“Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.”

Paul’s reasoning progresses along with everything being woven tightly together seamlessly. He writes like the best of novelists, whose characters may seem to weave in and out in sub-plots as the narrative moves to a unified whole. While the literary genre of Paul’s letter is not a narrative in the usual sense, it does reflect a story of the Corinthian church’s life and Paul’s commentary on it. He deals with many sub-issues, like divisions, arrogance, debates over what is lawful, immorality, and food offered to idols. The plot line progresses through with a logic that weaves together a larger narrative, culminating in the profound truth of Christ and Him crucified.

So the issue of food offered to idols intertwines with the subject of the Lord’s Supper, which intertwines with the self-centered abuse of Christian freedom in grace. And the subject of idol worship progresses from what is lawful to what is wise and godly. The Christian who wants everything written down in list form, black and white, will be immensely frustrated with Paul. That person will end up zeroing in on parts of Paul’s writings and ignoring other parts, missing the progression of thought and missing his point.

So, on the one hand, it is lawful for a Christian to eat food offered to idols, but on the other hand, doing so is not wise. Our attention is drawn to the symbolism of ancient Israel’s temple worship practices. An individual would bring something to sacrifice to God. In some cases, the priest would take a share for his own benefit, and in some cases, the individual offeror would receive some back for his own benefit. In their eating of the sacrificed food, they were sharers together with each other and with God.

Paul makes it clear that he is not contradicting himself by now saying that idols do exist and that food offered to them is somehow changed. The idols are just wood and metal. However, in essence, idol worship draws people away from God. Worship is the bowing down of the heart and soul to that which is the object of worship, and the ultimate object of pagan worship is Satan. Worship is the devil’s ultimate goal—he wanted it from Jesus (Matt. 4:9), and he wants it from us. Idol worship is one way Satan and his demons accept worship.

Lord, help me recognize things other than You that take priority over everything else in my life, for they can easily become Satan’s enjoyment of my worship.