Trivial Matters/Significant Defeat
January 5, 2025
Preached by Ron Smith
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 6:1-8
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? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
“I’m going to sue you” might be a good motto for the American culture we live in. Seems like people are ready take someone to court at the drop of a hat. Through the years there have been reality courtroom TV shows like the People’s Court, Judge Judy, Judge Mathis.
So, in one sense Paul addressing lawsuits here in this passage should not feel so strange to us. However, in another sense, I hope it is completely foreign to us in that he is specifically addressing lawsuits between fellow Christians. I don’t know of any active lawsuits between people in this church and I have never been part of a church where there has been. Unfortunately, I do know of churches where it is taking place. But at least for us here at Community, I think we need to realize that even if we are not embroiled in legal disputes, there are principles here that will help us navigate conflicts we have with one another.
But be warned, these principles push against our natural instinct to win every conflict by calling us to allow ourselves to be wronged even when we know that we are 100% right.
Before we go any further, let’s place these verses in the larger context of 1 Corinthians. Back in the Fall we started a series on this letter. We titled it “How the Crucified Christ Shepherds a Fractured Flock.” This is because what we see in this letter is a church that is struggling to be a church. They are broken in so many ways, but Jesus does not give up on them. He pursues them. He shepherds them.
In our journey thus far, we have seen the sharp divisions there were in the church; we have been directed to look to the wisdom and power of God which is the cross of Christ; and most recently we considered the importance of church discipline due to sexual immorality. And next week we will be going back to the discussion of sexual immorality before moving on to talk about marriage and singleness.
Tucked away in all that, we come to these verses about lawsuits among believers. Because the gospel has practical implications for our lives, what I would like to do this morning is consider what the gospel looks like in action when two believers have a serious conflict that could, if not dealt with, lead to legal action being taken.
Caveat: I want to be clear from the start that while Paul is essentially saying that believers should not take another believer to court, there are exceptions. We are in the realm of civil cases. Small claims court kind of issues: business dealings, we are talking about property disputes, contract disputes. We are not talking about criminal cases. We are not talking about covering up lawbreaking. Churches over the last few years have come under fire for covering up abuse cases. This should not be done. They should be reported.
With that said, let’s consider how the gospel guides us when we have interpersonal conflicts with fellow believers. There are four ways I see it happening in these verses.
The gospel is counter cultural
We already noted that we live in a culture of litigation. People will sue at the drop of a hat. The first thing we can say is that the gospel frees us from the bondage of having to conform to the culture. It is counter cultural.
The Corinthians also lived in a culture where lawsuits were commonplace. Look with me again at verse 1:
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?
Paul is not hiding his disdain for what is happening in the church. In fact, in the Greek the word ‘dare’ is the first word of the verse. This puts and emphasis on it. “You dare to sue a fellow believer? What are you thinking? Why would you do that?”
The problem is that in that culture lawsuits were just the way of life. Often times they were used as a way to deal with business competitors. If Stephanos owned a business that was similar to a business that Philippos had, in order to get ahead, Stephanos could take him to court. He would just claim that Philippos had in some way defrauded him. Stephanos’ goal would be to defame Philippos by any means possible. To do it Stephanos would go and secure an army of witnesses. All these witnesses had to do was say in court what he paid them to say. He would perhaps even pay judges and jurors to rule in his favor. The end result would be that Philippos would be disgraced. The people would stop giving him business and then turn to Stephanos. It was brutal character defamation that favored the rich.
In the case of the church at Corinth, we don’t know if there were multiple lawsuits being filed, or if there was only one. But living in a culture that operated in this way spilled over into the church without any sense of a filter. “Should we do this as Christians?” We don’t know for sure, but presumably the posture of the person bringing the suit would have been to win at all cost and result in defaming a fellow believer.
Not only that but it would associate believers with the underhanded practices that were so common. Paul chides them for going to law before the ‘unrighteous.’ Certainly, as we will see later in the passage, he is speaking of unbelievers, but by choosing the word unrighteous he is exposing the wicked practices of bribery and showing partiality that were so rampant in the court system.
The gospel is counter cultural in that it does not engage in the evil practices of the culture. The problem is that when something is so engrained in the culture, it is often difficult to see how it opposes the gospel. When it comes to dealing with conflict today in our culture, we look around and see self-promotion at the expense of others, trying to win the argument at any cost, demanding that people understand and agree with our point of view. All of this can overflow into the church resulting in harsh comments, no desire to listen, trying to ‘slam’ the other person with words to win the argument. And of course, all in the name of truth. Before adopting these ways, we should allow the gospel to filter our thoughts, words, and actions. Is my response in line with the gospel or the culture I live in?
The gospel is future oriented.
A second way the gospel guides us in the midst of conflicts is that it helps us put things in perspective by looking to the future. The gospel is future oriented. Look at verses 2 and 3:
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!
There is a lot going on in these two verses. And a lot of questions raised that simply go unanswered. But notice that Paul looks to the future, to the end times, to show how they should be living now. He brings up the fact that the saints, that is Christians, will judge the world and angels. What on earth does he mean? Well, we don’t know for sure because he doesn’t really elaborate. But however it works out, we know that a) we do not have that authority now (so don’t go around judging people), and b, Jesus is the ultimate judge. Whatever judging we do will be in support of his role as the judge.
One of the purposes that Paul has in bringing this up, is to show that what the Christians will be involved with in the last days is of much more weight and importance than what they are involved with now. In the last days Christians will be involved in judging things that have cosmic importance. Eternal importance. We will be judging the supernatural. From this perspective the lawsuits they were involved in can be seen for what they really are: trivial matters. The lawsuits they were involved in were ultimately insignificant. And on the basis of the fact that in the end times Christians will judge the world and angels, the church really should be able to handle such small, insignificant, trivial cases.
How might considering the future judging of the world we will be doing change your perspective on a conflict you are currently involved in? Have you considered the future? The gospel looks both to the past - the cross - and to the future when Jesus will return. And both of those perspectives converge and inform how we live in the present.
The gospel is countercultural, the gospel is future oriented.
The gospel provides righteousness. (4-6)
The gospel provides righteousness. If the church is going to be able to handle these smaller cases, it is going to require the righteousness that only the gospel gives in Jesus. Let’s read again verses 4-6:
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?
Part of the problem that Paul has in these verses is the fact that these petty cases are being brought before those who have no standing in the church or as he says in verse 6, before unbelievers. Back in verse one he lamented that they brought their cases before the unrighteous. The point is not that believers are better than unbelievers, but that there is a difference in what is considered right and wrong, what is true and false, what is righteous and unrighteous.
The gospel reveals true righteousness by telling us that no one is righteous. That no one is able to do what God commands. It is only the righteousness of Jesus, that he freely gives to all who believe on him, that allows us to be seen as righteous in the eyes of God. So, we as believers are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And that righteousness begins to transform us and causes us to have a different standard for what is right and wrong that is grounded in him. We find truth only in the one who is the truth, Jesus. While this does not make believers better than unbelievers, it certainly marks a stark distinction.
The fact that the church could not handle these disputes among believers was shameful. It implied that they were not competent; that they were not wise.
The question for us is are we able to handle such cases ourselves? As a church if two fellow believers have such a dispute that it would ordinarily be taken to the court system, are we ready and willing to step in? Think about the benefits and blessings it would bring: there would be the gospel fruit of forgiveness, the good gospel work of reconciliation would be done, relationships would thrive, righteousness would be revealed on a heart level.
Imagine that I hire Michael Aiken to paint my house. He is an upstanding member of this congregation, an elder and I trust that he will do good work. He comes and starts the job. Things go smoothly at first, but I begin to be suspicious about some of the things he is doing and conclude he is cheating me. I start pointing out blemishes in the paint; I notice a bucket of Walmart brand paint instead of the Benjamin Moore he promised; the job is taking longer than he said it would. All told I start to conclude that he is ripping me off hundreds of dollars. What should I do? Certainly, talk to him. But when that gets nowhere, how do we proceed? In our situation, the best course of action would be to ask for mediation from the church. To have wise and competent people sit down with us and work this out. By doing that, my heart will be exposed and shown where I have gone wrong. (court of law can’t do this). Come to find out through the mediation meeting, Michael had mixed the Benjamin Moore paint with another color in a Walmart container. Not only that, from the request of Amy, I had asked Michael to change the color of the wall 3 times, and he never charged me for that. In this fictitious example the church would help us work through all that.
The gospel is countercultural, it is future oriented, it directs us to true righteousness, and finally the gospel pushes us to radical love.
The gospel pushes us to radical love.
Let’s read verses 7-8.
7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
Here we really arrive at the heart of the matter. Paul has made his disgust for the situation at Corinth clearly known. He has just asked a series 6 probing (and accusatory) questions that serve to get them to look inwardly. And now, he spells out what they couldn’t see. “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.”
It doesn’t matter if you go into court and come out the winner – you lost before you even went in. For Christians to go into court against one another is a defeat. Why? Why is it a defeat?
For one, it indicates that the gospel is not having its transformative affect. In the case of the Corinthians, they were just going along with the culture, they didn’t have a future orientation, they weren’t allowing the righteousness of Christ to guide them.
Having lawsuits against one another is also a defeat because it tarnishes our testimony to the world. Jesus said that by the love we have for one another people will know we are his disciples. Our love and unity tell the world about Jesus.
More specifically having lawsuits against one another is a defeat because it also exposes a lack of love for one another. Christians shouldn’t even get to the point of taking each other to court in the first place because of the love they have for one another.
In chapter 13 Paul clearly defines love. Let me read to you a few verses and as I do, ask yourself if there is any room for a lawsuit in these words:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Is a lawsuit against a brother or sister in the Lord patient and kind? Does suing someone cause us not to be irritable or resentful? Does a lawsuit bear all things – even the wrong I think was done to me?
Paul asks two more questions to really hammer his point home 6:7 – “Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” Why not allow yourself to be wronged to be defrauded? Love bears the wrong done to us; Love endures being defrauded. Talk about countercultural. Everything in our society screams against this – “don’t be a doormat; stand up for yourself! Don’t let people push you around.” There may be a time for that. But here Paul asks, why not suffer wrong; why not be defrauded? Why not?
I’ll tell you why not. It’s hard! I don’t want to be wronged. Not natural to suffer wrong! Think about a situation where you were undeniably right and the other person arguing with you was clearly wrong. How do you respond? Did you suffer wrong? Or did you set the record straight?
You might be saying, “yeah, but in my situation it is clear that I am in the right. This situation needs to be corrected so that I can have justice.” Don’t miss the fact that Paul is talking to the person who has been wronged here; he’s talking to you. You have been wronged. Why not allow yourself to be wronged?
Is this not the very example we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
That’s love! That’s the love God has for us. Willing to suffer wrong, willing to be mistreated, willing to be falsely accused so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Because he has loved us like that, by his grace we can love like that.
The gospel informs the way we deal with the conflicts we will face with one another. It guides us being countercultural, it helps us to be future oriented, it directs us to true righteousness, and the gospel pushes us to radical love.
I encourage you as we begin this new year, a year we want to focus on prayer, to pray about this. To earnestly pray that the Lord would do a work in your life that you can see the fruit of the gospel in the relationships you have with the people in this church.
I also encourage you that as you pray about this, let the weight of these verses rest on you. They are heavy verses. Don’t try to wiggle out. Let the Spirit apply them to your heart.
As David mentioned at the beginning of the service, we are starting a new ministry this week. Each week after the service there will be people down here ready to pray with you. If you have any prayer needs make your way to the stage after the service and we will be happy to pray with you.
Sermon Discussion Questions
Have you ever experienced a lawsuit between believers? What was the end result?
Have you ever seen a church do what Paul is saying the Corinthian church should have done – settle these trivial cases themselves? What was the end result?
Why is it so hard to suffer wrong and to be defrauded? What are other examples in the Bible where believers suffered wrong?
How do we decide if a situation is an ‘exception’ and further action should be taken or that we should not suffer wrong?