American Idol
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Our daily testimony should be inline with our salvation. What we confess with our mouth should be daily lived out within our families, within the community, at the grocery store, at the courthouse, at the library.
Everywhere, we should be asking the question: what does it mean to live as a follower of Christ in this situation.
This is an important question, because sometimes, we might engage in activities that are not only anti-Christian, but idolatrous. They are worshiping another god. If that is the case, we should not just abstain for those activities, but we should flee from them.
In our passage, for this week and next week, Paul is coming back full circle to the meat question. In chapter 8, he is answering a question posed by the Corinthians about buying and eating food that has been sacrificed to idols.
Here in chapter 10, he talks about eating food at a temple or at a religious celebration.
Next week, he will talk about eating meat at a friend’s house.
He really gives a good well-rounded answer, studying the different facets of the question.
The point he keeps coming back to is the primacy of the Gospel and living a life in line with the Gospel. What are we willing to give up for the sake of the Gospel, so that our daily testimony will be in line with it.
Let’s read the text:
Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Paul says: We are to have fellowship with Christ, not demons.
You say: We don’t have to worry about that in America today. Well, before we unpack that, let’s pray.
We are to have fellowship with Christ
We are to have fellowship with Christ
Paul says that we are to have fellowship with Christ.
Which is a nice phrase. But, what in the world does it mean? Paul says:
I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
This is a description of the Lord’s supper. Communion. The Eucharist. Whatever term you want to put with it.
Paul rarely talks about communion, but in 1 Corinthians, he speaks of it twice, because of its important symbolism to the Christian.
In chapter 11, he is going to more fully express a theology of the Lord’s Supper. Here, he explains the symbolism to the Christian life. And he does it uniquely, because he reverses the order.
The first Sunday of every month I stand up here and read 1 Corinthians 11, and then two men help distribute the elements. We start with the bread and then we pass the juice. We do this because Jesus did it in this order. We could talk about the traditional order of the Passover feast, and how this lines with that, but we won’t.
In our passage today, Paul reverses the order. Every good Christian in the Corinthian church would be reading this and saying: “Paul, what are you doing? That’s not how we take communion.”
He reverses the order to highlight what fellowship with Christ means.
Participation in a pledge
Participation in a pledge
Everyone who is truly a follower of Christ has made a pledge to follow Christ. That’s the process of saving faith. We have voluntarily made the decision to trust Jesus as our Savior.
We are not believing in some deity. We are not trusting in our good works. We are not joining a social club. We are believing and receiving Jesus as our Savior.
If you have never made that decision for yourself, make it today. Jesus died that you might be saved and that you might have a personal relationship with the creator of the universe. You were created for that relationship and you will continue to feel lost until you come back into that relationship.
So today, confess your faith in Jesus Christ. Don’t let another day go by.
Once we place our faith in Jesus Chrsit, we follow him through believer’s baptism, declaring to the world that we are on Jesus’ team. This summer, we baptized four people. All confessed their faith in Jesus Christ. All wanting to show their faith through that act of baptism.
If you need to be baptized, let me know. That is the first step of obedience after salvation. Identifying with Christ.
Paul says: the cup of thanksgiving is a participation in the blood of Christ. Christ’s blood saves us. This is the pledge of belonging to him and following him. He is our God. He is our savior. There is no one else. We are on his team and we will never switch teams.
Participation in a lifestyle
Participation in a lifestyle
Once we have made a pledge to follow Jesus, we are called to a participation in the “actual physical lifestyle and stance toward life” that Jesus had.
There used to be a movement called WWJD. People had bracelets and bumper stickers with it on it. What would Jesus do? More people displayed WWJD than actually lived WWJD.
There were so many flaws with the movement and teaching around it. But the basis is true.
If we are to have fellowship with Christ, we are to join him in his life.
He loved everyone
He loved everyone
He spent time with those society did not like. He spent time with those that didn’t like him.
You might say, “well, he really called out the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. He wasn’t very loving toward them.” Well, but he still spent time with them. He still pursued a relationship with them. He never refused to have a meal with someone.
Loving someone means to give them worth as an image-bearer of God and to do right by them because of that.
He stood up for truth
He stood up for truth
Going back to that Pharisee situation. He always spoke truth. He was the perfect example of the verse:
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
He always spoke truth, but the truth that he shared was that people might know God better. If they were hypocrites, he shared with them who God was and who they were, so that they might get over themselves and seek God.
He showed how the religious understanding and the cultural lifestyle was not in keeping with godliness, so that people would turn to God.
He loved everyone. He stood for truth.
He gave himself completely so that others might know God.
He gave himself completely so that others might know God.
This ultimately means that he died for the world. The ultimate act of love.
But, this wasn’t just one instance. His whole life was about giving himself so that others might know God.
He left the glories of heaven, to come to earth. That’s sacrifice.
He was born in a stable, in poverty, so that a bunch of shepherds could know the savior.
He spent long days trudging dusty roads, to share truth and love in small out of the way towns.
He crossed a stormy Sea of Galilee. Other ships wouldn’t have done it. The sailors were afraid of dying, because of the strength of the storm. But, Jesus went through that to save one demon-possessed man.
Then, he ultimately died on the cross, the most miserable death imaginable, that we might know God.
We as followers of Christ are to identify with Christ in his death, as both the source of redemption and the pattern for life and lifestyle.
So many of us claim to be Christians, to have placed our faith in Jesus for the salvation of our souls, for an eternal relationship with the creator of the universe.
Do our lives show it? Do we love everyone? Do we stand for truth? Do we give ourselves completely so that others might know God.
We are to have fellowship with Christ.
Not with Demons
Not with Demons
This is where things get a bit dicey.
Paul writes:
Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
We have to define somethings so that we can build a bridge from the Corinthians’ context to ours.
What is idolatry
What is idolatry
When we think of idolatry, we think of an idol. If we are a student of Scripture, we might think of the idols of Baal or Ashterah, or Molech. If we are a student of history, we might think of the idols of the native Americans, or the idols of the Druids in Ireland, or the idols of Asia and their ancestor worship.
I remember visiting the home of a Vietnamese student in Dallas. She was a Christian, but was rooming with another Vietnamese who was not a Christian. I walked in, and there in a prominent place was a statue of Buddha, in a little shrine. It was just a statue to my friend and I, but to the roommate, it was something more.
When we think of idolatry, most of the time, we think of the worship of an image, made to represent a god.
The 10 commandments speak of this:
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Well, we in America don’t have images that we worship. So, if we think of idolatry just as the worship of an image, we might think that we are doing okay. Everyone pat yourself on the back because we live in an enlightened culture and don’t have to worry about idolatry.
Or do we?
I think of Col 3 5
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Greed is idolatry. Wait a minute? We are not talking about worshiping an image of a god. How can greed be idolatry?
With the image of the god, the problem isn’t the image. The statue of Buddha in my Vietnamese friend’s house was just a statue. The problem is when we exalt something as higher than or more important than God.
Idolatry is when we worship or give precedence to anything other than God.
Paul writes to the Colossians:
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
When we are greedy, we are giving precedence to something other than God. We are saying that we will be fulfilled if we only had that thing. When God is the one who can truly fulfill us.
Idolatry.
Addictions, whether to substances, or porn, or social media. Forms of idolatry.
Materialism. Idolatry.
Workaholism. Idolatry.
So many things can become idols. Politics. Policies. Voting systems. Can all become idols. Our kids. Safety. financial freedom. Education. Sports.
My wife shared something with me on Facebook: “There is 0.0296% chance that your child will become a professional athlete. There is a 100% chance that your child will stand before Jesus. Get them to church.” I loved it.
When we give precedence to something other than God, so that the thing is keeping us away from what God has called us to, such as church, or that we think this thing will supply what only God can supply, that is idolatry.
What is participating in idolatry
What is participating in idolatry
Paul wrote:
Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
Part of the worship of the Israelites was actually eating the meat sacrificed. The same was true for pagan practices. They did it for different reasons. But, the bottom line was those who ate participated in the worship. Those who participated in the worship participated with, or identified with, the god of the worship.
Next week, we will participate in the Lord’s supper. By doing that, we are participating with, or identifying with, Jesus Christ, our God.
Paul writes:
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
Certain Corinthians were going to pagan religious services and eating the pagan feasts. These Corinthians were saying: There is only one true God. These other so-called gods are nothing. Therefore, the religious feasts are nothing.
However, behind every false god, there is a demon. There is something trying to pull people away from the one true God.
Just as Satan was in the Garden of Eden, tempting Eve to turn from God and eat the fruit, so something is presenting us with money, drugs, alcohol, sex, cars, the perfect children, financial security, safety, and on and on the subject could go.
Did God really say? Well, if you just did this, or believed that, or looked away, or looked at, life would be perfect.
Paul says that we cannot be united with a demon and God.
What does it mean for us to participate in idolatry?
The Corinthians had it easy. It was blatant. The feast was at the temple, surrounded by all sorts of religious rituals. Everyone knew the worship of a false god was going on.
To participate, you just went to the feast.
Well, thinking about the gods of America, we could talk about national security, money or wealth, guns, cars, fame, collegiate and professional sports, social media, technology, sex.
What does it mean to participate in that idolatry?
It means that we spend more time in those things than we do in worship of God. It means that we find fulfillment in those things instead of finding fulfillment in God. It means that those things are our priority, instead of having fellowship with Christ.
What is not participating in idolatry
What is not participating in idolatry
Sometimes the easier question to answer is this.
I may not know what it means to worship an American idol, but I do know what it means to not worship an American idol.
I draw a line in the sand and say “my fellowship is with Christ.” And I flee that idolatry.
A week ago, we watched Chariots of Fire. Eric Liddell was strongly favored to win an Olympic gold medal in a certain race. However, that Olympic race was on a Sunday. And on Sunday, he went to church. He believed strongly in the importance of worshiping God on Sunday and not forsaking the meeting together of believers. So, he refused to run.
He ran a different race, a race that he should have lost. But, God blessed him for his integrity. If you haven’t seen the movie, let me know. You need to see it.
Eric Liddell refused to participate in the idolatry of sports. Yes, he ran. Yes, he loved sports. But his priority was his faith in Jesus Christ and his fellowship with Christ. Not sports. He fled that idolatry.
We need more families in America who will stand up and flee the idolatry of sports.
We need Americans who will stand up, through their words and their actions, to declare where there hope is, especially in a new election cycle. So many Christians are showing their idolatry through how they respond to elections and politics.
We need to stand and declare that our hope is not in voting policies, political candidates, or the ability to carry guns. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. Change in this nation will only come when the nation turns to Jesus. Anything else is a sham.
Paul says:
Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
Our lives need to show a fellowship with Christ, not with a demon.
Now pastor, that is kind of harsh. Football on Sundays is not demonic.
True. I appreciate what C.S. Lewis writes in the Screwtape Letters, a fictional correspondence between two demons:
“Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves…I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that ‘devils’ are predominately comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.”
The main demon says to his protege:
"... the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."
The decisions we make everyday are not demonic, per say. However, the decisions are, whether we will have fellowship with Christ or not. The alternative to having fellowship with Christ is that which is anti-Christ. By definition, that is the realm of the demons.
Unfortunately, there is no middle ground. Will we follow Jesus, or not?
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
We are to have fellowship with Christ, not demons.
How do we stop?
How do we stop?
If we have been participating in idol worship, how do we stop?
Paul says:
Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
Easier said than done, especially when you have a whole culture built around these idols.
Recognize the idol
Recognize the idol
The first step is to recognize the idol in one’s life. Change cannot happen if we don’t see the need for change.
As I said, this is hard, because we live in a society of idol worshipers.
The Corinthians lived in a society where the social gatherings were at these pagan festivals. If you were anyone worth knowing, you went to these festivals. It was a big deal to stay away.
The Corinthians were to recognize the idolatry and not take part in it.
Now, it is important to note that Paul never told the Corinthians to not have any part with their culture. They could still buy this meat from the meat market. They could still eat this meat at their neighbors house. They could still use pagan money, which had the images of the idols.
In the same way, we can still participate in sports, we can still pursue financial peace, we can still seek the safety of our families, we can still promote political candidates and policies.
We are to just make sure that we are not creating an idol. We need to make sure that everyone knows, through our actions and our priorities that we have fellowship with Christ.
Pursue a relationship with Jesus through prayer
Pursue a relationship with Jesus through prayer
Once we recognize the idol, we flee from it to the arms of Jesus. The only true cure for idolatry is passionately pursuing the one true God who died for us.
Just like the only true cure for infidelity is to passionately pursue our wife.
Tim Keller, on getting rid of idols in our lives, wrote:
“You also have to have a heck of a prayer life. That prayer life can't just be petitioning. There has to be encounter, experience, and genuine joy. You have to have Jesus Christ increasingly capture your affections.”
Remember, having an idol means you are giving precedence to something other than God. So to fix idolatry, we give that precedence back to God. We passionately pursue him as our lover.
One of the reasons I have a time of small group prayer during the service is to push us to be more comfortable praying, so that we can pursue a passionate relationship with Jesus. We have Wednesday prayer night, to give another opportunity for that.
If you see an idol in your life, take advantage of these opportunities. Pursue a vibrant relationship with Jesus, and see what can change.
We have fellowship with Christ. Not demons.