TO SUE OR NOT TO SUE?

1 CORINTHIANS 6:1-11

NASB

1 Does any one of you, when he has a [a]case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the [b]saints? 2 Or do you not know that the [a]saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to [b]constitute the smallest law courts? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? 4 So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, [a]do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, 6 but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?

7 Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [a]effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

6:1 [a]Lit matter [b]Or holy ones 6:2 [a]V 1, note 2 [b]Or try the trivial cases? 6:4 [a]Or appoint them...church 6:9 [a]I.e. effeminate by perversion

NLT

1 When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers[*]! 2 Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? 3 Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. 4 If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? 5 I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? 6 But instead, one believer[*] sues another —right in front of unbelievers!

7 Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.[*]

9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people —none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

[6:1] Greek God’s holy people; also in 6:2. [6:6] Greek one brother. [6:8] Greek even the brothers.

If they aren’t luring us in with billboards, they’re enticing us on television. If they aren’t combing police reports for accident victims to solicit, they’re mailing color pamphlets to our homes trying to stir up interest in their services. Lawyers. Admittedly, there are times we need these trained, skilled, and experienced professionals to help us work through complicated contracts, business ventures, or serious cases in which our rights have been violated. But let me suggest that our world has become lawsuit-crazed, sometimes turning the legal profession into a market-driven industry.

What we see today is nothing new. In the Greco-Roman culture that enveloped the Corinthian church, lawsuits abounded. Sadly, as we have seen, the Christians in Corinth had been slow to abandon many of the vices of the secular culture; the rage over civil litigation was no exception. In 6:1-11 Paul identifies a major problem plaguing his readers: lawsuits among the brethren. He exposes its source and offers a solution fit not only for first-century believers but also for Christians in this generation.

LAWSUITS IN GRECO-ROMAN SOCIETY

1 CORINTHIANS 6:1

In ancient Greece, home of the world’s first democracy, the courts bustled with activity. Barclay writes, “[The Greeks] were characteristically a litigious people. The law courts were one of their chief entertainments. . . . In a Greek city every man was more or less a lawyer and spent a very great part of his time either deciding or listening to law cases.”[31]

The Greek city of Athens was especially notorious for its fondness of litigation. Because lawsuits often were won by those who presented not the best evidence but the most persuasive arguments, those with great oratorical skills were highly prized. One historian writes, “The fondness of the Athenians for litigation and their never failing abundance of lawsuits and also of political processes caused the art of forensic eloquence to flourish.”[32]

Corinth, with its metropolitan atmosphere, international trade centers, and close proximity to Athens —the lawsuit capital of Greece —couldn’t help but become polluted by the lawsuit mania. Keener notes, “Roman society was notoriously litigious, and Corinth, with its rising class of nouveau riche, was even more so. Many ancient lawsuits addressed property matters among the wealthy; some grievances were simply pretexts for avenging insults and pursuing enmity.”[33]

Combine the Corinthian Christians’ keenness for rhetorical skill with their adoption of the culture’s fascination with litigation, and the sad result of believers suing other believers in civil court was bound to infect the church.

— 6:1 —

Like the pagans around them, the Corinthian Christians took their interpersonal disputes with other believers to the civil courts, where unbelievers judged their cases according to Roman civil law. Whether it related to family matters, property, inheritance, breach of contract, or slander, these civil suits had become common enough that Paul had heard about them and saw the need to address the problem head-on.

Paul’s probing question in 6:1 drips with incredulity and disdain. It was more of a jab or a stab than a gentle inquiry, since Paul already knew that some had taken cases before unbelievers (6:6-8). So when we read this introduction to the topic of lawsuits among brethren (6:1), we probably ought to picture Paul with brows raised, stunned by the audacity of his children in the faith.

Paul’s indignant reaction to the situation in Corinth is punctuated all the more when we remember that in the previous chapter Paul had to chastise the church for failing to pass moral judgment on sexual perversion in their midst. Not only did they not judge those who needed to be judged for the sake of the holiness of the church (1 Cor. 5:12), but when they did judge one another, they turned to unregenerate judges, further compromising their holiness!

— 6:2-3 —

After catching the attention of the perpetrators, Paul develops his argument based on solid theological foundations: Christian identity and destiny. He begins by reminding them of who they are in Christ in light of the promises of what they will become: judges not only of the world (6:2) but also of angelic beings (6:3). One day, after the resurrection from the dead, the saints will reign with Christ as judges over both the spiritual and earthly realms (Jude 1:14-15; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; 20:4).

Based on this theological truth, Paul argues from the greater to the lesser. Because one day the saints will be entrusted with judging the weightiest matters of the future world, why are they having such trouble arbitrating the smallest issues of the present world (1 Cor. 6:2-3)? The language Paul uses to refer to lawsuits appropriate for “the smallest” courts (6:2) likely refers to trivial matters that never should have achieved such a pitch of fury.

This reference also indicates that Paul is specifically referring to what we call civil lawsuits as opposed to criminal cases. One commentator notes: “In speaking of Christians taking Christians to court, Paul does not specify any criminal cases because he teaches elsewhere that these must be handled by the state (Rom. 13:3, 4). In the expression pragma echōn (‘having a lawsuit or dispute’), Paul means to include different kinds of property cases (1 Cor. 6:7).”[34] Paul does not attack human government as the God-ordained institution empowered to promote law and justice in the world.[35] In fact, Christians always have regarded criminal cases to be under the legitimate jurisdiction of the state. Paul’s condemnation specifically applies to voluntary civil suits filed by individual believers against other individual believers.

Paul’s point is that the matters under consideration were so minor that they didn’t require the attention of legal experts. Once the believers really understood their position in Christ and they appropriated biblical principles, they had all the essentials necessary for arbitrating their own disputes among church members. They needed only to apply them.

— 6:4-6 —

Without putting down the wisdom and authority of the civil magistrates, Paul puts the perspective of the unregenerate judge in its proper place. The values and virtues of the Christian faith, sourced in love and centered on grace, do not match the values and virtues of the civil courts —justice that follows the letter of the law. The difference between secular courts and sacred counsel is the difference between law and grace. The unbelieving legal experts don’t understand the Christian life. They don’t understand what it means to walk in the Spirit, to look at things from God’s perspective, to weigh the temporal against the eternal, and to look out not only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. We should recall that for the lost man, such spiritual things are “foolishness” (2:14). The opinions of such a judge should have no account in the church (6:4), which is governed by the law of Christ operating in unconditional love among the brethren.

From a mature, spiritually-minded Christian perspective, asking a worldly-minded non-Christian to settle disputes among believers who are to live according to Christ’s otherworldly mandates is like entering a writing contest with judges who can’t read. The idea isn’t only absurd, but, as Paul says, it’s shameful (6:5). In an outburst sharp with sarcasm, Paul marvels that the Corinthians apparently had failed to find even one wise man among them qualified to arbitrate disputes among believers in the church (6:5). His point particularly stings when we recall that the Corinthians were proud of their alleged wisdom (1 Cor. 1–2). Based on the fact that “brother goes to law with brother” before unbelieving judges (6:6), an outside observer might logically infer that the wisest of the Corinthian leaders were fools who couldn’t handle even simple worldly matters.

— 6:7-8 —

In any lawsuit the goal is to win big. Nobody files a case with the courts if they expect to lose. Yet according to Paul, the very fact that they resorted to civil litigation meant that, from God’s perspective, they had lost already (6:7). As the world watched Christian “love” and “fellowship” disintegrate into hate and infighting, they sneered at the claims of the faith even more than usual. No wonder Paul said they were already defeated: Before the eyes of the world, they had lost their testimony as authentic disciples of Christ (John 13:35). Before the eyes of other Christian churches throughout the world, they had lost their holiness and unity. Regardless of the outcome of the civil lawsuit, the believers would come out behind with regard to their spiritual lives, and the church itself would be stained with yet another scandal.

Because the loss of personal testimony and corporate witness carries eternal weight, Paul looked at disputes over temporal matters in a different light. It would be better, he says, to be wronged and defrauded than to be known as someone who wrongs and defrauds others (1 Cor. 6:8). If fellow Christians wrong us, we should take it as an opportunity to follow Christ’s clear admonitions: “But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matt. 5:39-42).

If we are to live as disciples of Christ, observing all that He commanded us (Matt. 28:20), a good place to start is in our interaction with fellow believers. Yet His countercultural teachings are tough to apply. Like the Corinthians, our tendency is to stand up for our rights and fight for our reputations and possessions. To return blow for blow and offense for offense, however, does not reflect the teachings of Christ, but rather the values of the world.

— 6:9-11 —

In 6:9-11, Paul shifts his strategy to further contrast the values and lifestyles of unbelievers with that of the status and inheritance of believers. Many of the vices he lists are either sexual in nature (fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, and homosexuals) or have to do with ill-gotten gain (thieves, the covetous, swindlers). This further strengthens his case that Christians have no business taking their disputes before non-Christians. Note the stark contrast:

BELIEVERS	UNBELIEVERS
Inheritors of the kingdom of God, washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God (6:11)	Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, swindlers (6:9-10)

When Paul states that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God, he is not implying that the Corinthians might lose their salvation. Nowhere in this passage —unlike 5:1 —does he accuse them of any of the vices listed in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. On the contrary, he explicitly states that some of them used to practice those things prior to their salvation (6:11). His point is that the believers, indwelled by the Spirit and destined to act as judges (6:3) in the kingdom, have access to more than enough wisdom to judge civil disputes among themselves. The secular judges may have a high position in the earthly kingdom, either by inheritance or appointment, but they themselves are often guilty of sinful lifestyles that would cloud their judgment and disqualify them from settling matters among believers.

APPLICATION: 1 CORINTHIANS 6:1-11

Escaping the Legal Swamp

“I’ve got my rights!”

“I’ve got it coming to me!”

“I just want my fair share!”

“I don’t have to take that from you!”

Those are the overused words of our sue-saturated generation. Children sue their parents. Pupils sue their teachers. Athletes sue their coaches. Wives sue husbands and employees sue employers. And it isn’t limited to unbelievers. Christians are now waist deep in the legal swamp. Christian neighbors sue each other. Christian faculty members are filing suit against the administrations of schools, colleges, and seminaries. Churches not only sue one another, but congregations now sue their pastors —and vice versa. Parishioners who have complaints about the counseling they received from their ministers are turning to the courts to voice their anger and to seek a large financial settlement!

Yes, brothers and sisters in the family of God actually are dragging each other through the mucky mire of the legal swamp, often to the exclusion of any attempts at reconciling face to face. You would think 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 had somehow fallen out of their Bibles!

Don’t think I’m naïve enough to believe that we Christians don’t need laws or that we never have reason to complain, or that I’m blind to the fact that wolves in sheep’s clothing still prey on and exploit flocks. We must be discerning, alert, and ever mindful that human depravity must be held in check and such wickedness in our churches must be exposed. Yet the way we go about it, the spirit with which we handle conflict, the attitudes we exhibit while working through the difficult process of reconciliation —that’s where too often we abandon our Christian values and take up worldly vices like weapons. Instead of dealing with these things from a spiritual perspective, too often we press the issue from a strictly legal standpoint. Even if we win the case, we don’t walk away humble and grateful. We walk away proud and emboldened, usually ready to strike the next person or group that crosses us.

It seems to me that Christians today need a reminder about how to resolve disputes in a thoroughly godly manner. Let me urge you to spend some time studying and meditating upon the following passages, jotting down some observations about what God is telling us about dispute resolution.

PASSAGE	OBSERVATIONS
1 Corinthians 6:1-8
Romans 12:14-19
Ephesians 4:31-32

Don’t stop with just a few observations. Go back and turn these into commands. How is God asking us to adjust our worldly attitudes and actions? How are we to respond to those who offend, harm, or betray us?

You’ll discover, as I have, that God’s approach is countercultural, radical, and almost unbelievable. It doesn’t come naturally, nor can it be implemented with a stubborn will and a proud spirit. Unselfishness must prevail. A Christian approaching conflict resolution biblically must be willing to listen, to negotiate, to yield, to confess, to forgive, to submit, to release, and ultimately to forget.

But, you see, that’s what brings about the joy of restoration, strengthened relationships, and authentic fellowship. Humility replaces pride. Thankfulness cancels out arrogance. Mercy flies in the face of resentment. Love conquers all.