Idol Worship And The Lord’S Supper
IDOL WORSHIP AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
1 CORINTHIANS 10:14-22
We cannot say we belong to Christ and live as though we don’t.
Idol worship was another common feature of daily life in Corinth, and no Corinthian believers could close their eyes to what was going on all around them. This is the dilemma facing the church in pagan society: “On the one hand, they could not absolutely give up their family and friendly relations; the interests of the gospel did not allow them to do so. On the other hand, these relations were full of temptations … Among the most thorny points in this order of questions were invitations to take part in idolatrous banquets. Now various questions might be raised on this subject. And first of all, is it allowable for a Christian to be present at a feast offered in the temple of an idol? Some, in the name of Christian liberty, answered: “Yes! … All things are lawful for me” (6:12; 10:23). Others said: “No! For in such a region one subjects himself to the danger of malign and even diabolical influences” (Godet).
At an earlier place in the correspondence (8:4-13), Paul affirmed the truth of Christian liberty on the ground that idols are nonexistent and products of the human imagination (Romans 1:21-23 comes to a similar conclusion). Now, he presents another aspect of the case by asserting that behind the idol lurks a demonic influence (10:19-20), and it is this demonic power which is capable of contaminating, not food, but people. The terrible consequence is that Christians, by entering into liaison with the idolater at a temple feast, may open the door to demonic influence on their lives, and this would lead to a compromise in the believers’ discipleship as they have communion with Christ and his rival—a course which, in any case, is doomed to failure for the reason given in Matthew 6:24. (10:21: “cannot” here means that a consistency of profession is lost the moment the Corinthians acknowledge the claim of the demon on them.)
The Lord’s table is not a pious act in memory of a past figure of history. Christians worship no dead Christ, but discover, as they commemorate the Supper, that the elements of bread and wine mean they share in the presence of Christ (10:16), communicated to a living faith which receives Christ at his table. There is, moreover, a horizontal reference in the church’s fellowship meal (10:17), for in sharing in Christ’s body and blood, believers realize their focus of unity as his body in the world—and this vocation commits them to his sole lordship, unshared by rival gods.