Concerning Food Offered to Idols

1 Corinthians 8

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

I love how applicable this passage is to our generation. What?! No way! We don't walk into the grocery store and wonder if it's ok to buy the chicken thighs because the breast may or may not have been sacrificed to Zeus. That's true, but raise your hand if you can tell me who this is: 

This is Charles Spurgeon. He was a very famous preacher in Britian in the late 1800's and he is still very popular today. In fact, as the Reformed Movement gains popularity among millennials  so does Spurgeon. We love his theology, his poetic word smithing and the example he set preaching to hundreds from a young age. We also love that is no secret that he enjoyed, more than a little, his cigars and his whiskey. He was known to smoke in the lobby before his sermons. "For shame!" some cry. But many exclaim, "Here! Here! Why not?!" Some things that were considered taboo (smoking, drinking, dancing, tattoos) are more commonly being embraced by our generation. That's fantastic! I love a good glass of wine with dinner. But it would seem that food sacrificed and my husband's pipe have more in common than just some smoke. 

In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul begins to address a few questions the church has written to him about. One of which, is food sacrificed to idols. They want him to tell them whether or not it is ok to eat it. I picture someone in the congregation, confident in their saintly freedoms, wanting Paul to back up their claim that they can eat whatever they want. Instead, Paul calls us all to walk humbly with each other and seek unity above personal preference. 

Paul begins the discussion with another shot at the pride of the Corinthian church. "All of us possess knowledge" seems to be a slogan of the life in Corinth. Yet Paul warns,"This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know." We pride ourselves on our knowledge. But it's not what we know or even who we know but WHO knows us. "If anyone loves God, he is known by God". Our standing before God is what makes us something. It is a position that is wrapped up in the person and work of Christ alone. Not anything we did or anything we know. It is because He has known us. Because He, knowing who we are and what we have done, chose to peruse us. Become like us. Live the life we could not live. Die the death we deserved to die and become our substitution. Then God raised Him from the dead and called us to believe in Him. And when we could not do even that on our own, He took our heart of stone and gave us the faith we need to love Him so we can be known by Him. "'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up." 

In John 7 Jesus states, "There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him" Likewise, Paul lays out an argument, "Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat it, and no better off if we do." The whole point is not about food but instead about who God is. It is not about the pipe or the dancing or the drinking about about our standing before the God of the universe. There are direct commandments given in the Bible. On these topics we do not stand on personal conviction rather, we know what obedience looks like. However, what about the things we are no worse off by not doing and better off by doing. What about the things that do not defile us? Paul goes on to explain the God honoring way to handle such things. 

"Take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak." Some people have very strong convictions on issues that I might not see as sin. For example a woman I love and respect once told me she was concerned about the fact that I drank wine. Knowing her beliefs (however unfounded i might have believed them to be) it would have been wrong for me to bring a bottle of wine into her home and ask her to drink it with me. Why? "wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ" It no longer becomes about my freedom but rather about their conscience. In Romans 14 Paul address this issue again. He speaks of how each person either eats or does not eat "in honor of the Lord" and he concludes with "each of us will give an account of himself to God".  May it never be said of me that I asked another to defile their own conscience before Him. 

This passage is not about whether or not we have freedoms. It is not about food. Again, it is about the unity of the body. It is about putting others before yourself. Seeing their soul as more important than your luxuries. "'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up" May we love one another enough to put our pride aside and lift the needs of other about ourselves. May we come together and seek each others well-being for our good and His glory. 

The Power of the Cross

1 Corinthians 4:14-21

"I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became you father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in even church. Some are arrogant, as thought I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?"

It has been a long time since I've written. I've had family visiting for the past two weeks. And on top of that the Lord has been doing some work in my heart. (you can read more about that in the update of Conquering: Revisited) So, in light of the absence, I want to give a quick recap of where the Lord has brought me so far in 1 Corinthians. The majority of these first four chapters have been about opening the eyes of the Corinthians to the divisions they were  creating in their church body. These divisions had been caused, mainly, by the peoples' pride. They wanted to make themselves something special by associating with "the best" teacher. So Paul, Apollos, Cephas, even the name of Christ became banners that they tried to raise higher than all the rest. Paul as been reminding them of the need for unity in Christ. He has also been showing them again and again how it is their insignificance that unites them. Not one of us is special. We are all wretched and in need of the same Savior, Christ, so no one can boast. 

Now, we pick up in Chapter 4 Verses 14-21. Paul, is about to get really practical with the church but first he wants them to know what the last four chapters have been for. His goal i s not to shame the church but rather he calls them "beloved children." Paul wants them to know that he writes out of love. And we also know that he writes in love because he continues to point them to the place of change. The Cross. Paul only has the authority to speak to the Corinthians "in Christ Jesus through the gospel". That is the place all our power comes from. Paul says when he comes back to the church he will find out what the arrogant really have to say. In other words, do they just talk or do they have the power to back up their pride. 

I love to read Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest". Today's devotion reminded me of this verse. He said:

 "We have to concentrate on the great point of spiritual energy- the Cross, to keep in contact with that center where all the power lies, and the energy will be let loose." 

Even in the Christian world, we are so likely to be full of arrogant or empty talk. We talk about living good lives, lives that are happy, lives are holy, lives that are free. But if we are not talking about the Cross we have no power to live by. No hope to see change. No joy or blessings. Because it's just talk. "For the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power." May we know the power of the Cross daily, and may it change our lives. For our good and His glory. 

What makes you so special?

1 Corinthians 4:6-13

"I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.  For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things."

Let's talk about something we ALL deal with. Pride. At first read, you may not understand that pride is what Paul is getting at. I mean, as I first read it, I was really confused. Where was the switch? When did Paul begin to envy the Corinthians? Wasn't he calling them babies a few chapters ago? And now they are wise? Nope! Don't worry. Paul isn't changing his mind. He is just being sarcastic. Or, as Bible commentators call it... ironic. The truth is, Paul is putting the Corinthians on major blast. He is calling them out for walking around like they are the coolest thing ever. Like they have it all together. Like they are kings. 

Paul uses himself and Apollos as examples. Saying that if the Corinthian church really looked at the Word of God and followed the example of the leaders they themselves were elevating, they would not put on such airs. Paul asks them "who sees anything different in you?" This isn't a challenge to be set apart from the world, it's the Greek way of saying "what makes you so special?!" In the next passage we are reminded of the love God has for us. But for now, what I really want us to get is that nothing we have is by our own merit. "What do you have that you did not receive?" 

Again, in my study this week, I listened to a message by Alistair Begg. He admonished his listeners to see themselves in light of who God is. God is everything. We are nothing. The more we love who He is, the more we know how little we have. The more we recognize that without His grace we fall so flat. We don't even fall, because we never made it off the ground to fall back to. "We have become, and are still, the scum of the world". No one likes being called scum. But take a moment to contemplate the perfect holiness, the vast power, the complete justice, the immovable faithfulness, the unconditional love, and the infinite being of God. Now... tell me... what makes you so special? We are nothing. All we have have been given by grace. Next week I'm so excited to talk about where we get grace. At the cross by the love and power of God. That we would live to praise Him because He is worthy!  But today, I am striving to let go of my love of self, for my good and His glory. 

"Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self" 

~ Saint Augustine The City of God

My Weakness

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 

"And I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message where not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

Confession time. This week I have very little desire to post. I slacked on my study in the last few days. I have been really very busy and am tired and would like to sleep. It is finally Friday and I feel it. Usually, when it comes time to post, I have spent at least a few hours preparing: reading, outlining, praying, talking things over with Jake. Usually, I am pretty excited to share (or maybe show off) what the Lord has been teaching me. I feel like I will be well spoken and my words will convict and I will be a blessing to those who read me. It's just like the Lord to bring me to a place where I feel completely inadequate the week I learn about the insignificance of man next to the power of God. 

This passage is a continuation from the last chapter. Paul explained how the foolishness of the gospel message makes much of God's wisdom and about how the insignificance of the people God chooses makes into nothing the lofty of the world. Here, Paul remarks on the fact that it is his own weakness that reveals the power of God. 
Pride is such a simple sin. One minute a preacher can be stoked on how beautiful Jesus is. The next he is trying to think about how best to present that beauty to others. And the next, he is relying on his own eloquence to reveal that beauty to the hearts of man. Men of God through history have had good intentions (saving lost souls) but rely on so many things other than the Spirit to touch the world. Whether it's through fear, logic or even promises of an easy life, we so easily place the burden of salvation on our own shoulders. 

Paul goes in the opposite direction. "I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified".  The gospel is wonderful on it's own. It does not need special words to make it powerful. Paul even says that he spoke in words that seemed unwise and impossible so that if people heard and responded it would be "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power". Again this is all for one reason. That in doing so Paul would not be seen at all. That in talking in this way, in laying down his own pride, people would come to see God as He really is. Powerful! The Corinthians found it easy to follow men because of outward style. But we are called for follow God and rest in His power. The only power that calls us, saves us, and seals us for our good and His glory.