Paul’s letters are like so many conversations: they don’t always stick to the point in a linear fashion, but tend to ‘meander’ somewhat. He is writing 1 Corinthians to answer questions that have been raised, and from 1 Cor 8 has been talking about the question of what believers are free to do, especially regarding food sacrificed to idols. This has led him to consider also all the means at our disposal for reaching out to others and to reflect on the need to continue faithfully in God’s ways (unlike so many of the Israelites during the wilderness wanderings.) Now he returns to the theme of our behaviour in relation to food, underlining key principles that ‘everything may well be permissible’ (a favourite Corinthian saying, apparently – see 1 Cor 6:12, 1 Cor 10:23), but not everything is beneficial or constructive.
In 1 Cor 8, Paul has shown us that the meat sacrificed to idols can really have no power or authority over us, for God is far greater than idols. He reminds us, however, that a greater concern for him than what we eat is the issue of how we treat people. ‘Be careful that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling-block to the weak.’ (1 Cor 8:9) The Christian should not live as an island, selfishly thinking only of himself.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee. (John Donne)
This principle is reiterated in 1 Cor 10:14-11:1. ‘Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others,’ Paul says (1 Cor 10:24) ‘Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everybody in every day. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.’ (1 Cor 10:32-33)
This is Paul’s bottom line: ‘Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.’ (1 Cor 10:31) – a view expressed also in Col 3:17 (‘Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.’) God wants our whole-hearted devotion and service, hence Paul’s command to ‘flee from idolatry (1 Cor 10:14). Anything less is dishonouring to God and will provoke Him to jealousy (1 Cor 10:22). Our total allegiance is to be given to God first, and from this will come a desire to serve others, following Paul’s example as he follows the example of Christ. (1 Cor 11:1, Phil 2:1-11).