MARCH 17th, 2024 PASTOR DON PIEPER
The Corinthian Complex 1 Corinthians 10:1-11; 12-15,27-11:1
“IDIOSYNCRASIES OF IDOLATRY”
If you ever listen to the radio, you might notice that their commercials are sometimes rather repetitive. Even their promos can be that way. “You're listening to no repeat radio where we never play the same song twice! That's right – no repeat radio, where you'll never hear us repeat the same song twice. Only on no repeat radio!” Is it just me, or does that seem kinda redundant...?
Some might accuse the Apostle Paul of the same thing. Here in chapter ten, Paul revisits his earlier teaching from chapter 8 on the theme of eating food sacrificed to idols. So why is Paul doing that, you suppose? Why is this particular issue so important that he repeats himself?
If you do a google search on the use of repetition, you'll find this: “Repetition enables pupils to reinforce their foundational knowledge, build upon it, and connect new information to what they've previously learned. This process helps students grasp complex ideas and apply them in their context.” (Google)
That's actually precisely what Paul's doing. He doesn't simply repeat his instructions, he builds on it, and connects these new insights to what he's previously written, and then offers them some further insights on how to apply this to their context in Corinth. What are these new insights? Well, for one, he urges them to remember the relevant stories of God's people of old. “I don't want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, (he writes), about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago.” (1 Corinthians 10:1)
He then recounts for them the saga from the Book of Exodus of how God's people were given spiritual food to eat but then proceeded to lose their footing with God. Paul points them to the lessons of the Exodus story and basically asks, what can we learn from this? It's like a test that a student might take at school. The information has been shared and now they need to recall it.
It reminds me of six-year-old Calvin, sitting at his desk, with his pencil and history test in hand:
Question # 1: When did the Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock? 1620. As you can see, I've memorized this utterly useless fact long enough to pass a test question. I now will forget it forever. You've taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations.
Question # 2: What happened in Concord in 1775? Wait, you're asking me about Concord? I rely on the bus driver to find my own house from here. Concord could be on Neptune for all I know. You're asking me what happened nearly 250 years ago? I don't know what's going on now! I don't have a shred of context for any of this. It's hopeless, Miss Wormwood. Hopeless.
(They say the satisfaction of teaching makes up for the lousy pay...!)
I wonder if Calvin grew up in Corinth. They too seem to have conveniently forgotten their history and struggle to understand its relevance in their context. After all, the biblical history Paul retells here is far more than 250 years before their time. And talk about lousy pay! They're not paying Paul at all!
So what's Paul trying to say? What's the lesson here? Well, first there's a warning to learn from the past. That warning has three parts, three things the people of old were vulnerable to. First, they were craving evil things. Second, they were constantly complaining. And third, they were compromising their faith by worshipping idols. “These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did, or constantly grumble as some of them also did... These were written down to warn us...!” (1 Corinthians 10:6-7,10-11)
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He goes on to spell out what kind of evil things they craved. In short, they were eating and drinking to excess and indulging in sexual immorality, convincing themselves of the lie that this is what the pagan gods they'd built required of them in order to provide safety and financial security.
It's a belief system of convenience as these were the things they craved to do anyway. In short, the evil things they did were supported by the habit of rationalizing their sinful behavior. Sound familiar...?
They're also constantly complaining. And what're they complaining about? All kinds of stuff - the food God was supplying, their living out in the sticks, the reality of change - all of it. And beneath their complaining was troubled thinking – a lack of gratitude and perspective. Even today we grumble when our attention shifts from what we have to what we don't. Israel failed to see what God was doing for them – setting them free, making them a nation, pointing them towards the promised land. Instead, they got wrapped up in what God wasn't doing and fed each other's discontent. How often does that happen in Christian community today? Far too often, I'm afraid.
And third is the issue of their idolatry. Paul lays out just how serious this trespass really is, when he writes: “What am I saying? I'm saying that these sacrifices to idols are offered to demons, not to God, and I don't want you participate with demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:19-20)
Well that seems pretty distant to our current reality, though doesn't it? Safe there! I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone who kneels before golden statues or bows down before carved images. Hasn't idolatry gone the way of leisure suits, Fax machines and dodo birds? As one male Dodo remarks to another in Ice Age: “There goes the last female!”
Idolatry seems so dated, irrelevant and archaic - and yet, idolatry is the root of all sin and waywardness in the Bible. Martin Luther said that 'you can't violate the other nine commandments without breaking this one first'. (Martin Luther) It comes into play in every book in the Bible. What if we do our 'kneeling' and 'bowing' today thru our pursuit for comfort, popularity and security? What if idolatry isn't just one of many sins but the one great sin that all others come from?
If you start scratching at whatever struggle you're dealing with, eventually you'll find that underneath it is a false god, and until that god is dethroned, you will not fully live in victory. Paul is addressing the issue here, not because God is insecure and needs your worship, but because this is the fundamental reality of the universe which is Hiscreation. Only one God owns and operates it. Only one God knows how it works and He is the only God who can help, direct, satisfy and save us!
I wonder how many of those in Corinth thought, when they heard this chapter read, “Thanks for the history lesson, Paul, but that was a long time ago.” We may be inclined to think the same. After all, the problem today isn't that people worship many gods, it's that they don't worship any god, right?
Or is it? We're designed to worship. As Pastor Kyle Idleman puts it: “Whatever we're most passionate about, spend the most time, energy and money in pursuit of, is that which we're in danger of trusting and adoring at least as much if not more than God himself. The moment something becomes an end in itself rather something we gladly lay at God's feet, it becomes an idol.” (Kyle Idleman)
Scripture teaches us that it's a heart issue. My favorite proverb is this one: “Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life”. Or as another translation words it, “.... everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)
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In Hebrew culture, the heart was a metaphor for the center or core of a person's being. One's personality, motives, emotions and will all were rooted there and flowed from it. As it states in another proverb: “As water reflects the image of one's face, so one's life reflects the heart.” (Proverbs 27:19)
The heart is the truth of your identity. That's why the enemy fights so fiercely for every inch of it. Kyle Idleman paints the image of a person who discovered a mountain stream with refuse polluting it to the point that a smelly, nasty film floated on the top of the water. Appalled the man set about cleaning it up, bagging the garbage and restoring the flow of the stream.
A few weeks later he returned only to find it in worse shape than before. He followed it up-stream only to find a garbage dump that was emptying into the creek. Kyle than points out that if you want your creek clean, if you want to be free of distraction and have a healthy heart and soul, free of the enemy's lies and deception, you must go to the source and deal with what's polluting it. As Jesus pointed out: “Some people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Furthermore, the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.” (Matthew 5:17-18)
Jesus demonstrated by his actions, and through the stories he told, that God never tires of winning your heart. Never. Poet Francis Thompson calls Him, 'The Hound of Heaven'. If anyone ever tells you that all religions are basically the same, you can tell them that what sets apart the Way of Christ from Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam or any other faith is that nowhere else do we find God in hot pursuit of people. In Jesus, we see how God put everything on the line in order to win your heart!
So how do you go about guarding yours? How do you make sure that you're loving God with all of it and not just with what's left over? Paul provides four insights...:
First, learn and remember. That's how this chapter started. He writes: “I don't want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters...” and then proceeds to provide them with a Bible study from Exodus. To counter the lies of our culture and the enemy we need as much of God's truth in our system as we can muster. We need to learn from the mistakes of God's people in the past so that we don't repeat them, and keep the flow of living water pouring in & out of our heart. (1 Corinthians 10:1)
Second, lean into God when the voices of this world start seducing. “God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. He will show you a way out.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
It's perhaps the most misquoted verse in all of Scripture. Note what it does NOT say. It does not say, God will not allow you to experience hardship beyond what you can bear. The Bible, as well as modern day life, is packed with stories of people who experienced overwhelming hardship. This promise is about temptation, and specifically that of being seduced to put idols on the thrones of our hearts. Even Jesus was tempted. He gets it. He gets you and he is willing and able to help you out...!
Third, Live for God's glory! Pay attention to that all too human drive to seek affirmation for the good things you do. The drive to impress others puts the people around you on the throne of your heart. Ask God to help you recognize and repent of all such motivation. We tend to seek a little worship ourselves, as well, when we do so and when we do, we give the enemy way too much wiggle room. “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Fourth, imitate those who imitate Christ. It's helpful to have a mentor or two who are walking with the Lord, who you trust to be honest with you as you seek to do likewise. Paul wasn't being vain when he ended his chapter by writing: “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:33)
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He knew that we all need help to stay on course. We tend to think of the world around us as a battleground, but the fiercest battle going on, the one in which the enemy is playing his most formidable cards of distraction and deception, is that of the human heart. He's playing for keeps, but He can't hold a candle to the wind of the Lord of Heaven and Earth, for His Wind is that of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. “So my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.” (1 Corinthians 10:14)
How so? Learn and remember God's Word, the source of truth and true worship. Lean into God when the voices of this world start seducing, knowing that God is faithful and will always provide a way out, if you seek it. Live for God's glory and Imitate those who imitate Christ.
So “Guard your heart, (my friends), for it is the wellspring of life”. (Proverbs 4:23)