Fleeing From the Worship of Idols?
thinking about chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians
“Therefore, my beloved, flee from the worship of idols…You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons…[do not partake] out of consideration for the one who informed you [of the idolatry involved] and for the sake of conscience-I mean the other’s conscience, not your own…So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage but that of many, so that they may be saved...” — from 1 Corinthians 10
What does for the glory of G-d mean? The glory of G-d is your neighbour made a full participant in Christ. What does saved mean? It means a free from the grips of harm, ie of idolatrous things. It means awareness of the ripple effect that our behaviours and choices have on others around us. What’s an idol? It’s something that misrepresents G-d. What does idolatry look like? It looks like something that takes the place of G-d, that governs your life and drives your behaviour. It looks like something that rules you to such a degree that you willingly harm others and yourself to honour it.
In the passage above Paul speaks from a communal perspective. Throughout 1 Corinthians Paul speaks of the body of Christ. Meaning what one part of the body does affects other parts of the body. We can only understand glory and salvation in a communal context, we can only do for the glory of G-d when we think of our fellow humans, when we think of our neighbour as we think of ourselves. The path to salvation cuts through living a life in the glory of G-d, that means living by the Golden Rule and the Torah on One Foot. Because we belong to the body of Christ what we do, the choices we choose, the actions we take affect others—who also belong to the body of Christ. You can’t eat the greasy burger without affecting your gall bladder. That’s the nature of the way the body works. Imagine living a Christian life like thinking about the fact that eating the greasy spoon meal will tax your gall bladder, which aids in the digestion of greasy + fatty foods.
What does this passage from the Pauline Epistles mean, practically? How can we apply this in our daily living? Well, it means that we should think carefully before we consume the rage baiting, fear mongering, ideologically skewed half truths masquerading as opinion or even news. We should think carefully about this, because of how this stuff detrimentally affects others, because of how it becomes a weapon or a cudgel used against others. It’s one thing to consider the way the rage and fear machine called social media affects us, darkens our heart. It’s another thing to consider that contributing to the rage and fear machine of social media helps to boost that machine, and becomes equivalent to loading rockets into the bazooka launching tube and then watching someone else fire it into a crowd.