Sometimes we want to pick and choose the parts of Christianity we like. Take the subject we’ve been talking about this week. There are some rights that are easier to give up than others. It can be tempting to keep some things under our control while being selfless only in specific areas of our lives.
But as we’ve already discussed in this series, following Jesus is an all-or-nothing gig. Paul wants the Corinthians to know that they can’t be both selfish and selfless at the same time. It’s not possible.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:14–22.
14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15 You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. 18 Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?
19 What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? 20 No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. 22 What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
1 Corinthians 10:14–22
When Paul talks about the cup of blessing and breaking bread, he’s referencing the Lord’s Supper. When we partake in the Lord’s Supper—a re-creation of Jesus’s final meal before he went to the cross—we remember his blood and broken body. We remember his sacrifice.
Paul says by taking the Lord’s Supper, we participate in Jesus’s sacrifice. In other words, the meal we take should reflect the kind of life we’re living. We too should live sacrificially, just as Jesus did for us. Paul goes on to say that any type of worship that’s not aimed at God is demonic. It’s the complete opposite of the others-centered, selfless way of Jesus—it’s selfish, indulgent, and wicked.
Re-read the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:21. The cup and table of the Lord represent the sacrificial life of Jesus and the cup and table of demons points to the exact opposite. Paul’s saying the two don’t go together.
If you look at your life, which “table” are you sitting at? Or are you trying to sit at both?
We can’t have our cake and eat it too.
Take a few minutes to journal about the selfish and selfless ways of living Paul presents in this passage.
What would it look like for you to be fully committed to being sacrificial, to giving up your rights?
As we’ve said before, following Jesus means you give him your whole life. Is that something you’re willing to give up?
What’s one right you could turn over to God for the sake of another Christian today?
Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and/or share it as a comment below
I think I’m a bit confused like lucky. But if I were to give up a right for someone to receive salvation it would be my hobbies. Especially something like videos games I would give that up so someone could follow the Lord
I think my right of way is something I can turn over to God for the sake of another, whether Christian or not. When I drive I tend to be possessive of my lane as I feel that letting someone in would hinder me from getting to my destination on time. Or if I see someone cutting in or driving aggressively, I feel even more so as I wouldn’t want to give that person the satisfaction of driving like that. However, fighting fire with fire doesn’t help the situation and losing a couple seconds by letting someone go before me wouldn’t actually hinder me, so I feel that I should learn to be more neighborly with my driving since, I feel, it would improve my mood and my mindset.