Dirty Laundry Series

DIRTY LAUNDRY

I Corinthians 6:1-11

S: Rights

Th: Live the Difference

Pr: WE ARE TO LIVE THE TRANSFORMATION.

?: What? What is preventing us?

KW: Lies

TS: We will find in our study of I Corinthians 6:1-11, three lies that prevent us from living as we ought to in the church.

The _____ lie is…

I. “WE CAN’T SETTLE THIS” (1-6)

II. “I HAVE MY RIGHTS” (7-8)

III. “THIS IS WHO I AM” (9-10)

Version: ESV

RMBC 14 March 04 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Notebook: Liar (compulsive liars)

A woman went to a computer dating service and said she didn’t care about looks, income or background. All she wanted was a man of upright character.

Then a man came in and told them the only thing he was seeking in a woman was intelligence.

The service matched them together at once because they had one thing in common - they were both compulsive liars.

1. Have you ever noticed that some people shade the truth?

It seems to be a common occurrence, doesn’t it?

We have all heard those little fibs that make you say, “Oh, I have heard that before.”

For instance…

ILL Notebook: Liar (famous American fibs)

- The check is in the mail.

- Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.

- One size fits all.

- Leave your resume and we’ll keep it on file.

- This hurts me more than it hurts you.

- Your table will be ready in a few minutes.

- Open wide, it won’t hurt a bit.

- It’s not the money; it’s the principle.

We have been studying a letter the apostle Paul has written to the church in Corinth.

Corinth was a city of philosophical and intellectual arrogance.

It was a city known for its unbridled sin.

And it was from this culture that the people in this church had been saved.

Yet, the church in Corinth definitely reflected their Greek origin.

It was apparent, that at the very least, they had a hard time leaving their old way of life.

They were competitive, assertive and arrogant.

A specific area of their past was the going to court to sue for one’s various rights.

Litigation was a part of the Greek way of life.

It was considered to be an intellectual challenge, even to the point of being entertainment.

As we come to our passage today, we are going to discover that lawsuits had made their way into the early life of the church.

Unfortunately, they made their way in without great difficulty.

As a result, the church was unable to live the difference that they were called on to live.

The reason was that…

2. As Christians, we have trouble living the difference when we believe things that are not true.

The Corinthians were really struggling to live differently.

In so many areas of their lives, they had resorted to living in the same way they had before.

And as a result, the church was in chaos.

Simply, it was because they were believing the wrong things.

So…

3. We will find in our study of I Corinthians 6:1-11, three lies that prevent us from living as we ought to in the church.

The lies find themselves in the context of lawsuits, but I think we will observe that there is a wider context that will help each one of us today.

OUR STUDY:

I. The first lie is “WE CAN’T SETTLE THIS” (1-6).

[1] When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? [2] Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? [3] Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! [4] So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? [5] I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, [6] but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?

Have you ever noticed that we live in a sue-happy world?

There are children suing parents.

There are students suing teachers.

There are players suing coaches.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it also gets into the church.

There are Christian neighbors suing each other.

There are Christian teachers suing administrations of Christian schools.

There are churches suing one another.

There are pastors suing churches.

There are churches suing pastors.

ILL Notebook: Lawsuit (Christianity Today)

There was a cartoon in Christianity Today many years ago and the setting was on a Sunday morning. On the church platform is a soloist about to sing a number as the pianist prepares to play the introduction. With microphone in hand, he says, “I’d like to share a song with you that the Lord gave me a year ago … and even though He did give it to me, any reproduction of this song in any form without my written consent will constitute infringement of the copyright law which grants me to sue your pants off … praise God … ”