1 Corinthians 6:1-3
If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
These are challenging verses because of our litigant society where people are quick to sue for little things. What Paul says here is the ideal. In reality, few Christians are willing to put their fate into the hands of other Christians within the church. It is sad that this is the case. What would it take to do what Paul instructs here? It will take many of the things he writes about in this letter: unconditional love, the wisdom that comes through a lifetime of listening to the Holy Spirit, undivided fellowship marked by deep trust. It is hard to develop this level in most churches. Is there ever a point when Christians should take other Christians to civil court? In our day, life is much more complex than in the first century. We have to go behind this text to understand Paul’s motive and the principles that are guiding his directions here. What he says would not work well in most situations today. The big problem is enforcement. There may be situations where Christians may need the civil authorities to step in for reasons of enforcement. This may be the case where innocent people have been hurt in some way. It is one thing when it affects me, but it is another when it affects my wife or children. Perhaps we should work really hard on never coming to the point of needing to take other Christians to court, in the church or outside. Knowing human nature, we had better just be prepared.
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