idols and lords

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

IDOLS AND LORDS

1 Cor 8:4-6

4 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. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6 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.

NIV

As we have already noted, this is only a segment of the main point Paul is making regarding this idea of food sacrificed to idols and our responsibility as believers. Still, these little nuggets along the way are worth spending time with. Once again, within the context, Paul is talking about the culture within Corinth and the fact they had various temples to an array of gods and lords. The reason Paul includes lords seems right in the sense that this Greek word carries the meaning of that which is master over someone, having the power to decide, or he that possesses a thing or person. Certainly, gods mean just that, an object of worship, but it is the word lord that bothers us the most. Of course in the modern church, we mostly consider having idols or making something an idol, something we think very highly of. Still, we do not replace the one true God with our desire of it in some sense worship of our idol. Some would say that some people make money or power or position their idol, but it would seem more appropriate to call them lords. Anything that has mastery over us would be a lord in our lives, not necessarily an idol. Even attitudes can be lords, in the sense that if we are always critical, or judgmental, or prideful, it may have mastery over us. If there is some area in our lives that we cannot gain control of, whatever that is, it may be a type of lord and that it has mastered us. What we have to consider is that the root of all sin is selfishness. Whatever sin we can think of it stems from the desire to have what we want or behave how we want, and think or have an attitude how we want. In all these areas we are the one who has the choice to allow self to master us, which means we are our own lord, or to allow the Spirit to have His way in our life which means the Lord would have his way and He would be our Lord and Master, not our self. Do we struggle with sin? Sure, we would be God if we didn’t, but we are human, living in the world with many temptations and we have not yet attained perfection. Yes, we are not to make provisions or excuses for the flesh or excuse our sin because our flesh or self is weak. But the fact is we do sin, yet the point here is not to allow any sin to become our lord, to be master over us, to make that decision for how we behave or think. Our life is in Christ and we need to always think in those terms looking to Him for He is the only one who gives us life, in whom we live. Nothing should master us and we should not make anything more important than our Lord. There should be no idols and lords for there is but one God. So we should consider if we have allowed in any idols and lords.