There is a difference between eating meat, sold in a marketplace, that has been offered to an idol and activively participating in pagan religious festivals.  A Christian can not engage in what is called religious syncretism.  This is a term for when one religion is accepted and weaves elements of the religion it supplants into its fabric.  In Mexico, Catholics participate in rituals to celebrate the dead that do not come from Catholic thinking.  In Pakistan there are superstitions about the jin that exist within folk Islam.  In England people who attend church will still put money in a new purse or never open an umbrella indoors.  All of these deviations change religion into magic.  Magic is when a person manipulates or placates forces to their own ends.  There is a deeper spiritual significance to participating in religious rituals.  I attended a Buddhist ceremony in Japan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a friend’s dad’s death.  I attended as an observer.  I was respectful but I declined to engage.  I believe that Paul is moving us towards the same stance.

1 Corinthians 10:14-17

¹⁴Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

Questions

1. What should Paul’s friends flee?
2. What do the cup of thanksgiving and the bread cause the Corinthians to do?
3. How does the communion service create a deeper sense of unity?
4. What deeper significance does it have when you attend communion?
5. What deeper significance does it have if a person participates in a Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, New Age, or other religious ceremony?

Going Deeper

Near to where I live are a Sikh and a Hindu Temple.  What religious communities meet close to you.  Look up their beliefs on-line.  Why might it be harmless to eat the food they eat?  Why might it be harmful to adopt their religious practices?