Distractions - 1 Corinthians 10:14-33

The insights that I had into the concept of “temptation” last week were really helpful to me as I thought about it over the weekend. One thought that I had was that one of the reason that Jesus was able to overcome all his temptations and why he is able to overcome ours is because he is secure in his spirituality. Temptation appeals to us in the places that we are spiritually weak, and as we work to strengthen those areas, the temptations fade away as enticements.

One particular temptation that Paul knew the Corinthians dealt with, and one that I deal with as well, is addresses in his statement, “flee from idolatry.” The two definitions that I can come up with are worshipping idols, which is more subtle today than it probably was previously, and laziness. I think in this sense, as it is used here, what Paul means is “flee from distraction.” A few verses down from here Paul says, “whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

The article from gospeldoctrine.com quotes President Howard W. Hunter as commenting about Paul’s teaching here, “If such little things as eating and drinking are to be done to the glory of God, how much more important it must be that all of our thoughts, the words we speak, or acts, conduct, dealings with neighbors, business transactions, and all of our everyday affairs, be in harmony with our religious beliefs. In the words of Paul, ‘whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.’ Can we therefore eliminate religion from our week-day affairs and relegate it to the Sabbath day only? Surely not, if we follow Paul’s admonition.”

If we are to do all things with the intention to bring glory to God, then distraction from that goal is going to be a big deal and detrimental to our progress. Paul references the sacrament as “communion” and notes that all saints partake of it even though they have different backgrounds and languages and customs and cultures. He says, “for we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” The IM says, “In the culture of the ancient Near East, dining together at the same table was an expression of unity, peace, and friendship. If there had been problems or disagreements among individuals before they sat down to eat, these were resolves, and all parties were reconciled… Therefore, when members partake of ‘one bread’ (load) during the ordinance of the sacrament, they affirm oneness or unity not only with Christ but also with one another.”

We are not to be distracted by the differences between us and the other believers, but instead remember that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not to be distracted by negative emotions, we are to let go of those feelings of negativity, give them to God and more forward. That is a pretty flippant way to say that because I’m a firm believer that everyone is allowed to feel their feelings without constant guilt that “someone has it worse” or “it wasn’t really that bad.” I don’t think that people can work through negative emotions unless they are allowed to feel the full weight of them. But unless we are working through our feelings, it is not healthy to wallow in them, and believe me, I know wallowing, I’ve done it most of my life.”

Verse 23 sounds like Paul is saying that everything is ok to do, but the JST is pretty important here. The JST says, “All things are not lawful for me, for all things are not expedient; all things are not lawful, for all things edify not.” This can go back to the concept of distraction, things that aren’t good for us, or don’t edify us, or uplift us, or make us better people, these things are not for us. And it’s hard to always know what that is, but is goes back to the issue of distraction. We have to ask ourselves, “is this making me a better person?” or “is this bringing me closer to God?” 

Circling back around, Paul goes back to the topic of eating food that had been sacrificed to idols. It’s kind of difficult to know exactly what he is saying here, but from what I can deduce, it seems like he is teaching the Corinthians that there is a fine line between keeping the letter of the law and the spirit of the law, but to also “give none offence, neither to the Jews, not to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God.”

I think that Paul is telling the people not to participate in religious rituals that aren’t from the Church, meaning not only pagan ceremonies but also Jewish ones that focus on the law of Moses that are outdated. While I was on vacation, we went to a bee sanctuary that was really awesome and they had a lot of ancient Mayan statues around and I thought it was great to learn about this culture and religion. But while they were walking us around the grounds, we stopped at a shack and they started doing a Mayan prayer ritual blowing incense on us and chanting and stuff and having us say words as part of it. .

Who knows if it was legit at all, but I was pretty uncomfortable. I don’t know how I feel about my being uncomfortable with it, I don’t know if it was snotty of me, and I know that there is no power in it, but like Paul says, “that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellow-ship with devils.” I think that maybe I was uncomfortable because this was not something of God, and wasn’t conducive to the Spirit. This was spring on us so suddenly and was so brief that it would have caused a scene to get out of, and if it was really something that the people believed in that kept the bees, then it would be their right to request that we participate before going on.

I guess it would be similar to wearing a sarong before entering a Hindu temple in Bali, which I did out of respect. But I think that if I lived in a place that had a non-Christian predominant religion, would I go to the ceremonies? Is it any different than kneeling a million times during a Catholic mass? Or facing Mecca and praying on a rug in a mosque? It is truly a fine line between being respectful and participating to an extent that damages your spirit and/or reputation as a member of Christ’s church.