Enjoying the World without being Worldly – Part 1

I wrote a series of blogposts on What In the World is the "World"and someone might ask, "How then can I enjoy all that God has given me (who richly provides us with everything to enjoy¹) without letting it become wrong?"    Paul addressed that in 1 Corinthians 6:12 (ESV),

"¹² “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything";

and in 1 Corinthians 10:23–24 (ESV),

²³ “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

From these two passages there emerges a number questions that we ought to consider when we wish use the world God gave us in a way that glorifies Him.  Here is the first one:

#1.   Is this helpful?  The KJV uses the English word "profitable".   It's from the Greek verb, συμφέρω [soom·fer·o].^[1]  Another word might be "advantageous."   Kittel[2] notes that the word literally means "to gather" or "to bring together."  Contextually Kittel notes that "Since the Christian's body belongs to the Lord [“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!” (1 Corinthians 6:15, ESV)]  . . . the profit at issue here is individual spiritual existence, the union of each Christian with the Lord and of the Lord with him."   In 1 Corinthians 10 the context also includes one's relationship with the Lord.  1 Corinthians 10:21–22 (ESV)

²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

An idol is nothing.  It is simply wood or metal.   What concerns Paul is what is behind the idol. Paul is saying that a Christian might think because a certain thing is just wood or metal he or she can have a relationship with it.  But no!  His point is that you cannot simultaneously have a relationship with a spirit of evil and the Spirit of Christ.  

OK, so what does all this mean?  The question, "Is it helpful" could be asked this way: Does this thing aid my relationship with Christ or does it hinder/detract?

This question becomes acutely personal.   It could be that one event or thing contributes to your relationship with Jesus and yet to another person doing the same thing, the same activity finds that it harms (or impairs) their relationship with Christ.  Whatever the answer, we have to ask the question: What will this do to my relationship with Jesus?



#2.   Next, Does it dominate?   Next blog.

---

^[1] Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

[2] Kittel, Gerhard, Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1974, Volume IX, Pages 69-78.