Reflections on God and Money: Babylon and the Beast (13)

All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbour.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24

The guidance that St Paul gave to the Christians in Corinth about eating meat sacrificed to idols is helpful because it was a touchstone of society in much the same way as money is in ‘Western’ cultures today. In Europe just 100 years ago, money did not have the same influence it does now, which is why rich families often tried to marry their children into the aristocracy in order to achieve a higher social status.

By ‘all things’ Paul meant, quite literally, everything in creation, as is clear from his comments in the third and penultimate chapters of the letter. By ‘lawful’, he meant that all things are right and proper to use: the original Greek word derives from the idea of being out in public, not shut away for certain groups of people, such as the rich or academically qualified or socially privileged. But as we can see from the passage at the start of today’s Reflection, while all things can be enjoyed there are two buts!

First, eating meat sacrificed to idols may not be helpful. Paul was clear that the idols had no existence outside of people’s imaginations but he also knew that not all Christians were quite able to accept that truth. These might include those who had previously worshipped these false gods and joined in feasts and the sexual immorality that usually accompanied them. As they could not see how it was right to eat the meat, when they saw other Christians eating it their faith could be damaged. Paul called them ‘weak’ Christians, an interesting analogy: if a person has a physical illness, it is no good them trying to make themselves better by copying people who are fit. Nor should fit people try to encourage those who are sick to behave as if they were fit: that could undermine their recovery and too much exertion too soon could even prove fatal.

Second, Paul feared that the Christians who did understand the truth might not be built up by enjoying certain things: to turn the idea around, they might undermine their own spiritual development. To illustrate this, he explained how the Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt shared in the same material and spiritual blessings but were nevertheless vulnerable to idolatry, sexual immorality and doubting God to such a degree that they died in the wilderness and never saw the Promised Land. Similarly, the complacency that if something is lawful, or legitimate, it can be done with impunity could lead to compromised faith and spiritual shipwreck.

I will return to Paul’s explanation in a later series, because it is full of interest and relevance for those of us today who live in materialist, consumerist societies, but I do not want to drift too far away from looking at how our situation is reflected in the imagery of Revelation. Next weekend, I plan to look at what awaits people who do not heed God’s warning to flee Babylon. I think there are at least two things: first, personal loss, along with the kings and merchants mentioned in Revelation 18; second, vulnerability to the mark of the beast.

_____________________________________________

Handling money and dealing with debt can be complicated and neither the author nor anyone else involved in the production of these Reflections is responsible for any action you take, or fail to take, based on what is written here. You are invited to put a link on your website to these Reflections. You are welcome to copy these Reflections for personal study or for circulation to family and friends on a non-profit basis. For any other purpose, whether or not for profit, you will require written permission in advance from the author before copying, reproducing or transmitting extracts in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or using any information storage and retrieval system.

Sunday, 7 July 2013

Babylon and the Beast (13)