1 Corinthians 10:14-22 (Credit and Glory)

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? 

This section of Scripture refers to the Idol Feasts and Sacrifices that were common in Paul's day...multi-day celebrations to the pagan gods.  I'm quite sure none of us have ever seen one of these, let alone been tempted to whole-heartedly participate in one, so what's the big deal?  

The deal is who gets the credit.

When you do well at work, who gets the glory?  When your kids turn out well, who gets the glory?  When you have an ability or talent that is considered to be above the rest, who gets the glory?  When you learn lots of things and have increased in knowledge, who gets the glory?

In our culture, we celebrate ourselves and our own good doings when things happen.  We think that we are the ones who made everything fall into place.  The temptation is to take all the glory for ourselves...forgetting that it is God who blesses His people.  Look at these:
"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt. 7:11)." And tell them to "...put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1 Tim. 6:17).  Don't you see?  We know where the good things in life come from!  We serve a God who doesn't just discipline; He loves to bless us.  Let's not rob God of the glory that is solely His!  Yes, we must get off the couch and choose to go to work to make a living, but if work is going well, thank God!  Literally!


We must flee from the idol of glory.  

All the glory belongs to God.  That is what this section of Scripture is about.


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.  If you are a Christian, you and the rest of us are one with Christ.  We don't just merely say, "I follow Jesus."  It is so much more than that.  He works in and through us with much more power than any of these other gods of our lives ever could.  And He deserves all the glory.  He is the reason your deepest longings are answered, your kids succeed, your boss promotes you, and that this crazy day that you thought could never succeed was successful.


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?  In Old Testament days, when a Jew offered a sacrifice, he ate part of it as a way of restoring his unity with God, against whom he had sinned.  Christians do this when we take communion.  But, we also have multiple daily opportunities to unify ourselves with this world.

So, with what are we trying to unify ourselves -- Christ or satan and this world?  Do you see the difference -- are we leading two lives, following Christ and the world?  For we should only serve One.   Paul reminds that we should not offer sacrifices to demons -- our time, our money, our thoughts that help to advance the cause of Godlessness.  As verse 21 says, we cannot serve both God and the gods of this world.  Any sacrifices we make should be for God's Kingdom, not this current culture.  

Christ deserves our total allegiance.   And then He gets the glory, because He deserves the glory.  What makes us think that we are strong enough to do anything without Him?


May everything you do and everything you receive today remind you of Christ's presence and power in your life.  Point to Him in everything, because He always deserves ALL of the credit.