2 Corinthians 6::14-7:4 Idols ancient and new

How weird should Christians be? Really weird or just a bit weird? Or not weird at all?

Should following Jesus make us stand out?

In a nation where chopping down tall poppies is a national sport, standing out isn’t much fun. Being different is difficult.

Yet it seems that Jesus expected that following him would cause some friction in our relationship with the world around us.
In John 15, talking to his disciples Jesus says this:

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)

It seems that Jesus expects that there will be a distinctiveness in following Him and that his followers might even be hated.  

Followers of Jesus are called to be distinctive, a bit weird and to be what the Bible calls “holy.”

Holiness is a word often misunderstood.

We often use it negatively in popular culture. We incorporate it into elaborate swear words and we refer to people being “holier than thou.” Someone who fits this description is usually considered to be judgemental or cranky or thinks they are better than others.

Yet holiness in biblical terms is positive, and Christians are called to be holy.[1]

To be holy, is simply put to be “set-apart.”

Christians are called to be holy in that they are called to be distinctive, to be set apart in love of God and love of neighbour.

Today we continue our series in 2 Corinthians, and we dive in halfway through chapter 6 (invite people to turn to Bibles).

In chapter 5 and the first half of chapter 6 we have heard Paul talking about Jesus and his death on the cross and what that means for us.

Now Paul talks about how the Corinthians might respond in their day to day living. Paul talks about the implications of what it means for them to worship and to follow Jesus. He talks about what it means to be holy.

So, let’s dive in and explore this topic together…

(14)  Today’s passage begins with this directive from Paul to the church -“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.”

The language Paul uses is farming talk. Animals would sometime be harnessed together in a yoke to work the land. There were rules in the Old Testament Law about all kinds of things and one of them was about this. In Deuteronomy 22:10 we hear this: “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.”

Seems random to us, but there were practical reasons as well as religious reasons for the Jewish people as to why this wouldn’t work.

Paul borrows this metaphor to talk about followers of Jesus and those who don’t follow, or believers and unbelievers.

Being yoked together makes it super difficult to go in different directions. As you might imagine, its pretty much impossible. So, what can happen is a kind of compromise or one party winning out over the other. 

So, who can be yoked with who then? What is this all about?

Paul sets up 5 rhetorical questions to elaborate further…

5 rhetorical questions:

1) “What partnership have righteousness with lawlessness?” (v. 14b)

2)“What fellowship has light with darkness?” (v. 14c)

3) “What accord has Christ with Belial?” (v. 15a)

4)“What portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” (v. 15b)

5)“What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” (v. 16a)

These 5 questions all make clear distinctions - Righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, Christ, and Belial (or Satan), the worship of God and the worship of idols, believers, and unbelievers.

Paul makes either or distinctions here.

In our society today we are accustomed to inclusivity and a hesitancy to make big claims about the truth. Yet Paul is happy to make either or distinctions here. His claim is that Christianity is exclusive.

But his claims are all grounded in the fact that the key factor is Jesus.

Jesus is the person at the heart of the Christian faith. To reject him is to reject Christianity, to embrace him is to embrace Christianity.

Faith in Jesus stands at the heart of Paul’s vision, because as he just laid out in chapter 5 – Jesus is the one through whom we can be made righteous before, that is, put in right relationship with God.

What Jesus has done makes all the difference in the world.

So, here what Paul is doing is insisting that the Corinthians remain faithful to Jesus alone.

Why would he make such a deal of this?

Here is where some context will help us out…

Corinth is a city full of temples.

There were so many gods that you could worship.

Excavations of the cities ancient site have shown evidence that there were dozens of temples in Corinth. They were dedicated to a whole host of different gods.[2]

A few examples…

The temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility was situated on the mountain overlooking the city. There were temple prostitutes that people would come to visit here.

The temple of Asklepios was a favourite for pilgrims who were unwell and looking for healing. Asklepios was the god of health, and what we might today call “well-being.” There were places dedicated to rest and recreation in his name – baths, tree-lined gardens, and gymnasia – kind of like modern spas or health resorts.[3]

Then there was the temple of Apollo, who was the god of prophecy. People would go there to ask questions about their fate.

These are just a few examples of the religious diversity of Corinth.

So, Paul is writing to the Corinthians in this setting, in the mix of all of these options to worship and he is cautioning them. He is concerned that they will get caught up and swept up in all of this.

Many of the Christians at Corinth would have previously been worshipers of these various gods. And it seems some of them had kept engaging in this worship in different ways.

It was part of the cultural fabric of the world they lived in. At meals people would commonly offer toasts to the gods or engage in worship of the gods in some kind of way.

This was tricky territory for many newly converted Christians who were taught that there was only one God – revealed supremely to them in Jesus.

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul wrestles with the question of whether or not the Corinthian Christians should eat meat that had been offered to idols.

It was clear that getting caught up in the worship of a variety of gods was a daily hazard for the Corinthian Christians.

As we mull on this, it’s easy for us to write all of these parts of the Bible off as strange and distant. Meat sacrificed to idols? Not likely at your average kiwi BBQ.

Idols? It’s uncommon to see people offering worship in temples full of idols.

Yet is the hazard of idolatry any less?

It depends how we define idolatry.

I find the way that the Pastor and writer Tim Keller defines idolatry helpful. He says: “What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you only what god can give.” (Counterfeit Gods)

Anything that is more important to us than God.

It could be a career, it could be a relationship, it could be money, or our desire for recognition. There are a million different things that we might decide to worship and dedicate our life to instead of Jesus.

Yet Paul warns the Corinthians because he knows that it just won’t work out.

Our idols will always let us down. They are impermanent and fickle. Worshiping an idol is kind of like drinking saltwater when you are really parched. It seems kind of like the real thing, it looks the same, yet it makes you thirstier, it leaves you de-hydrated and eventually if you drink enough it will drive you crazy.

Paul continues his argument in chapter 6 as to why the Corinthians should steer clear from idol worship.

He says, “For we are the temple of the living God.”

This is a huge claim!

The Corinthians would be familiar with temples they walk into to worship various gods, but what Paul is claiming is that the people are the temple of the living God.

Paul quotes different parts of the Old Testament to make his point…

  “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

 17  Therefore go out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

  and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you,

 18  and I will be a father to you,

and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

  says the Lord Almighty.”

This is a mish mash of quotes from Leviticus and Ezekiel.

What we see is they refer to promises that God will dwell with his people, and that God will be a Father to his people.

They refer to the promise of God’s presence.

At the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the people, filling them up. God came to dwell with the people. Ever since, those who follow Jesus are God’s temple. God doesn’t dwell in a temple made by human hands but rather in the hearts and in the lives of his people.

Because of this, those in whom God makes his home are called to be set apart, to be holy and to worship God alone.

This isn’t because followers of Jesus are special are more worthy than anyone else. It is because the one who dwells in them is Holy.

Not only this, it is also so that others may see the distinctive love of God working in and through the lives of those who believe so that they too may be drawn to God’s love in Jesus.

John Stott talking about God’s calling of a people said this:

“By choosing and blessing one family, he intended to bless all the families of the earth. So psalmists and prophets foretold the day when God’s Messiah would inherit the nations, the Lord’s servant would be their light, all nations would ‘flow’ to the Lord’s house, and God would pour out his Spirit on all humankind.”[4]

What we see going on in the Bible is that God’s people are called to be separate spiritually, not spatially. They are not called to shun others or to have nothing to do with those who have different religious beliefs and practices. They are called to live alongside and at the same time remain faithful to God and to God alone. This is what it means to be holy.

If you are a follower of Jesus, then Paul’s words today are a reminder to be faithful to Jesus and Him alone. Paul cautions us to keep an eye out for idols that get in the way. We are reminded to live distinctively as we worship Jesus. Paul’s words are an encouragement to do this even if it may cost us. The promise is that God’s presence will dwell in us bringing great comfort and joy.

If you are not a follower of Jesus, then Paul’s words today are an invitation for you to think about what it is that you worship. What is the number one priority in your life? Is it fulfilling? Or do you yearn for something more, something deeper that feels like its just out of touch.

I believe that in each of us there is a deep longing for God. Our hearts truest and most genuine desires for love and a life of meaning and purpose are found in him.

We are living in times of upheaval and global crisis. Many people are asking questions about what really counts. When Tim Keller wrote his book called “Counterfeit Gods” in 2009, it was following the wake of the 2008 stock market crash.

He wrote about what he called an “opportunity of disenchantment”

He says:

 “With the global economy in shambles, many of those idols that we have worshipped for years have come crashing down around us. This is a great opportunity. We are briefly experiencing ‘disenchantment.’ In the old stories, that meant that the spell cast by the evil sorcerer was broken and there was the chance to escape. Such times come to us as individuals, when some great enterprise, pursuit, or person on which we have built our hopes fails to deliver what (we thought) was promised. It very rarely comes to an entire society.” (Counterfeit Gods)

Often disruption opens the possibility for change.

Many of our temples of worship are crumbling around us. Our sense of safety, control, and financial security have been questioned. We are wondering about priorities and asking questions about our commonly held assumptions. 

On the other side of our questions and our crumbling idols, Jesus beckons us to come to him and to find our deepest longing for love and wholeness and healing met in Him.

Amen.

[1] See 1 Peter 1:13-16

[2] Lexham Bible Dictionary (accessed on Logos Software)

[3] Ben Witherington III, Conflict and Community: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians

[4] John Stott, The Message of Acts.