NOTES for Co1 10:14-22

Paul returns once again to the theme of freedom and responsibility. It is clear enough to him that the gods and spirits whom the Gentiles formally worship and honor just as formally are, in essence, nothing. The problem is not in them, but in the person himself. A person can make something out of nothing, and something of such a kind that, though it is not real in itself, it becomes for the creator of that imagined reality an idol that overshadows the true God.

But what should be done if something like this is encountered far more often than many people think? Only a person who is inwardly very free, breathing in the breath of the Kingdom with his whole chest, can treat the mirages of this world as mirages. For everyone else these mirages become reality, and the less obvious the presence of God's breath in their life, the breath of the Kingdom whose very appearance disperses every mirage, the more obvious that reality becomes.

It is about them, about the others, that the apostle says that they worship spirits ("demons"), and he does not want them to be idolaters. The Christian breaking of bread is performed each time with the direct participation of the risen Savior Himself; each time He unites those who take part with His body and blood, with the fullness of His life.

This life cannot be shared with anyone or anything. If something (or someone) is present in a person's life and claims to replace Christ, to take His place, that must be gotten rid of. Even if the issue is only fear of an imagined spiritual danger, a mirage behind which there is nothing real. Fear of idolatry itself can easily become an idol. And the apostle advises those who are not frightened by such fears because they are not real to them not to trouble those for whom they are real.

There is no need to scare people who are afraid of ghosts with ghosts, if, of course, you regard them as brothers. This seems simple, but those who consider themselves spiritually strong and "understanding" have in every age been tempted to demonstrate their strength and their "understanding" precisely to those who will be frightened by that strength and "understanding." This is exactly what the apostle advises them not to do, for the sake of those who need help, not a display of "spiritual strength."