February 24, 2002
1I don¡¦t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, what happened to our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. God guided all of them by sending a cloud that moved along ahead of them, and he brought them all safely through the waters of the sea on dry ground. 2As followers of Moses, they were all baptized in the cloud and the sea.
3And all of them ate the same miraculous food, 4and all of them drank the same miraculous water. For they all drank from the miraculous rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5Yet after all this, God was not pleased with most of them, and he destroyed them in the wilderness.
6These events happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did 7or worship idols as some of them did. For the Scriptures say, ¡§The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged themselves in pagan revelry.¡¨
8And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. 9Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10And don¡¦t grumble as some of them did, for that is why God sent his angel of death to destroy them.
11All these events happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us, who live at the time when this age is drawing to a close.12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin. 13But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can¡¦t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.
14So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am about to say is true. 16When we bless the cup at the Lord¡¦s Table, aren¡¦t we sharing in the benefits of the blood of Christ? And when we break the loaf of bread, aren¡¦t we sharing in the benefits of the body of Christ? 17And we all eat from one loaf, showing that we are one body. 18And think about the nation of Israel; all who eat the sacrifices are united by that act.
19What am I trying to say? Am I saying that the idols to whom the pagans bring sacrifices are real gods and that these sacrifices are of some value? 20No, not at all. What I am saying is that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don¡¦t want any of you to be partners with demons. 21You 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. 22What? Do you dare to rouse the Lord¡¦s jealousy as Israel did? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
23You say, ¡§I am allowed to do anything¡¨¡Xbut not everything is helpful. You say, ¡§I am allowed to do anything¡¨¡Xbut not everything is beneficial.
24Don¡¦t think only of your own good. Think of other Christians and what is best for them. 25Here¡¦s what you should do. You may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace. Don¡¦t ask whether or not it was offered to idols, and then your conscience won¡¦t be bothered. 26For ¡§the earth is the Lord¡¦s, and everything in it.¡¨„T 27If someone who isn¡¦t a Christian asks you home for dinner, go ahead; accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you and don¡¦t ask any questions about it. Your conscience should not be bothered by this. 28But suppose someone warns you that this meat has been offered to an idol. Don¡¦t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. 29It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.
Now, why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? 30If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it? 31Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God. 32Don¡¦t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 33That is the plan I follow, too. I try to please everyone in everything I do. I don¡¦t just do what I like or what is best for me, but what is best for them so they may be saved. First Corinthians 10.1-33 -- The New Living Translation
Folks in the church at Corinth had lots of questions they needed answered. Mostly they wanted to know how to go about living their lives, since they were now part of Jesus¡¦ family. Paul was only too glad to provide them with answers.
The apostle began by rehearsing for them Israel¡¦s history. The nation of Israel had blown it badly. Coming out of captivity in Egypt, they saw miracle upon miracle. God provided for them in the wilderness with bread from heaven every day, quail they didn¡¦t even have to hunt down; God even made their clothes and shoes last 40 years. They grumbled and wanted more. God wasn¡¦t pleased. (So much for going to church all the time, seeing miracles constantly, and thinking you might be pleasing God just because all that stuff is happening!) Paul told the Corinth group ¡V this stuff is in the Scripture for your instruction. Don¡¦t be like that!
Paul also rehearsed all kinds of bad stuff to avoid ¡V idolatry, fornication, arrogance towards Christ (tempting him), complaining against God¡¦s ways, and participating in pagan worship rituals.
After making that shopping list and checking it twice, Paul got down to one simple piece of advice that really covers it all:
23All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. 32Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: 33Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. 1 Corinthians 10.23, 32-33
We could talk a lot about personal freedom which all believers have in Christ. But the title of this message covers it: Don¡¦t Let the Good Become the Enemy of the Best. What, exactly, does that mean? It means there are plenty of things I can do in life, but not all escape the stupidity rating. I can, for instance, legally build a grotesquely-ugly statue on my front lawn, knowing the little kids next door will be afraid, and my grass will be safe from little feet. But that¡¦s stupid if I hope to have three things:
A decent front lawn to look at,
peace with my neighbor, and
any chance at all to win my neighbor to Christ.
Legally I can do whatever I want with my front lawn ¡V As a Christian I need to give it plenty of thought what my neighbor will think. In the context of Paul¡¦s advice to the young Christians at Corinth, the application of that becomes a simple life¡¦s philosophy I want to put forth for you. This is the way Paul said we should live:
Be ready to please God by impacting people¡¦s lives for Jesus
Here are four phrases which define the acting-out of this life¡¦s philosophy:
HOLY LIVING
Holy living has to do with worshipping God. The Israelites forgot that. They slipped into worship of idols. St. Augustine said, Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshiped.
Friendship is a good thing. It can become the enemy of the best if my friendships get in the way of living in a holy manner before God.
A vocation is a good thing (puts potatoes on the table), but it can become the enemy of the best if it requires of me questionable practices (selling alcohol or lottery tickets).
Sex is a good thing. It can become the enemy of the best if my appetite for sex overwhelms my respect for my wife, and I treat her casually.
Holy living has more than to do with just the things I do ¡V it is a matter of how I think about what I¡¦m going to do ¡V and what that will do to me, and others. Holy living takes holy thinking.
RIGHT THINKING
What goes on between the ears has a lot to do with Paul¡¦s philosophy. It¡¦s not about knowing all the commandments, memorizing all the Psalms, Proverbs and Gospel of John. It¡¦s not about keeping the law.
Right thinking has an accurate view of one¡¦s own heart, and the condition thereof. It¡¦s knowing that you are as likely to fall as the worst drunken bum on the streets of New York City.
12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Falls come in all sizes. I was listening to WBFJ on the car radio on Thursday. They had a call-in time for folks to tell stories about kids. One lady told how her family had company for dinner Saturday night. She put all the food scraps in a big black trash bag, and put the bag out on the porch, forgetting to take it to the trash can. Next morning the trash was all over the deck and back yard. The family dreaded coming home to pick it all up after church.
During church the pastor called all the kids up for the children¡¦s sermon. He was going to teach them about keeping God¡¦s earth as good as it used to be in the Garden of Eden. He had a black plastic trash bag; he emptied it on the platform ¡V coke cans, papers and wrappers all over. He then asked the children, now what does that look like? The lady¡¦s son stood right up, hands on hips and said for the entire church to hear, well it looks JUST LIKE MY HOUSE!
Right thinking has an awful lot to do with reading and accepting what Scripture says. Soren Kierkegaard said, when you read God’s Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, "It is talking to me, and about me." That¡¦s Right Thinking!
LOVING RELATIONSHIPS
24Let no man seek his own, but every man another¡¦s wealth 1 Corinthians 10.24
Many people would call this unselfishness; however it is the absolute description of love. It is easy to weep with those who weep, but even the thought of rejoicing with those who rejoice leaves many of us cold.
Competition is the methodology in the holy grail of success in America. Too often the competitor in us is willing to climb over the wounded body of our neighbor to get to the top.
Paul says that you¡¦ll never impact someone else¡¦s life for Christ while you¡¦re leaving them behind in the dust. When you look at others as possible runners-up to you in anything, you have missed the point. You have let the idea of victory (a good thing) become the enemy of the best brotherhood.
I challenge you to think this way for a month; do what Richard Foster suggests about loving others: One of the greatest expressions of love is simply to notice people and to pay attention to them.
Holy Living, Right Thinking, and Loving Relationships add up to Paul¡¦s main event:
WORSHIPFUL WITNESS
Worshipping God and winning men ¡V such was the life of Paul. It¡¦s our life too, if we accept the best, and don¡¦t settle for the good. Sometimes in the church we settle for fellowship. Now fellowship is a good thing. However, when we expend our time and available resources for fellowship, with no eye on evangelism, we have let the good become the enemy of the best.
All our organizations ¡V Sunday School classes, missions groups, worship services and programs of any kind must be about bringing the lost to Jesus Christ. We have no valid purpose, no reason for being here if we miss that point. Our job is worship and witness; the world does a better job of serving-up stuff¡K
*Booze at the bar can warm you better than grape juice at communion.
*TV can entertain you better than the church programs.
*Richard Simmons can get you in better shape than our dinners.
*The restaurants have your table ready 24 hours a day.
*The shoe store offers you at least a pair of shoes for the money you hand over.
Our worship and witness must all focus on bringing folks to Jesus.
I heard about a doctor that gave a witness. It was while I was listening to that call-in show on WBFJ radio. The caller was another Mom. She told about her father in Florida having heart surgery. The family drove down there. On the way they talked about Grandpa¡¦s open heart surgery. The 6 year-old was really disturbed. He wanted to know what happened to Jesus when the doctor went in Jesus¡¦ heart. Mom tried to assure the little one that Jesus would be alright.
The surgery was finally over. The surgeon met with the whole family. Everything had gone well. The little one finally asked the doctor; did you see Jesus in Granpa¡¦s heart? The doctor was stumped a second, but finally said, yeah¡K.He said to say hello!
The choice is always between good and best.
Friendship is good; forever friends is best.
Getting ahead is good; helping others get ahead is best.
Choose the best; never let the good become its enemy.
