Condemnation through Litigation

Series on I Corinthians

III Moral Laxity

B Preserving the Fellowship, Text: 6:1-11

Title: Condemnation through Litigation

Introduction

This section of Paul’s letter deals with significant moral lapses on the part of the Christians at Corinth. In the first part Paul dealt with condoning immorality in the church. They needed to purify the fellowship of the church. In our text today he is talking about preserving the fellowship. The church members were suing one another in civil court. I saw a cartoon in the Jews for Jesus newsletter (see below) showing Paul in Prison. His companion is saying, “Hey, Paul, ‘This one’s from the Corinthians. They want you to remove their name from your mailing list.’” Small wonder. Paul’s main concern here goes beyond this sinful attitude. The Apostle is telling us that the way Christians treat one another directly affects their witness in the world. The honor of Christ in this world depends on how we treat one another. Consider first the shame, then the solution and finally our great salvation.

I The Shame

Now in Corinth it was surely the Gentiles who were exercising a bad influence. For generations under Roman rule the Jews had been permitted to maintain their own courts. A faithful Jew would never think of having a Jewish problem settled by a Gentile court. The Greeks on the other hand with their love of debates, contests and oratory regarded litigation with delight. It was almost a form of entertainment. Does that remind you of anyone else? You can turn on your TV today and catch an attorney urging you to litigate, and telling you how good his firm is at gaining settlements. Sue! – Sue! – Sue! We are not referring to a girl by that name. It seems to be the key word in our generation. Here is one of the reasons: lawyers in the U.S. number 655,000 or 279 for each 100,000 of population. In Japan there are 13,000 or 11 for 100,000 population. On the one hand I’m glad we live in a free country where there is an opportunity to get justice through the courts. Paul recognizes that we live in an unjust world in verse 1, If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? According to Acts 18 right there in Corinth the Jews brought Paul into court and complained to the Roman pro-consul Gallio that he was teaching a different way to worship God. Gallio justly dismissed their complaint. Paul certainly had an appreciation of the civil courts. Later in Acts 24 when Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea and brought before the Roman governor Porcius Festus his Jewish accusers wished to have him transferred to Jerusalem for trial, but Paul said I am rightly before Caesar’s court and there I will stay! I appeal to Caesar! On the other hand there was, then as now, a shameful preoccupation with private concerns and personal rights to the extent that it obscures the greater concern with the unity of the Church and its witness in the world. The Apostle was concerned about the trivial, self-centered disputes in the church. Their lawsuits were not with unbelievers but with one another and the whole tone of Paul’s words indicates that these were matters that would have been better settled in house, by Christians for Christians.

II The Solution

Therefore Paul gives them another solution. It involves their remembering three things.

A Calling

They are to reflect first of all on their calling in verse 2 and 3, 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! Many Christians do not see the heights to which they have been lifted by the righteousness of our Savior. Listen to Jesus in Revelation 3:21, To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as i overcame and sat down with my father on his throne, and in Revelation 20:4 in John’s vision, he says, I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 22:30, I confer on you a kingdom so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. These passages suggest that, before God, Christians have been made judges of the world both now and in the future.

B Competence

Therefore they are to reflect, in the second place, on their competence which is also mentioned in verses 2 and 3, 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! So Paul engages in some powerful irony. He suggests in verse 4 that it would be better to have believers who were of little account judge matters than to go before the world with our disputes, Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! However, he says in verse 5 that in reality, there were people who were competent to mediate their disputes, I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?

C Compassion

The third thing they are to remember is compassion. Here we get to the heart of the matter in verses 6-8, 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. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. Paul says not only is it wrong to drag these trivial disputes before the civil courts, but in many cases the disputes themselves are wrong. Wrong because they are so focused on their selfish interests. The tendency to litigate is born of self-righteousness. Thomas Merton wrote, ”Some of the most virtuous men in the world are also the bitterest and most unhappy because they have unconsciously come to believe that all their happiness depends on their being more virtuous than other men.” Legalists keep the law for self-glory, or to merit some reward. This is why proving how right they are is essential to their self-image and dishonoring to God. These people were cheating and wronging one another. Christians by contrast ought to be people who are willing to endure being cheated and wronged for Christ’s sake. Neither option is very attractive, but if you have to choose, choose being cheated, and then love and trust God enough that you don’t have to have retribution for every injustice immediately. Trust his judgment and work it out so that the love of Christ can be seen by the world. It is better to suffer personal loss than to reflect badly on Christ.

III Salvation

So the Apostle reminds them of their salvation in order to motivate them. He suggests that if they don’t stop this behavior they’re no better than the unbelieving world as we read in verses 9-11, 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. Paul is shaming them here; something he promised to do. In spite of their sinfulness they have been washed, set apart for God, and justified, that is acquitted, of all their sins through Jesus’ death and righteousness. They are heirs of a salvation they had no right to, and yet they bicker and have no sense that it is better to lose here and gain in heaven than to gain here and lose in heaven. This failure is the product of instant Christianity like instant tea and coffee. Instant Christianity is born of the notion that we may discharge our total obligation to our own souls by one act of faith and thereafter be relieved of all anxiety about our spiritual condition, and we infer, therefore, that there is no reason to seek to be saints by character. The Corinthians were glad to accept an assurance of automatic blessedness based on one terminal act of faith, and the tongues and gifts with which they were endowed, and felt relieved of the need to watch and fight and pray.

Conclusion

When we come to the communion table, as we did last week, it is a serious reminder of what Paul is saying. We’ve all been in court with God as the judge, and our lawyer has been the Lord Jesus Christ. Through His advocacy and defense we have been justified, and pronounced not guilty. By His precious blood we have been cleansed, and by His perfect righteousness we have been shielded or covered. Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are to forgive one another. The reason is that God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us. We need to pay serious attention to this. God does not take it lightly. The Corinthians were not doing this. We must settle our disputes in the fellowship and not in the world. Here we understand we have all been in court and Jesus has won our case.