If Jesus was in the room…?

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

¹⁴ So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. ¹⁵ You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. ¹⁶ When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. ¹⁸ Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?

¹⁹ What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? ²⁰ No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate 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. ²² What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?

In the verses preceding this passage, the Apostle Paul is addressing Christians in Corinth about the nature of temptation. His message is -don’t be naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt from falling into sin just because you are now a Christian. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else.

He is warning them not to be flippant about getting involved in things like eating pagan feasts in temples of pagan worship.

The Corinthian Christians may have thought, “Since an idol is not real, it doesn’t matter what we eat, and it doesn’t matter where we eat it.” Paul answers by agreeing that an idol is in itself nothing, but explains that demons take advantage of people’s ignorant involvement in such things.

In our current day, we may not be tempted to eat in pagan temples, but perhaps a challenge for us is to consider where we might choose to walk a little too close to the edge of temptation. Do we take liberties in activities that we are involved with or with the things that we watch on online, knowing in our hearts that these things are not honouring to God’s Spirit in us?

One question I sometimes ask myself is “if Jesus was in the room with me right now would I still be doing/watching this thing?”. If the answer is no, then well, … I think I have my answer.

Holy Spirit, help us to always be sensitive to Your presence in the room. Let that awareness give us wisdom and keep us from walking close to the edge of temptation. May we honour You in every area of our lives as we live for Your glory.

Written by Shelley Witt