Paul steps away momentarily from his teaching on sexual immorality, turning to the horror of lawsuits among believers, but he will return to it shortly. How is he connecting these two practices in the church at Corinth?
“When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 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? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life” (1 Cor 6:1-3)!
Paul is asking whether we are goldfish in the fishbowl with piranhas, or whether we are the ones outside judging the carnivorous sinners inside the bowl. Neither position is good. Have we ever stopped to think about a day when we will stand with Jesus judging certain angels – perhaps Satan himself? This puts a different perspective into how we act now within the church, doesn’t it?
“So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 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, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud – even your own brothers” (1 Cor 6:4-8)!
I have never been in a church where members are taking each other to court, but I have been in churches where disputes run hot at times. This is true especially during the pandemic of 2020. For very good reasons on both sides, we have worked to settle disputes over mask-wearing and social distancing, while watching our freedom of religion fall under attack by government authorities. So we have been learning how to settle these disputes with wise options that accommodate everyone. The result is great joy, just because we can all be together again as a family!
To paraphrase Paul, why not suffer inconvenience? Why not rather be inconvenienced? In the end, perfect unity is all about insuring that we inherit the kingdom of God!
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, not idolaters, not adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. 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” (1 Cor 6:9-11).
Hard as it is to read about immorality, it is important to personally listen to Paul, who could list many sins that apply to us without including the issues prevalent among the Corinthians. And then Paul can look us in the eyes and say, “And such were some of you.” This is true of me and it is true of you. But, oh, don’t miss the incredible news of Verse 11!
We have been washed clean.
We have been made holy.
We were made righteous!
How can this be?
By the name of Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us!
Do you have an issue with someone in your church? Sit down with a third party whom you both trust and reconcile. It is not as hard as you think because the Spirit is there in all three of you!
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
This is the stuff, the hard work, of perfect unity!