Stronger than God?

For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? – 1 Corinthians 10.17-22

It is easy sometimes to think that we can mess around with the world while fellowshipping with our God. We think we can just mix the two together and go on our merry way. We think it possible to 'drink the cup of the Lord' and all the time 'drink the cup of demons' by carrying on in our old sinful ways. 

I did my spiritual growing up in churches that strongly stressed separation. I will be the first to admit that sometimes what was preached as separation was nothing more than fulfilling man-made tradition instead of Bibilcal separation. Some of the dos and don'ts were, in retrospect, downright silly. 

However, on the other hand there is the opposite and at least as bad problem of no separation. It is the idea that nothing really matters. It is okay to play around with the world while saying we are serving God. What God says doesn't really matter. We can take things into our own hands. It is okay to provoke His righteous jealousy. We can handle it. God doesn't really matter. 

Sound harsh? I suppose it does, but I also suppose that it should be harsh. Who are we to mess with God? When we try to play games with the world we make a mockery of our faith. 

When other things vie for our affection we provoke a holy, righteous, and jealous God. Do we really think we are strong enough to do that?