Narcissism and Nobility

Meditations on 1Corinthians

No. 16a

No Such Thing as Casual Worship

1Cor 10.14-22

Intro.

As Paul nears the end of his argument on idol food, his words take on an increasing sense of urgency.  He begins with an urgent imperative, “Flee from idolatry” (1Cor 10.14), and ends with an urgent warning, “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?  Are we stronger than He?”  (1Cor 10.22.)  In between, Paul divides worship-related meals into opposing war camps — God’s versus the devil’s — and says, because you can’t be belong to both, you can’t partake of both (1Cor 10.16-21).  One might think Paul is being a bit extreme, but he speaks as though any reasonable Christian should agree with him: “I speak as to wise men; judge for yourself what I say.”  (1Cor 10.15.)

The interpretive key.

The key to understanding Paul here is hinted at in his reference to God’s jealous anger (1Cor 10.22).  Jealousy is something we associate with marriage, and indeed, God repeatedly calls idolatry adultery and harlotry (Eze 6.9; 23.37; Hos 1.2; 4.12; Mic 1.7).  From God’s perspective, there is no such thing as casual sex, and there is no such thing as casual worship.  So Paul says, “Flee immorality,” and, “Flee idolatry.”  (1Cor 6.18; 10.14.)  (Garland, p. 220.)  Indeed, when Paul addresses immorality in chapter 6, he speaks with the same sort of urgency and asks the same sort of pointed questions as he does when addressing idolatry in chapter 10 (1Cor 6.15-20).

Union-creating actions.

Comparing chapters 6 and 10, we see that Paul’s concern is not only that immorality and idolatry are wrong and harmful, but that they are especially wrong and especially harmful owing to the fact that they both involve personal unions (1Cor 6.16-17; 10.16-17, 20-21).  In chapter 6, Paul points out that sex creates a union — and it does so irrespective of the intentions of the participants (1Cor 6.16a).  God designed sex to do just that (1Cor 6.16b).  So sex with the wrong person creates a mess and causes harm in every direction.  And the mess and the harm are not limited to the human dimension; they extend also to the divine dimension, for we are “joined to the Lord” and are thus “one Spirit with Him” (1Cor 6.17).  It is not only our union with a spouse that is violated by union with a harlot; it is our union with the Lord that is violated as well.  That being so, he who is joined to a harlot sins against his own body no matter how swell a time he may think his body is having (1Cor 6.18).

Toxic waste.

With this in mind, we can see why Paul says to treat sexual immorality like toxic waste — flee! (1Cor 6.18a.)  The object is not to see how close you can get with no apparent ill effect.  The object is to get away and stay away.  One who approaches toxic waste arguing, “How can it be wrong when it feels so right?,” is one who has no clue what they are dealing with.  The same is true with idolatry.  (Garland, p. 474.)  Just as sex creates a union irrespective of the intentions of the participants, so does worship (1Cor 10.16-18, 20).  And an integral part of worship, going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, has been the sharing of special food (Gen 2.7-9; Exo 12.3-12; 24.9-11; 1Cor 10.3-4).

But idols aren’t real, are they?

Now this is where the Corinthians have been pushing back, arguing that unlike a harlot, an idol is not real, and therefore Paul ought to relax.  Paul confirms that idols are nothing (1Cor 10.19; 8.4).  What Paul means is that idols are not what they pretend to be — God.  (1Cor 8.4-6.)  But that is no defense to idolatry.  Of course idols aren’t really God; that is what makes them idols!  That is the whole point.  If idolatry were a criminal offense, the idol not being God would be one of the elements the prosecution would have to prove.  One cannot defend against idolatry by admitting one of its elements.  That’s like a man defending against adultery by arguing that the woman wasn’t his wife.  Precisely so, doofus!  Thanks for adding ignorance to insult and injury.

To be continued . . .