Devotional Sharing, Submitted by Steve Plouffe, Gracepoint Berkeley
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
What is the relationship between someone who thinks he is standing firm (v.12) and the failure to take warning from the examples Apostle Paul relates here? The man who thinks that he is standing firm needs to take warning from the examples of the Old Testament. The Israelites all witnessed God’s acts, from the parting of the Red Sea to the cloud that led them through the desert. They all ate of the manna and quail, and they all experienced God’s blessings and provisions. And yet God scattered them throughout the desert and most of them never entered the promised land. They experienced God’s presence in a very physical way, and yet they showed that they were unable to fully trust and obey him, and so they ultimately never experienced the covenant blessing that God had in store for them. Apostle Paul therefore warns the man who thinks that he is standing firm to not get too smug. We too have been given the covenant blessing, and we have been blessed and nurtured in many ways. But we must be careful that we don’t get too comfortable and allow our minds to wander to evil things lest we too lose our blessing.
For myself, I need to learn from the examples given in the Old Testament, especially as we are going through our Old Testament reading. Rather than dismissing the Israelites as foolish or uncontrolled, I need to recognize that I am no different from them. Just as they tested God, I feel the same tendencies to complain rise up in me when things don’t go as I had planned. There are times when I sin, even when I know the truth. Apostle Paul warns that since we all have these tendencies to sin within us, we need to take the time now to examine ourselves so that when the time of testing comes, we can remain faithful rather than testing God like those who never reached the promised land.
How does this verse help me in my struggle against temptation? When I struggle with temptation, I can have the confidence that God will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear, and that he will provide a way so that I can stand up under it. However, what is important here is that Apostle Paul is referring not to me as an individual but to me as part of the church community – we don’t need to resist temptation by ourselves and stand up on our own power, but rather we hold one another up; God will not test us beyond what we can all bear together. This gives me strength in a couple of ways. First, when I am struggling, I can turn to my leaders and brothers for accountability and I can learn from those who might now struggle with that particular sin. For instance, when I struggle with my desires for comfort, I just need to look at the many brothers and sisters who have gone before me who have given up everything to serve and look at the testimonies and fruits of their lives.
This also gives me freedom for when I am struggling. I don’t need to deal with the shame and guilt of my sin alone, but I can be free to share what I am struggling with – rather than needing to fight my temptations alone, I can turn to others for encouragement and strength. I don’t need to conquer my sin on my own or feel like I need to reach some level of spirituality before I can approach anyone, but rather I can be free to come as I am, knowing that I will still be accepted. Before I was a Christian, I related to others through image-management. I always needed to appear a certain way and seem as if I had it all together. This was a huge burden, and so I kept everyone at an arm’s length lest they see through my masks. Even though I had many friends, all of my relationships were shallow and I felt alone. But now I can experience deep relationships and relate to others in this church and community without having to put on masks, but just being honest about what tempations I am struggling with, knowing that it is God’s wisdom that we draw together for strength.
What are some temptation-fighting resources I have through the church? Have I, for some reason, failed to rely on these resources to become ìa way outî of my struggles against sin? Some resources I have are my Life group, the ten other guys that I share a house with, and my leaders. I have been blessed with a great number of relationships, something that I would never have imagined before I became a Christian. I need to take greater advantage of them by being more open about what I am struggling with and being more vulnerable. I also need to take greater initiative in seeking accountability in making steps of progress against the sin issues that I do persistently struggle with. I need to be more deliberate about the sharing times we do have to seek their encouragement, strength, and correction. It’s only if I more actively desire change and growth now that I will be able to mature in these areas. One step I did make was to ask my peers what areas they think I need to grow in the most. They mentioned being more vulnerable, as well as a couple other areas that I didn’t know anything about until they mentioned it. This is the first step, but I need to follow up on these things and seek their advice and accountability in making concrete commitments towards fighting these issues now.
What does it mean to do everything for the glory of God based on the lesson about what to eat and what not to eat? The focus shouldn’t be on the absolutest prohibitions of what we can and cannot eat, but we need to have the maturity to recognize our freedom and to restrict ourselves so that others won’t be troubled. Apostle Paul says that if he is with the Greeks, he will eat whatever they eat – for if he refused to eat their food based on the Jewish traditions, there would be a break in their fellowship and God would not be glorified. And likewise, if he were with the Jews, he would not eat what they don’t eat, lest he cause them to stumble. In other words, the focus isn’t about maximizing our freedom, but about restricting ourselves so that we can focus on what really matters – who God is and what he did, not on whether we can eat pork. I shouldn’t view my life from the perspective of what I can do, but I need to view it from the perspective of what I should and shouldn’t do so that I can become a more effective witness for God.
In my own life, this means being a better witness throughout my entire life, not just when I’m at church or doing actual ministry. This means seeking God’s glory in my work and studies, being faithful with what I have been given and doing my best work, not just doing what needs to get done so I can get by. This also translates to serving – wherever I am, I need to be all there. Too often I allow my emotions and feelings to dictate how involved I get – if I’m feeling tired, I’ll use that as an excuse to not be as excited or involved. In these times I just need to take a moment and remind myself why I am doing all that I am doing – I’m doing it so that God can be glorified and so that others may come to know Christ. I need to view my freedom in the proper light of others’ eternal destinies. In that light, it isn’t so hard for me to restrict myself and to push myself on.
Devotional Questions:
1 Corinthians 10:1-12
- What is the relationship between someone who thinks he is “standing firm” (v.12) and the failure to take warning from the examples Apostle Paul relates here?
- What is my attitude towards examples that are written in the Bible as warnings for me? Are there any specific warnings from God’s word that I have been ignoring?
1 Corinthians 10:13
“The ‘yous’ in the text are both in the plural, meaning that the experience of the testing and the efforts at handling it are never presumed by Paul to be borne by an individual alone. Paul’s assumption is that any testing you experience is never in isolation. […] And the bearing of the test, the handling of it, is never supposed by Paul to be done by an isolated individual; others will always be bearing it with the one who is tested. So the text supposes that God will not test us beyond what all of us can bear together. Paul’s outlook stands in sharp contrast with the modern tendency to privatize and individualize all religious matters and experiences, even including suffering.”[1]
- How does this verse help me in my struggle against temptation?
- What are some temptation-fighting resources I have through the church? Have I, for some reason, failed to rely on these resources to become “a way out” of my struggles against sin?
1 Corinthians 10:14-17
“This is the positive counter reality set over against the danger of idolatry: authentic Christian worship draws us together around the table of the Lord in such a way that we become a covenant people, receiving the blessings of fellowship with God and sharing our lives with one another. In order to flee from idolatry we must order our lives so that this koinonia becomes the focal point of our existence.”[2]
- Why is it that “partaking of the one loaf” creates such a close relationship among those who participate in it that they become “one body?”
- Has koinonia (i.e. the church) become the focal point of my existence?
1 Corinthians 10:23-24
- How does Paul’s response to those who are saying “everything is permissible” show the proper basis for decision making in Christian life? What are some examples of modern day people who still seek to experience maximum license in their behavior by considering everything “permissible” which has not been expressly prohibited by scripture?
- By what criterion do I decide what is permissible in my life?
Additional Questions:
1 Corinthians 10:18-22
“As we have seen, when sacrifice was offered, part of the meat was given back to the worshipper to hold a feast. [Often, the temples had large dining rooms for banquets of this sort.] At such a feast it was always held that the god himself was a guest. More, it was often held that, after the meat had been sacrificed, the god himself was in it and that at the banquet he entered into the very bodies and spirits of those who ate. Just as an unbreakable bond was forged between two men if they ate each other’s bread and salt, so a sacrificial meal formed a real communion between the god and his worshipper.”[3]
- Apostle Paul’s stance about eating food offered to idols in this chapter seems to be different from chapter 8. Is he contradicting himself? What is the social setting being addressed here in vv.18-22, and how is it different from, for example, the situation described in v.27?
- What might have been the Corinthian Christians’ justification regarding their involvement in idol feasts held in the banquet halls of idol temples, given that these temple banquet facilities were the main venues for socially important banquets and meetings?
- What would have been Apostle Paul’s response?
- List examples of modern day Christians having “a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.” Are there such compromises in my life? If so, what excuses do I give?
1 Corinthians 10:25-31
- What reason does Paul give for why it is OK to eat anything sold in the meat market?
- What reason does Paul give for why a Christian should not eat meat if someone tells him that the meat was offered in sacrifice?
- What is the difference?
- What does it mean to do everything for the glory of God based on the lesson about what to eat and what not to eat?
- How does doing things for the glory of God change all that I do (e.g. working, studying, serving, etc.)?
1 Corinthians 10:32-33
- What would Apostle Paul’s life have looked like given that he tried to “please everybody in every way”—Jews, Greeks, and the church of God? How does his lifestyle compare with the modern day call to be true to my desires, and to seek personal happiness through seeking to please myself?
- What is the relationship between “doing everything for the glory of God” and “not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved?”
- How can I seek the good of many, so that they may be saved?
[1] J. Paul Sampley, “First Corinthians”, New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol.X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 916.
[2] Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville,KY: John Knox Press, 1997) 173.
[3] William Barclay, Letters to the Corinthians, The Daily Study Bible Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975) 91.
Commentary:
v.2 “The Israelites were not immersed in literal water; baptism here suggests identification with and allegiance to the leader of a spiritual community.”[1]
v.4 “for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them. Paul comes to the notion of the rock ‘following’ them very readily because he notices that the location of the rock, as told in different passages in his scriptures (Psalm 78:16 supposes it happened more than once; Exodus 17:1-6; Numbers 20:2-13), is always with God’s people but is mentioned first in one place and then in another and so forth. Philo, another Jew who was contemporary with Paul, identified the rock as Wisdom, who, thus personified, never abandoned God’s people.”[2]
vv.6-10 “Paul explains here that all these things were examples (typoi) for us to think about, lest we who also have received the covenant blessings should become displeasing to God by lusting after evil things as Israel did.
“Then he describes (vv.7-10) what that lusting involved and warns against following their example. Many of Israel became idolaters. The illustration is that of Exodus 32:1-6, where it is said that Israel had Aaron make the golden calf. Exodus 32:6, quoted here, tells how Israel ate a sacrificial meal in dedication to the calf and then got up ‘to play’ (KJV), that is, to dance in ceremonial revelry as the pagans danced before their gods. This may look back to Paul’s discussion in 1 Corinthians 8 about meat sacrificed to idols.[3]
vv.11-13 “Paul now makes an application for the Corinthians. Paul sets forth the examples he uses as actually having occurred in history (notice the imperfect verb sunebainen, ‘they were happening’) and as having been written down to warn us. The KJV translation ‘ends of the world’ (v.11b) seems to suggest too much, as though Paul thought he and the Corinthians were in the time of the Second Coming. Actually, he is speaking of the stretch of time called ‘the fulfillment’ [or ‘end’] of the ages, which was to continue from Paul’s time into the indefinite future. The warning amounts to this: Do not be smug in your firm stand for Christ. Keep alert lest you fall. [4]
v.12 “Paul invites his readers to evaluate or test themselves by making a comparison with the characters in the Exodus story. Like their wandering predecessors, they share in the benefits that God has provided and they are guided and nurtured by God. But they must be careful not to comport themselves, like ‘most’ of their forebears, as persons who are tempted to idolatry and immorality and thus put God to the test.”[5]
“Self-testing can give an occasion for realignment, for reorientation, in which one can make certain to steer clear of sexual immorality, idolatry, and a testing of God. By altering one’s course on the basis of self-examination, one can choose to stand with the exodus forebears who were faithful rather than fall like those who tested God.”[6]
vv.14-15 “The apostle’s terse injunction, ‘Flee [present tense] from idolatry,’ applies not only to the weak who through eating might be led into idolatry but also to those with a strong conscience who in leading the weak into sin were guilty. Paul asks the Corinthians to use good sense and determine the truth of what he says.”[7]
v.16 “For Paul, participation in the Lord’s supper is the fundamental, even defining, community action of believers. Like no other activity, this fellowship epitomizes believers’ relation to Christ and to one another in pristine clarity. Cup and bread are the focal symbols. Koinonia (‘association,’ ‘partnership,’ ‘sharing,’ ‘fellowship,’) and related terminology (‘take part in,’ ‘have a share in’) lace this pericope and ground Paul’s basic supposition that participation and sharing in Christ and the resulting fellowship is exclusively defining. It sets limits and boundaries that exclude any and all other rival participations.”[8]
v.18 “As we have seen, when sacrifice was offered, part of the meat was given back to the worshipper to hold a feast. At such a feast it was always held that the god himself was a guest. More, it was often held that, after the meat had been sacrificed, the god himself was in it and that at the banquet he entered into the very bodies and spirits of those who ate. Just as an unbreakable bond was forged between two men if they ate each other’s bread and salt, so a sacrificial meal formed a real communion between the god and his worshipper. The person who sacrificed was in a real sense a sharer with the altar; he had a mystic communion with the god.”[9]
vv.20 “and I do not want you to be participants with demons There was a time when it was fashionable for biblical scholars and theologians—working in a cultural climate influenced by optimistic rationalism—to discount belief in ‘demons’ as antiquated superstition. By the end of the twentieth century [sic], however, anyone who does not believe in the power of evil afoot in the world is simply closing his or her eyes to the evidence of our times.”[10]
v.23-11:1 “The question of temple dining and eating food sacrificed to idols is now left aside as Paul addresses the matter of food of questionable origins—food that may have been sacrificed to idols before it comes into the hands of a believer. To answer the question of how a Christian can act with integrity in a world brimming with idols, he moves from an absolute prohibition based on general arguments about the dangers of associating with anything idolatrous to conditional liberty based on the biblical tenet that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (10:26; Psalms 24:1).”[11]
11:1 “The imitation of Christ is, therefore, focused on the cross. This is precisely what the Corinthians were failing to perceive in their quest to affirm personal freedoms for themselves. Paul seeks throughout this section to impress upon them that life in the church is life in fellowship with those weak ones for whom Christ died.”[12]
[1] Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, NIV Life Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995) 191.
[2] J. Paul Sampley, “First Corinthians”, New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol.X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 915.
[3] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for 1 Corinthians.
[4] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for 1 Corinthians.
[5] J. Paul Sampley, “First Corinthians”, New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol.X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 914.
[6] J. Paul Sampley, “First Corinthians”, New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol.X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 914.
[7] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for 1 Corinthians.
[8] J. Paul Sampley, “First Corinthians”, New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol.X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 917-918.
[9] William Barclay, Letters to the Corinthians, The Daily Study Bible Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975) 91.
[10] Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville,KY: John Knox Press, 1997) 172.
[11] Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, NIV Life Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995) 607.
[12] Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville,KY: John Knox Press, 1997) 181.