Lessons from Paul's Experience in Corinth

The early Church community in Corinth had lots and lots of questions and problems. Paul stayed in Corinth for several years and then he left to start other Churches. The First Letter to the Corinthians is written by Paul from Ephesus to address some of the myriad issues that the early disciples faced.

1 Corinthians 8.1-13 is a discussion of one of these issues. To set this problem in context, in the ancient world, both in Greek culture and in other cultures, you had a ritual for everything. Not only big events like the coming of age of a young person or a funeral, but for little things too. You literally couldn't do anything without having some sort of ritual. Most of these rituals involved the sacrifice or other use of food. In many religious acts, you couldn't eat the food after the ritual, or the ritual would be invalidated. So the food was sold to markets, which resold the food to customers.

Here is the problem for the early Church: was it idolatry to eat the food in the markets that had been used in sacrifice to idols? Did the eating of this food someone make the early disciples participants in these rituals, and thereby participants in idolatry?

Paul's answer is simple: eating such food is not a problem, because the idols are not real. There is only one God; the God of salvation who has created all things and redeemed us in Jesus. The other idols who are worshiped do not exist. They are just wood and metal objects and are figments of the adherent's imagination. You literally cannot worship the other gods of Greek culture because they do not exist. So go ahead and eat the food that had been sacrificed to idols if you want.

We don't literally worship metal and stone objects anymore, but we still have "idols" in our culture today that we spend lots of time preoccupied with. We don't worship status, materialism, power, and security, but these things have power over us, and we spend an inordinate amount of time focused upon these things. By analogy, Paul's advice for us is not to be preoccupied with these things because they have no power over us. They are illusions. Any time we spend focusing on these illusions is time wasted, because they are not real.

Paul makes another good point in 1 Corinthians 8.1-13. Although mature disciples will have no problem eating food in the marketplace that had been sacrificed to idols once they get the point that the idols are not real, Paul also advised the early disciples not to do anything that would disrupt the growth of other disciples who were not as mature in their faith yet. Many of the early disciples had grown up worshiping idols and participating in the rituals--although, as indicated above, this did not technically constitute idolatry, it was a waste of time and kept disciples from focusing upon what was most important. So Paul suggested to the early community that if eating food in the marketplace that had been sacrificed to idols continued to be a problem after his advice was read to the community, it was better for everyone to just stop eating such food.

Paul's advice about concern for other disciples is good. Sometimes in the Church we forget that we are a community, and in our discipleship, we need to be concerned not only for our own development, but the growth in grace of those who are in our community. We live in a culture that is all about the rights of the individual. We have forgotten that in the Church, we are called to be a community that is concerned for others, both inside and outside the walls of the Church. Discipleship is not an individual process, but a collective process. If the Church is engaging in a practice that might be detrimental to some, the Church should take this into consideration in how it goes about being the Church.

A Revolution in Galilee

In ancient Israel, only the chief priest could utter the name of God, and the chief priest could only utter the name of God on one day. And on that one day the one person who could utter the name of God could only use the name of God using the respectful and appropriate designation, "Jehovah."

Jesus, a Jewish Mediterranean peasant uttered God's name frequently while teaching in the hills of Galilee. Jesus spoke the name of God frequently--more importantly, rather than using the conventional and formal "Jehovah," Jesus referred to God using the term "Abba." The word "Abba" is the rough equivalent of "Daddy."

Jesus began a revolution in the hills of Galilee. The revolution was all about how we perceive ourselves and perceive those around us. We are all the adopted daughters and sons of the God of eternal power and glory. So naturally, we can call God "Abba." God is not some distant and estranged from us. God has come near to us and has offered to enter into a familial relationship with us. That means that we are all of infinite worth, and we should perceive ourselves and others as persons of infinite worth.

The churches that Paul founded brought this message into the Greek and Roman world. Like Israelite culture, the value that Greek and Roman cultures gave to people was a function of their family heritage. Those born of royalty were given a high status. Those born of servants were given a low status. Children of royalty were considered to be of infinite worth. Children of those born to servants were considered to be of little value.

Jesus' message that Paul proclaimed disrupted this cultural system. As the early Christians reasoned, correctly, if we are all adopted children of God, then we should all be considered to be of infinite worth; not just those who were born into royalty. That means, that there is no longer male or female, Jew or Greek, free or servant. As you might expect, Jesus' message threatened to disrupt the entire social order in the Greek and Roman world.

Jesus' message remains revolutionary. We are all God's children. That means that when we see anyone in this world, we must see them for who God has revealed them to be; his daughters and sons. And we must treat them that way. If taken seriously, Jesus' message can turn our world upside down, for the better.