 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Tune
in to Grace Radio 24 hours a day!
1 Corinthians 8 Idolatry
Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3)
The next question in the Corinthianﾕs list was what to
do about idolatry. This was a sticky question because idolatry touched
so many things in that culture. In Japan as well, idolatry is everywhere.
My wifeﾕs family all practice Buddhism and Shinto which means that when
we go and visit grandma there is a cabinet in which there are pictures
of grandfather with a shelf for offering food and drink and incense.
In their homes there are god-shelves where similar offerings are made.
When their homes were built they had a dedication ceremony to ward off
evil spirits. The cars they drive were blessed at the local shrine and
have charms placed on them to protect them from accident. How should
I live in a society full of idolatry? Should I attempt to purify my
life by avoiding any contact with it at all? Should I refuse to enter
their houses or ride in their cars? Should we never visit grandmother?
Or should I become even more militant and go around smashing the idols
to the ground? Or should I take the stance that since these idols are
not real gods none of these things matter at all and I can safely ignore
them? The Corinthians were divided on this issue just as they were divided
on so many other issues. Some thought that anything having to do with
idolatry was sin and tried their best to separate themselves from it.
Others thought themselves better because they knew that idols were only
wood and stone and meant nothing and so they felt perfectly free to
ignore them.
Paul says, "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies." The word
"edify" means "to build up." So knowledge puffs
up but loves builds up. My culture as an American is very knowledge
centered. We want to know the right answer. We want to know the truth.
We want to be right! But there are more important things than being
right. Paul here it seems, agreed with those who said that the idols
were nothing. I have to agree here in Japan that I cannot separate myself
from everything tainted with idolatry without isolating myself from
those around me. My usual stance is to go ahead and ride in the car,
sleep in their house, visit grandma but not to participate in any idol
worship. I think that this is the right course of action. Listen to
what Paul said,
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (1Cor. 8:4-6)
There is only one God, the Father of whom everything was made and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. The other thousands of gods in this world are not real at all. In Japan, everything that is awe-inspiring is regarded as a "kami" or god. This applied to things of great beauty in nature, powerful forces of the earth, people with special abilities or fame and more intangible ideas such as wealth or war or good fortune. The number of these gods actually keeps increasing because exceptional people are added to their ranks. As I hike through the forests of Japan I never seem to see a beautiful spot without finding a little shrine tucked away somewhere nearby. The ancients recognized something of the divine in those places and built the shrines to worship the god that was there.
However, the Bible teaches us here that all things are of the Father. Every one of these places that inspire awe were created by the one Father God to draw our attention to worship Him. But instead we ended up worshipping the creation. The talent and ability that we admire in the old heroes and even the stars of today was given to them by God. They are not gods of themselves. In the worst cases, men also built temples to those things which were not meant by God to draw men into worship of Himself. Because we did not know what to worship we built temples to war, to ambition and greed and lust. Anything that seemed powerful was deemed worthy of worship. Jesus came to show us the way to worship God in Spirit and in truth. Jesus showed us by His life and His death on the cross that it is the Father, the God who created us and loved us so much that He sent us His Son, that is truly worthy to be worshiped. Because of Jesus we no longer have to be confused about which god to worship or which god to fear. Instead we can have a personal relationship with the only god who really matters. As a Christian I donﾕt have to be afraid of evil spirits, of bad luck, of curses or karma or angry ancestors. I am free from those things because I know that God is in control and that He is the only one who is worthy of my worship.
However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idolﾕs temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (1 Corinthians 8:7-13)
Now here is where love and knowledge can have a head on collision. There are some Christians who take each idol as being the representation of a demon and each shrine as being a spiritual curse and fortress on that neighbourhood. It would be very difficult for these Christians to spend the night in a temple or even in a house that had a god-shelf. There are some Christians who because they used to be idol worshipers themselves find it very difficult to be around idolatry. Knowledge would tell me that because I am worshipping God and because He is in control there is nothing to fear, but love forces me to behave a different way. For the sake of my brother, I have to forget about being right and give up my rights.
In Paulﾕs case the issue was about meat. At that time meat was offered to idols first and then sold in the market. Some Christians found it very difficult to eat what could have been offered to idols first. In fact the meat was used at some temples as part of the worship, where the people would sit down to a drunken feast. Now even though his reasoning told him that he could be so bold as to walk into the middle of the drunken feast and sit down and chow down on BBQ steak, get up and walk out again and be completely without sin, without worshipping any false god and without defiling himself, love told him something different. If another brother who did not have his knowledge saw him doing that and decided that since brother Paul could eat beef at the temple why canﾕt I, that would be a shame because it could be that brotherﾕs first step back towards a life of idolatry.
Love is more important than knowledge. I can sacrifice knowledge for the sake of love. I can give up my rights and forget about being right, so that another person can grow in the Lord. The crazy thing about this is even though I give up my rights I am not really losing anything. Actually I grow as a person. They grow as well and who knows some day they might be ready to accept what you know to be true even though they canﾕt deal with it now. It is possible to know everything there is to know about the Bible and still be full of hot air. It is possible to be so puffed up that you cannot come down to the level of the real people around you who so desperately need to be loved and nurtured in a real relationship with God. Knowledge is great, little by little, at the right time, as people are ready to accept it. But love is good all the time. We need to take this attitude with those outside the faith as well. There is a time and a place for convincing people of the gospel, arguing the facts and breaking down false doctrines. But what people need most is love that builds them up and points them to the love of the Father.
Copyright 2000 Jonathan Wilson
All Rights Reserved
| I have a question... | I want to receive Jesus Christ! | I want to confess sin... |
| I need prayer... | I want to come to church... | I want to pray for Tokyo Horizon Chapel |
| I have a question... | I want to receive Jesus Christ! | I want to confess sin... |
| I need prayer... | I want to come to church... | I want to be a prayer partner! |