“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?”

Were some Corinthian Christians secretly (or openly) involved in idol worship or pagan religious ceremonies? The tone and address of the subject certainly seems to imply that to be the case. One can easily imagine some keeping one foot in the Christian world and one in the pagan. History is full of evidence of Christian syncretism, where pagan practices infiltrated the Christian community and way of life. For example, the worship of Dianna, mother goddess in Ephesus, was the context that bred the belief that the earthly mother of Jesus had become the divine mother of God (as opposed to simply being the physical mother of the humanity of Jesus). The term “Pontifex Maximus” in the Roman church echoes the imperial magisterium of the ancient Roman Empire, where even Julius Caesar (and eventually the Roman emperors) held the title as titular head of all pagan religions of the realm.

Some cultural accretion may be benign, like the Christmas tree or the word “Easter,” but others are unacceptable. Taking part in false religious ceremonies, particularly a ceremonial meal in honor of a false god, is completely, fundamentally wrong for believers of Jesus Christ. The reason is threefold.

First, dedicated worship will not allow for two objects of worship. By nature, worship is a singular movement of the soul and spirit toward another, with intimate connection with the object of worship. One cannot be completely devoted to two separate entities. In the Corinthian case, engaging in pagan ceremonial meals was symbolic in Paul’s eyes of demon worship. That the Corinthians could not see that speaks poorly of their spiritual understanding. To engage in the practice is to engage in the worship. Paul admits to no innocent “going through the motions”—the activity itself is provocative.

That brings us to the second point, God’s jealousy. Imagine a man trying to explain to his wife that his spending off-hours time with his secretary, buying her perfume, and taking her to dinner is simply “going through the motions” to build up employee loyalty. It will not fly with his wife. Participating in pagan rituals will not fly with the Lord! He will not tolerate divided affections.

Finally, we cannot overcome God’s jealousy or minimize it in any way. He desires our exclusive worship. And His love for us would not be very significant if He were not jealous or could easily be assuaged.

Lord, I devote my heart, mind, soul, and spirit to You only. Show me those areas where my loyalty to You is divided with other things.