1 Corinthians 10:11-21
All these events happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us, who live at the time when this age is drawing to a close.
12If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin. 13 But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.
14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am about to say is true. 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the benefits of the blood of Christ? And when we break the loaf of bread, aren’t we sharing in the benefits of the body of Christ? 17And we all eat from one loaf, showing that we are one body. 18And think about the nation of Israel; all who eat the sacrifices are united by that act.
19What am I trying to say? Am I saying that the idols to whom the pagans bring sacrifices are real gods and that these sacrifices are of some value? 20No, not at all. What I am saying is that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want any of you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.
Idolatry is still a serious problem today, but it takes a different form. We don’t put our trust in statues of wood and stone but in paper money and plastic cards. Putting our trust in anything but God is idolatry. Our modern idols are those symbols of power, pleasure, or prestige that we so highly regard. When I understand contemporary parallels to idolatry, Paul’s words to “flee from the worship of idols” become much more meaningful.
Christians participate in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice at the Lord’s Table when they eat the bread and drink from the cup, symbolizing his body and blood.
As a follower of Christ I must give him my total allegiance. I cannot, as Paul explains, have a part in “the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.” Eating at the Lord’s Table means communing with Christ and identifying with his death. Drinking from the cup of demons means identifying with Satan by worshiping or promoting pagan (or evil) activities. Am I leading two lives, trying to follow both Christ and the crowd? No. The Bible says that I can’t do both at the same time.
My God, my Father, when I consider your greatness and your goodness, when my heart is bowed in adoration before the Holy One who inhabits eternity, my spirit sink as I remember that your thoughts have not been my thoughts and your ways. I have fallen far short of your glory. I have not been what I might have been; I have not done what I might have done. Have mercy on me, according to your loving-kindness in Christ Jesus, our Lord … In the Name. Amen.
Herbert Welch in Daily Prayer Companion
To share his victory I must share in his suffering. And this includes sharing in his temptations. Temptations can serve to strengthen me as they strengthened Jesus. I need to inquire of him how I might benefit in such circumstances.
Yield not to temptation, For yielding is sin. Each victory will help you Some other to win. Fight manfully onward; Dark passions subdue. Look ever to Jesus; He’ll carry you through.
Shun evil companions; Bad language distain. God’s name hold in rev’rence, Nor take it in vain. Be thoughtful and earnest, Kind-hearted and true. Look ever to Jesus; He’ll carry you through.
To him that o’er-cometh God giveth a crown. Thro’ faith we shall conquer, Thou often cast down. He who is our Savior Our strength will renew. Look ever to Jesus; He’ll carry you through.
Ask the Savior to help you, Comfort, strengthen, and keep you. He is willing to aid you; He will carry you through.
“Yield Not to Temptation” Horatio R. Palmer
We give thanks unto you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have this day so graciously protected us; and we beseech you to forgive us all our sins, and by your great mercy defend us from all the perils and dangers of this night.
Lutheran Service Book
Idolatry can take many forms. What are two “idols” I see that are “worshiped” by people around me? Money and the TV. When do I find myself attracted to these idols? I have been able to control money; but I struggle with TV to cut my boredom. How can I guard against them? Talk to God about sharing love and giving Him thanks and glory.
As for making judgment calls in grey areas, what principles have I found most helpful? Taking a moment to ask and listen for/to guidance whether this would be something God would want me to do.
We do not refuse to pray. We merely feel that our tongues are tied, our minds inert, our inner vision dim, when we are about to enter the door that leads to prayer. We do not refused to pray; we abstain from it. We ring the hollow bell of selfishness rather than absorb the stillness that surrounds the world, hovering over all the restlessness and fear of life – the secret stillness that precedes our birth and succeeds our death. Futile self-indulgence brings us out of tune with the gentle song of nature’s waiting, of mankind’s striving for salvation. Is not listening to the pulse of wonder worth silence and abstinence from self-assertion? Why do we not set apart an hour of living for devotion to God by surrendering to stillness? W e dwell on the edge of mystery and ignore it, wasting our souls, risking our stake in God. We constantly pour our inner light away from Him, setting up the thick screen of self between Him and us, adding more shadows to the darkness that already hovers between Him and our wayward reason. Accepting surmises as dogmas, and prejudices as solutions, we ridicule the evidence of life for what is more than life. Our mind has ceased to be sensitive to the wonder. Deprived of the power of devotion to what is more important than our individual fate, steeped in passionate anxiety to survive, we lose sight of what fate is, of what living is. Rushing through the ecstasies of ambition, we only awake when plunged into Dred or grief. In darkness, then, we grope for solace, for meaning, for prayer.
- From Man’s Quest for God by Abraham Joshua Herchel
In the stories of the Desert Fathers, those men who, for several hundred years after Anthony, emulated his life in the desert, there is one concerning Abbot John the Dwarf who prayed to the Lord that his passion be taken from him. His prayer was granted so that he became impassable. And in this condition he went to one of the elders and said: You see before you a man who is completely at rest and has no more temptations. The elder said: Go and pray to the Lord to command some struggle to be stirred up in you, for the soul is matured only in battles. And when temptations started up again he did not pray that the struggle be taken from him, but only said: Lord, give me strength to get through the fight.
- From A Way in the World by Earnest Boyer, Jr.
“You will find, if you think for a moment, that the people who influence you are people who believe in you. In an atmosphere of suspicion men shrivel up; but in that atmosphere they expand and find encouragement and educative fellowship. It is a wonderful thing that here and there in this hard uncharitable world there should still be left a few rare souls who think no evil. This is the great unworldliness. Love sees the bright side, puts the best construction on every action. What a delightful state of mind to live in! What a stimulus and benediction even to meet with it for a day! To be trusted is to be saved. And if we try to influence or elevate others, we shall soon see that success is in proportion to their belief of our belief in them. For the respect of another is the first restoration of the self-respect the man has lost; our ideal of what he is become to him the hope and pattern of what he may become.”
