Tough Questions: Jesus and the City
[powerpress] Transforming Question: Are you allowing Jesus to make you a shaper of the city, or are the idols of the city shaping you?
Much like Chicago is to America today, during the first century, Corinth was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. It had a massive population for the time (100,000), many of whom were freedmen who were former slaves working their way up in the world. Corinth's patron deity was the Greek goddess Aphrodite (the Roman equivalent of Venus). She was the goddess of beauty, fertility, and sexual love, and was often described as the daughter of Zeus. There was a major sanctuary of Poseidon in the vicinity where people regularly sacrificed, as Poseidon was believed to control the fortunes of the port cities with their maritime trade.
It was in this city accustomed to pagan idolatry that Paul was seeing people become followers of Jesus. Because the Corinthians were susceptible to the idols that filled the city, Paul here continues to instruct the Corinthians, and us, how to live in the love of Christ in such an environment. To escape the trappings of the ruling influences within your culture, you must identify the idols that shape your city, reject both legalistic and licentious living, and determine to actively shape your city for Jesus.
The Idols that Shape Your City
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. (1 Corinthians 8:1-8 NIV)
In the Scripture, the term "gods" (Greek word: Theos) referred to not only deities, but earthly rulers and judges. An idol is in effect a false god; someone or something that rules your life in place of the one true God found in the person of Jesus Christ. An idol is that which you allow to ascribe ultimate value and worth to your life outside of the judgments of Jesus. Worship is how you serve these gods based on this.
What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31 NIV)
The first strain of potential idols can be seen as Paul transitions from his instruction on marriage and singleness. These matters are clearly the things which can most drive your daily experience, including your romantic relationships, your pains, the pursuit of pleasure, and your possessions that can fall into the ditch of either materialism or hobbies which shape your identity rather than Jesus.
The categories of idols extends to the carrots that are continually placed at the end of the stick in our culture to define success in our eyes.
It's the fame, having or being the hot girl or smokin' man, the life filled with popular friends and powerful people, the admiration of the masses, the fast and adrenaline filled life free from real responsibility, the confidence to be who you always thought you were, the adoration of strangers as you pass on the streets and the testosterone filled dominance in your workplace and career that are this generation's idols. Everyone wants to be "the most interesting man or woman in the world" (i.e. Dos Equis commercials).
"There are more idols in the world than there are realities." -Friedrich Nietzche, Twilight of the Idols
Idolatry brings you into the realm of distorted fantasy, where you begin to chase ideals that are both destructive and false. This matters because idolaters do not submit to the will of God. They will be judged and will not inherit Christ's Kingdom (Ephesians 5:5-7; Revelation 21:6-8). As the Creator, Jesus knows both what is most productive and fulfilling. He gives you value based solely on your possession of Him, the giver of righteousness, forgiveness, and the ability to serve others in His love. As a follower of Jesus, you are to reject idolatry, and live a life of purpose based on the things that He deems most significant.
Legalistic and Licentious Living
In the effort to reject idolatry, you can gravitate to the extremes of either legalistic or licentious living. Both of these must be rejected if you are to find rest in Jesus Christ.
The legalist is the one who hopes to obtain approval from God by his or her right behavior, a self-righteousness that has them see no need for the cross or grace of Jesus. This is that for which the Pharisees, rich in knowledge but poor in relationship with God, were guilty. It is this person who is the perfectionist, who finds it difficult to pray or remain in the community of Jesus if they have had a bad day, made a mistake, or feel in any way vulnerable. Jesus wants to free you of this.
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21 NIV)
The licentious person lives somewhat of a dual life, taking their "freedoms" in Jesus to the extreme, being concerned solely about their own pleasures and gratifications. Because they misunderstand the purpose of the grace of God, they are prone to live in two worlds, never really fully walking with Jesus in either. We must make a choice to have an undivided life. This is exemplified by the following quote:
In the following quote, you have this designation of characters:
The speaker: Screwtape, a devil The recipient: Wormwood, another devil The Enemy: God The patient: a Christian The friends: co-workers, associates, and friends the Christian meets in the world
"Sooner or later, however, the real nature of his new friends must become clear to him, and then your tactics must depend on the patient's intelligence. If he is a big enough fool, you can get him to realise the character of the friends only while they are absent; their presence can be made to sweep away all criticism. If this succeeds, he can be induced to live, as I have known many humans live, for quite long periods, two parallel lives; he will not only appear to be, but actually be, a different man in each of the circles he frequents. Failing this, there is a subtler and more entertaining method. He can be made to take a positive pleasure in the perception that the two sides of his life are inconsistent. This is done by exploiting his vanity. He can be taught to enjoy kneeling beside the grocer on Sunday just because he remembers that the grocer could not possibly understand the urbane and mocking world which he inhabited on Saturday evening; and contrariwise, to enjoy the bawdy and blasphemy over the coffee with these admirable friends all the more because he is aware of a 'deeper', 'spiritual' world within him which they cannot understand. You see the idea - the worldly friends touch him on one side and the grocer on the other, and he is the complete, balanced, complex man who sees round them all. Thus, while being permanently treacherous to at least two sets of people, he will feel, instead of shame, a continual undercurrent of self-satisfaction. Finally, if all else fails, you can persuade him, in defiance of conscience, to continue the new acquaintance on the ground that he is, in some unspecified way, doing these people 'good' by the mere fact of drinking their cocktails and laughing at their jokes, and that to cease to do so would be 'priggish', 'intolerant', and (of course) 'Puritanical'. -C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (Letter 10)
Shaping Your City for Jesus
The truth is that either you will allow Jesus to use you to help disciple the city, or the city and its flow will disciple you.
Being made in the image of God, you have a sense of conscience that allows and disallows certain activities before God alone. However, it goes beyond your personal faith. What you choose to participate in can help shape the city by emboldening or dissuading the worship of idols.
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. (1 Corinthians 8:9-13 NIV)
There are essentials to the Christian faith that are non-negotiable. These include things found in the historic creeds of the church, including the deity of Jesus, His incarnation through the virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles and good deeds, His death on the cross as a substitute for your sin and His bodily resurrection from the dead prior to His ascension. The Bible is not only a biography of Jesus and His people, but also a clear communication of things that are pleasing to Him and those that are not. For instance, drunkenness, sexual immorality, thievery, rape, murder, and slander are never to be condoned. Where the Bible does not clearly express God's commands about particular subject matters, there is flexibility and freedom for the Christian to make decisions based on their conscience.
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14:19-23 NIV)
When Paul refers to the weak conscience, he is referring to those who have a great sensitivity to a particular form of idolatry based on their histories, giftings, and callings. We all have certain strengths in God, and we all have certain weaknesses. The key is to be mindful of your own weaknesses to cut off those things that lead you into things that are clearly stated in the Bible as sin. Jesus said:
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, (Mark 9:42, 43, 45, 47 NIV)
The second thing to be mindful of is the company that you keep. If your friend, especially your Christian friend, is going to be emboldened to participate in a form of idolatry because of the expression of your freedom, you should also refrain from that activity in their presence. You need to have self-imposed limits out of love for your brothers and sisters. For example, if someone that is a part of your community group is a recovering alcoholic, or regularly crosses the line of holiness because of too many drinks, you don't need to go to a bar together to have a good time. This would only put them in a compromising situation and embolden them to return to the sin from which Jesus is delivering them.
Standards regarding smoking, piercings, tattoos, drinking alcohol, what type of music you listen to, and whether or not you can watch certain movies are all issues where Christians have diversity in regard to their convictions. The question is not whether or not things can be done, but what is beneficial for the individual and the community of which they are a part. Issues like fooling around as you date, being stingy with your resources rather than being generous for the cause of Jesus, and cussing can easily be settled when you look at Scriptures like the following:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:3, 4 NIV)
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Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:5-10 NIV)
The truth is that we need to have the values of "Christ, Community and Culture" always at the forefront of our minds. It is only as we do this, that we can forgo being shaped by the idols of our city, and, instead, allow Jesus to make us a shaper of it. We then become ambassadors of Jesus Christ. This motivation and the gospel was most clearly expressed when Paul wrote this, in his second letter to the Corinthian church:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NIV)
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 Corinthians 6:1-10 NIV)
Take-Home Truth
1) Join a community group to continue to build relationships mutually edifying in Jesus. 2) Make an appeal as to why life in Jesus is better than the idols of the age with a friend in need this week.
Second City Church: Tough Questions Sermon Series 2013