Things Polluted By Idols

[Mr. M]

Acts 15:18 Known to God from eternity are all His works. 

19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 

20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, 

from things strangled, and from blood. 

21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, 

being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.

The first of the four prohibitions sent out to the Gentile churches resulting from the Council at Jerusalem

is 'to abstain from things polluted by idols'. Two of the seven churches that received messages from the Lord

in Revelation are admonished for failure to avoid this 'pollution'. (Rev 2:14; 20). Paul devotes considerable time

addressing this issue in his first epistle to the Corinthians. He also helps us by defining idolatry at its source.

Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness,

passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

If we were to consider government propaganda, and mass marketing of products as drivers for the spreading of this pollution, to what degree does the church need to separate from the world going forward to eliminate the pollution of idols from worship?

1 Corinthians 5:

9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 

10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world,

or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 

11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother,

who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—

not even to eat with such a person.

 

Ephesians 5:

3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 

4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 

5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,

has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

 

Luke 12:15 And He said to them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life

does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.

 

1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Mr. M
amend text

[FJK]

6 hours ago, Mr. M said:

11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother,

who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—

not even to eat with such a person.

Something the Church and its members seem to increasingly ignore today

[AnOrangeCat]

On 6/1/2023 at 10:04 AM, Mr. M said:

If we were to consider government propaganda, and mass marketing of products as drivers for the spreading of this pollution, to what degree does the church need to separate from the world going forward to eliminate the pollution of idols from worship?

This is an interesting question. I think in the present day we have some interesting and difficult lines to walk. For example, I'm sure most if not all of us here recognize that a lot of our politicians profess Christianity, yet their voting records suggest they're heavily compromised or just outright paying lip service to Christianity to get votes and keep up a good public image. Do we vote for the candidate who will do the least damage? Do we shun the system entirely?

Big business is in a similar category. There's not really any buying another brand beings that a handful of big corporations make most of everything. On some level I think we need to accept that we don't have a lot of power/choice to affect or maneuver around things on the government/corporate level. It's probably stuff like this that Paul had in mind in I Corinthians 8 where he reminded people that idols were just powerless things and that food doesn't affect our relationship with God one way or the other. The caveat is that it was bad if it caused others in the faith to stumble. We see very similar in Romans 14 where Paul talks about disputable matters and brings up the example of food again, complete with the same caveat. it was a reality of the time that some food was in some way tied to idol worship. Similarly it's a reality of our time that a whole lot of our food and necessities of daily living are tied to a handful of companies and a government that's worldly and greedy at best, and outright hostile to Christianity at worst.

On 6/1/2023 at 10:04 AM, Mr. M said:

1 Corinthians 5:

9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 

10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world,

or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 

11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother,

who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—

not even to eat with such a person.

An important part of this is "with anyone named a brother" and Paul pointing out that we'd have to leave the world entirely. The conclusion of the chapter is "Let God judge the people of the world while you judge the members of your own church. Expel the wicked from among you." Paul is quite correct even to this day in that we'd have to leave the world to avoid such people outside of the church, and even if we could and did leave the world? That would amount to us hiding our light. The directive is very different for those who are within the church and living in sin and those who are outside of it and living in sin. We have a very clear instruction to shun the former. To see how damaging not following this directive is we need look no further than the Catholic church and its numerous sexual abuse scandals. The fallout it takes from going soft on its clergy on that is obvious.

What I get from all of this on the topic of pollution is that the church needs to police itself first and foremost and take a hard position against people within the ranks who are living in sin. Jesus even gave us a protocol. Speak to the offending brother or sister privately, if that doesn't work approach with two or three others, if that doesn't work bring it before the church, and if that fails treat them like a pagan or a tax collector. But when it comes to stressing over whether or not to avoid a given product or politician it's down to our conscience with heavy primary consideration being given to whether or not our choice will lead others in our sphere of influence to stumble.

[AnOrangeCat]

Just now, AnOrangeCat said:

What I get from all of this on the topic of pollution is that the church needs to police itself first and foremost and take a hard position against people within the ranks who are living in sin.

Quoting myself as the prior post was lengthy and this is a somewhat different train of thought. I feel like this is an area where modern churches have arguably gone astray. At the time of Paul churches were typically closer to what we'd call house churches today. For good and for ill television, the internet, and transportation have combined to create an environment where churches can get thousands or tens of thousands in attendance and many more long distance supporters. Does this promote an environment where the church goers really get to know each other as well the members of other churches did? Do they know and care about what's going on in each other's lives outside of maybe a handful of friends? My personal feeling on the matter is generally no, and that this is to the detriment of the church as a whole. Without real, close fellowship amongst any group of believers only the most obvious sins will be noticed, let alone confronted.

[Mr. M]

7 hours ago, AnOrangeCat said:

We see very similar in Romans 14 where Paul talks about disputable matters and brings up the example of food again, complete with the same caveat. it was a reality of the time that some food was in some way tied to idol worship. Similarly it's a reality of our time that a whole lot of our food and necessities of daily living are tied to a handful of companies and a government that's worldly and greedy at best, and outright hostile to Christianity at worst.

Using food for an example becomes very clear in the modern context when we consider how often we are informed of some new "super food" or supplement that is going to revolutionize health and well-being. When you look into them and find out how expensive it is going to be to make this new product a part of your diet, you will understand "making sacrifices to idols". Even as it was then, people were led to believe that by eating something that had been sacrificed to a pagan god, they would receive beneficence from that god. This is the deception promoted by "Jezebel".

Revelation 2:20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.