LET’S SETTLE THIS
How should Christians settle differences of opinion with each other, disputes, or even instances of personal damages? Through lawsuits?
Lawsuits have become a way of life in North American culture. I remember as children when someone wanted to throw a nice icy rip-your-skin kind of snowball at another child, the response was often “You do it and I’ll sue you.” At which point the other kid actually rethought his decision. Strange as it sounds, I guess he didn’t want to lose his life-savings of five bucks.
Twenty years ago someone standing on a street corner whose elbow was brushed by a passing truck would likely exclaim, ’Thank God, I’m alive!’ Now a person in the same situation shouts, ’Thank God, I’ll be rich.’" If you think he is exaggerating, don’t forget the woman who won a million dollar suit against McDonald’s because the coffee she got at the drive-thru, which she spilled on herself, was too hot. Then there is also the fellow in New York who a few years ago attempted suicide by jumping in front of a subway car. He failed to kill himself, but he did win a $650,000 judgment from New York City, because their train hit him.
Even the Church today is subject to threats of legal actions. 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 … ”
Apparently the Corinthians were quite fond of law and lawsuits. It was actually entertaining for them to be a part of a legal action and to try to figure out penalties. They would have loved John Grisham novels, the Law & Order TV series and the like. And of course, this being the culture, the habit of bringing a lawsuit against someone seeped into the church.
The Apostle Paul was not impressed with this behavior and sharply rebukes the Church for settling their differences in this way. In our passage today, we are taught why this is inappropriate for Christians and what motivates a proper settlement between brothers and sisters in the Lord.
1. Bringing Church troubles to secular courts
Someone in the Church at Corinth was following the pattern of old habits and using a natural recourse to assert his rights. In other words, he was suing the pants off a fellow Christian.
Paul responds, “If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?” The implication is that it is an act of audacious boldness. It is outrageous. One who would do this in the church to a brother or sister is uncaring; this person has reached a point where he does not care what anybody thinks or feels. All that matters are his rights regardless of the injury it causes to others.
But what is really disturbing is the ignorance of such a person to bring church troubles before secular courts, pagan judges who have no understanding of the family God, of what divine forgiveness is like, or of what peacemaking is all about.
The person who threatens to sue is ignorant of our position in Christ.
And yet this is happening more often than we think. The lawsuit explosion has hit the church in recent years. Listen to these examples of court cases in recent years. A pastor sued his denomination for age discrimination because he could not find a church willing to hire him for the salary he demanded. -- The board of trustees of a Baptist church in Louisiana filed suit to remove their pastor from his position. A few days later, another group, claiming to be the real trustees, filed a counter suit, asking that those who had filed the previous suit be removed as church members. -- A family in Illinois sued their church for injuries their 15-year-old son suffered at a church picnic when he fell out of a tree. His parents had watched him climb the tree and had warned him to be careful because it was dangerous, but when he fell, they sued the church.
Paul responds to this earthly thinking saying, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” The Bible clearly tells us that we are going to be a part of God’s judgment of the world at the end of times. We are going to rule and reign with Jesus – what this means exactly, we don’t know. But somehow we will enter into the mind and heart of God as he examines the thoughts and innermost desires of men and women (Rev. 20:4; 2 Ti2:12). It seems that Paul is telling us to start practicing now for that time. We will even sit on judgment of angels who fell away from God. Imagine that! These beings are higher than us and someday we will judge their motivations. Incredible!
What Paul is talking about here is something that we fail to understand regularly. He is speaking eschatologically. He is speaking of the End of time. However, he intends for the church to understand this as a present reality. We are to live now as if it were the End; we are to live here on earth as if we were already in heaven. That’s what makes lawsuits so wrong for Christians. The behavior does not fit a heavenly people.
Since we do live here in this world for the time being are we never to use the secular legal system? Actually Paul did use the Roman legal system to his advantage when he claimed Roman citizenship. In Acts 21:26 Paul was arrested and wrongfully accused. As they were about the whip him to make him confess Paul asked, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?” It is not wrong to use such means as long as it is done with the right motive. Is it wrong to take another Christian to court over a church matter? Yes, absolutely. Should Christians take each other to court over civil matters? If it can be avoided, no. Should Christians take non-Christians to court? Again no, if it can be avoided. Though there are times when the protection of your rights need defending, such as in Paul’s case. And sometimes a Church leaves no other recourse, such as the case of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.
Otherwise, this is not how Christians settle things.
2. The Shame of it all
Paul goes deeper still into the reason that we as Christians should avoid lawsuits. The fact is it brings downright shame to the church.
Verse 4 is a little confusing so we need to look at it from all sides. “Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!” That sounds odd, doesn’t it? So we should ask the least esteemed in our congregations to judge matters of church crisis. I don’t think we want to put a difficult matter before someone we don’t consider respectable. But if you read other translations, such as the NLT, it becomes a question: “If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church?” This translation underscores the fact that, though we respect the justice system for what it does, we should not put church matters before someone who does not understand our relationship to Christ.
Then Paul says, “I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?” After their boasting about how wise they are, Paul sarcastically jabs them a bit. If you are so wise then you should not need outside mediation. Could we not settle our troubles and disputes right here in the church? Don’t we have objective and godly people who could give a fair judgment?
The real shame is that the dirty laundry of the church is aired out for the whole world to see. “But instead, one brother goes to law against another – and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already.” What a lawsuit within the church says to the watching world is, “You Christians are no better than we are; you do not have anything different than we have. You have to have a judge come and settle matters between you and force one to do the right thing. What have you got to offer us?” What results from this shameful exhibition is that the cause of Christ is degraded in society.
It just doesn’t fit the testimony of our faith in Christ. Tim LaHaye, writer of the Left Behind books is suing the producer of the films right now for not making a better movie. LaHaye’s lawyer stated: “we wanted to provide a really strong Christian message.” So let’s sue to that end!?
The alternative to this kind of behavior is this: “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.” What is the loss of a thousand dollars, or a hundred thousand dollars, compared to the cause of Christ? Can we risk damaging the testimony of Jesus for such temporal arguments? What are they in the face of eternity?
Why not rather be wronged? What does this remind you of? Hmmm, Jesus? At a certain church membership meeting a man shook his fist and said, “I don’t care what the rest of you do. I want my rights! That’s all! I just want my rights!" There was an old half-deaf Scottish brother sitting in the front row, and he cupped his hand behind his ear and asked this man, "Aye, brother, what’s that ye say?" And the fellow said, "Well, all I said was that I want my rights. That’s all." The old man said, "Your rights, brother, is that what you want, your rights? Why the Lord Jesus didn’t come to get his rights. He came to get his wrongs, and he got them." That fellow stood transfixed for a little while. Then he dropped his head and said, ’You’re right, brother, you’re right. Settle it any way you like.’" And in a few moments the whole thing was settled.
Like Jesus we must demonstrate a different lifestyle before the world. Jesus did not come to exert his personal rights but to surrender them for the sake of others. There is nothing that resembles Jesus more in us than when we surrender our rights, even at the risk of personal hurt, so that the gospel can be preserved. We must believe that justice will come one day, but not now.
3. The evidence of true Faith
There is a further cause for concern in bringing lawsuits against each other. Paul says this: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Now what this looks like is a misplaced passage that goes better with chapter 5 where we learned about the man who slept with his step-mother, or with the next passage on prostitutes. In fact it is right where it belongs.
A person filing a lawsuit easily fits into the category of lusting after the financial gain he can receive, or treating the gain as idolatrous. So Paul lists all the inappropriate behaviors and says none of this fits the example of a follower of Christ.
In terms of lawsuits specifically, Paul is saying “Look, when you are so aggressive in defense of your own rights that you take another brother to law before a secular court, you are wronging that brother. Even though you may be right in your cause, you are wronging your brother, and that wronging, that unjust action, gives rise to the question, ‘have you yourself been justified before God?’” Treating each other this way sure makes the church wonder, were you really saved? Because the behavior suggests that nothing in you has been changed by the grace of Jesus. And those who have not been transformed by their relationship to Jesus cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Those that still persist with the lifestyles we read in verses 9-10 cannot inherit God’s kingdom.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Rom 12:2). We could say that this has been all about lawsuits and be done with it. However, what this message is really about is the way we treat each other in the church. How do we settle our differences and our disputes in the body of Christ? Do we give the cold shoulder to those we have personality issues with? Do we natter about them and the crazy things they do behind their backs? Do we constantly argue with them in public?
Our pride can easily lead us to situations where we get heated and frustrated. Then if the Spirit is allowed, we are humbled and brought low so that God can show us how stupid, really stupid we have been. I have had this happen to me only a short time ago. Oh what fools we are! What a fool I can be!
Really what Paul is asking us to do is consider our behavior as a church, as a family of God, and to ask ourselves “How are we treating each other?” Because the world is watching and wondering what makes us different. They hear things and know things about us. We get a reputation that is hard to shake. This church may still have a reputation from years ago and people still see us the way we acted 10 years ago.
Have we been transformed? Are we different? Do we love each other the way Jesus told us to? “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (Jn 13:35).
Let’s settle this. With love and compassion for each other, let’s deal with the real problems between us. If we need to, let’s call in a third party of godly character and objective reasoning and let’s talk about our hurts. Let’s understand each other. The best way for that to happen is to sit down and talk. No sense holding it in and letting it fester. That only poisons us further against being able to love our adversary.
By our attitude what kind of example, or testimony, are we leaving the world? Is it one where the world can see no difference between us and them? Or is it so great and so appealing to them because of the love and the grace we show to each other? Could they find the true gospel of Jesus in us by the way we live?
As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus this morning in communion, I believe it is very relevant for us to consider our relationships with each other. Does the symbol of our union in Christ through the bread and the juice fit our testimony and behavior? I pray that it would.
AMEN
