seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 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? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 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. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
I read the commentary this morning. You might want to look at if too, if this all seems like "Greek" to you too.OK Paul's off of the cutting of the thingies again. He's back on dietary restrictions now.
When I was reading this... the church that met in the gay bar came to mind. I think others will agree that a gay bar could be called a pagan temple. If you've ever been to one [for whatever reason], you will know that most of the time the gay bar seems to be just like any straight bar in the land. People drinking and talking and watching sports are what most of us call normal. But, dim the lights, turn on the music, and the gay bar seems to change. No there are no orgies in the bar, I'm only referring to the odd dance partners.
During the day.... at the gay bar.... men working on the construction crew around the corner would come in for a sandwich and a cold one. During the day, you wouldn't know the bar would change when the lights went down and the music came on. It was just a little bar located kind of catacorner from the strip clubs. The sandwiches and beer in the strip club were a lot more expensive. So, the "gay bar" got a lot of straight business during the day. No one would have suspected it was a gay bar when the sun was up.
This is sort of the same thing that was going on in Corinth. People would go to the pagan temple because the meat was less expensive. The surroundings were probably quite elaborate, but a good lunch or dinner for not a lot of dinero was a good lure to be used. If the food was good, and the adult beverages were cold, and the prices were cheap.... the pagan temple might become a regular stopping place. And while you are there, you might make a friend, and that friend might cause you to return. And then normal changes. Eventually, the world in the pagan temple has nothing odd, because it has become normal.
I think that's what Paul is talking about. We don't step in mud puddles because we don't want our white shoes to turn brown. Once the shoes are stained with brown, well we find stepping in mud puddles to be fun.
Watch out for "normal" changes.
