives for the sake of Christ. However, if a Christian or so-called Christian is living in open sin within the community of believers, boasting about his or her own freedom IN CHRIST, but under the control of a sinful lifestyle, he or she ought to be ostracized. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. (1 Corinthians 5:9-11) A Christian who claims to be a brother or sister IN CHRIST but continues to eat and drink at the table of the demons openly has to be excluded for he or she brings disgrace on the body of Christ. When Jesus became serious about how to serve God by eating and drinking of him, many of his disciples left him for they were following him for selfish reasons. Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. (John 6:53-56) These fleshly disruptive people in the Corinthian church are not weaker brethren, but they are those who do not desire to eat and drink of only Christ in their lives. They want the benefits of the church without a total commitment to Christ in their lifestyle. They are not free IN THE LORD but bound by Satan in sin.
When in the world among secular people, we may associate with them freely, eat and drink with them freely. If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. However, if our freedom to eat or drink anything when we bless it with prayer offends a weaker brethren, we should put a stop to our activity. We should live circumspectly not about our conscience but about the conscience of others. We are to be considerate of them in our activity. Our lives are not our own, for we have been bought by a high price, the blood of Jesus Christ. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) When we live for Christ, we will seek to do his will. Our lives will be as a laser beam, straight and powerful. When we live for Christ totally, we become a light to the world and an enhancement in their lives as salt is to food. But if we live unto ourselves, we bring darkness to people and not light. Paul is encouraging the Christian church to bring light to the world and to help everyone live in the freedom of a new born life. But if they struggle with their former idol worshipping tendencies, then the stronger Christian brethren in the Corinthian church should adjust their lives so the weaker brethren can live successful lives for Christ. Paul is not saying the weaker brethren’s vision of life should be the same as ours who are strong in the freedom Christ. No, he is telling the mature Christians to be kind and considerate of those who struggle in this wilderness of life. The weaker brethren are still functioning under the cultish belief of works as a way to salvation. So, almost anything can be a stumbling block to them. Sadly, not relying completely on the fact that salvation is Christ’s work, not their work; it is Christ's righteousness they live within, not their own righteousness. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7) Our eternal life rests in God, not in our efforts. Yes, freedom is good, but we must not use it in such a way that it abuses others, hampering their faith in the salvation message. We eat of Christ; He is the bread of life; his blood bought our redemption. The work is finished. Let us know Christ as the two gentlemen discovered on the road to Emmaus. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:30-32) When Christ broke the bread, their eyes were opened. Paul reminds the Christians of Corinth of their lives IN CHRIST. 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. He tells the Christians in Corinth, live in freedom but also in peace for they are one IN CHRIST, THE BREAD OF LIFE. May we all consider the body of Christ today.
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