Food Identity

1 Corinthians 10:14–22 KJV 1900

14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. 18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? 20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. 22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

Introduction

Food…I love food.

I love all kinds of food.

Barbecue is great. You can tell a lot about a person based on the type of barbecue they eat. Carolina barbecue, and Texas barbecue, each tells a story.

Mexican food is fantastic. Tex Mex or authentic.

Chinese is also a favorite.

Seafood identities differ based on what region you’re in.

Cajun

Caribbean

Maine

Many times food is an expression of identity. Food can define us.

In other words, “you are what you eat.”

Tonight’s passage is all about whom we identify with.

In verse 14, Paul begins to wrap up his treatment of the issue regarding food offered to idols.

He’s got two final points to make.

We’ll look at one of them tonight.

We’ll cover the second one next week.

When it came to the issue of idolatry, Corinth had been taking the same approach that a lot of Christians take.

When it comes to socially acceptable sin, we try to get as close to it as possible without going too far.

Drinking alcohol is socially acceptable in our society.

Our society largely accepts pornography.

Taking God’s name in vain, smoking, and many other vices carry a minimal social stigma in the day that we live in.

For the Corinthians, idolatry was not only socially accepted but it was also expected.

Rather than getting as close to sin as possible without compromising oneself, Paul directs the Corinthians to flee idolatry.

The Christian’s goal should not be to see how close they can get to sin.

It ought to be that every Christian strives to stay as far away from sin as possible.

To show them that their participation in these feasts is not as “innocent” as they think, Paul gets deep with them.

The Corinthians presented themselves as being wise and knowledgeable.

They felt they could engage in these idol feasts without sinning.

Paul tells them that, since they think they’re so advanced, he will speak to them like wise men.

He directs their thoughts to the meaning of the Lord’s supper.

I said this last week, but it also applies to tonight’s passage.

Paul has a point in bringing these things up.

It is not to address the practice of observing the Lord’s Supper.

Instead, he uses the Lord’s Supper to argue against idolatry.

When it comes to the cup, we understand that the cup is symbolic of the blood of Jesus.

Likewise, we see the bread as being symbolic of the body of Christ.

With both of these elements, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they do so in communion with Jesus’ death when they partake of them.

Communion is translated from the Greek word koinonia.

Koinonia communicates the idea of partnership, participation, fellowship, and intimacy.

The Lord’s Supper is a picture of our unity with Christ and identification with His death.

In verse 17, Paul states, “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

We could get highly bogged down on this one verse trying to parse out the specifics of all that he is saying here.

As we already said, Paul makes this statement for this reason.

The reason for this statement is relatively easy to ascertain.

Verse 17 points out that those who partake in the Lord’s Supper symbolize communion with Christ and their unity with one another.

Though they are a varied bunch, when they partake of the one bread together, they demonstrate unity.

This statement is the key to Paul’s argument.

Christians express their communion through the meals they participate in, just like the Israelites did in verse 18.

Those that ate of the sacrifices had communion with the altar upon which the sacrifices were offered.

Israel demonstrated this in their faithful offerings and their idolatrous offerings.

The priests and Levites partook of the sacrifices to the Lord and thus had fellowship with the altar.

There were also times when Israel worshipped Baal, Ashtoreth, and other pagan gods.

The people who partook in those sacrifices aligned themselves with these false deities' altars.

The Christian symbolically participates in Jesus’ sacrifice by communing with His altar by observing the Lord’s Supper.

Whose altar were the Corinthians communing with by partaking in the sacrifices of the false gods of Corinth?

In verse 19, Paul asks them a question.

Does this line of thought legitimize the pagan altars of Corinth?

Is Paul concerned with the Corinthians aligning themselves with a legitimate deity besides God?

Or is he trying to say that food offered to idols is somehow transformed into something other than food?

Well, let me ask you this…

Does the Christian observance of the Lord’s supper add legitimacy to God’s deity?

Do we believe that the elements we partake of have any sort of spiritual nutrition that nourishes our spiritual being?

The answer is no.

If the Corinthians’ participation in the idol feasts doesn’t legitimize their deity…

and the food that they consume has no innate spiritual effect on them,

then what is the problem?

Paul closes by reminding them that this all boils to fellowship, communion, and identity.

Idolatry robs God of glory, service, and worship from His creation.

The gods of the Gentiles, though, are not real, so they cannot compete with the Lord.

There are, however, spiritual beings that seek to oppose the work and plan of God.

Idolatry is a tool of Satan that perverts man’s inherent desire to know God.

Paul says that when the Gentiles sacrifice on the altars of their false gods, they sacrifice to demons.

They are communing with Satan’s desire to withhold man’s worship from the one true God.

They fellowship, identify, and partner with Satan.

Paul ends verse 20 with what seems like an obvious statement.

I just really hope you guys will avoid fellowshipping with devils.

Can you imagine me saying that to y’all?

Based on everything he has covered, they ought to understand by now that partaking of the sacrifice unites one with the altar.

As believers, they could not be on both sides.

You either identify with the Lord.

Or, you identify with the demons.

You can’t do both.

A Christian that identifies with those forces that seek to rob God of His glory and worship better think twice.

Do you want to provoke the Lord into jealousy?

Sunday, you identify with him, and Monday, you identify with Diana?

How do you think God will respond to this?

How would you respond if your spouse pulled something like that?

One day they identify as your husband/wife, and the next day, you show up at their work, and they’re holding hands with their work spouse?

Are we stronger than He is?

I struggled to find the words to describe this and listen to the commentator's comments.

To give into idolatrous practices is to proclaim and enter into a war against God, and what madness must this be? Who can be so sottish and stupid as to think of succeeding?

Paul desires that the Corinthians avoid idolatry, in all its forms, as a practice that identifies the believer with God’s enemies.

Idolatry, in any form, identifies us as existing in opposition to our Creator and Savior.

We must be careful about what we allow our lives to be identified by.

Actions have consequences.

We teach that to our children.

How many times do we fail to embrace that truth for ourselves?

What we do shapes who we are.

We claim to be Christians, but what does God think of our lives?

Does what we portray at church mesh with how we live the rest of the week?

Or are we trying to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils?

Pastor, I would never drink the cup of devils…

Remember, Paul wants them to avoid idolatry in all its forms.

Anything that sets itself above God is an idol in your life.

Who are you more loyal to?

Your idols?

Your Savior?

Whom do you identify with?

The Corinthians were willing to identify with idols to live a comfortable life.

What are you willing to identify with tonight?