The Effect of Lawsuits on our Family...

This week, we are asking a fundamental question: should Christians sue other Christians? Should followers of Jesus file lawsuits against one another? Is it ever O.K. for one Christian to take legal action against another Christian? And who wins when one Christian sues another Christian?

In a section of a letter to a church that we have been looking at recently, we see that a man named Paul had a lot to say about this issue of Christians suing Christians. In 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, Paul explains to the members of the church at Corinth, and to us today, that when Christians take other Christians to court by filing civil lawsuits that appear before nonchristians, we reveal four things about our day to day lives as Christians.

Yesterday we discovered that when we take one another to court before nonchristians, we reveal a faulty reflection. Paul then continues by explaining to the church at Corinth, and us today, that Christians filing lawsuits against Christians reveals something else about our day to day lives. And that something else is that when we take one another to court before nonchristians, we reveal a faulty family:

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? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.

1 Corinthians 6:7-8

Paul reminds that church that the fact that they have lawsuits among themselves is already a defeat for you. Paul’s point here is that the mere presence of lawsuits is in itself an utter loss in terms of the witness of the church and the advancement of the kingdom mission that they had been given.

Paul then asks two questions designed to reveal the selfish and sinful activity that was occurring at the church: Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?Paul is revealing for us the reality that there are times that as Christians, we should rather experience injustice against ourselves than harm our witness to the community that we are trying to reach for Christ.

And this another instance in the Bible where we see that Jesus never asks us to do something that He has not already done. Was Jesus wronged? Was Jesus defrauded? Did Jesus have every right to stand up and complain and respond? Yet Jesus laid aside His right to be right aside and allowed Himself to be wronged and defrauded so that He could complete the kingdom mission that He was given. And as His followers, there are times that we may need to lay aside our right to be right in order to not harm the witness of the church or the kingdom mission we have been given.

However instead of choosing to reflect Christ and advance the kingdom mission they were given, the members of the church of Corinth were wronging and defrauding one another. Instead of reflecting the love of Christ to one another, the church was selfishly attempting to take advantage of one another. And in the same way, Christians act unchristian when we fail to reflect Christ and we harm the kingdom mission we have been given when we take advantage of one another in a way that results in lawsuits amongst one another.

So what type of church family do you belong to? Does your church family reflect Christ? Or do they reflect a dysfunctional reality show filled with selfishness and conflict? And what effect does your church family have on the community around you?

The Effect of Lawsuits on our Reflection...

This week, we are asking a fundamental question: should Christians sue other Christians? Should followers of Jesus file lawsuits against one another? Is it ever O.K. for one Christian to take legal action against another Christian? And who wins when one Christian sues another Christian?

In a section of a letter to a church that we have been looking at recently, we see that a man named Paul had a lot to say about this issue of Christians suing Christians. In 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, Paul explains to the members of the church at Corinth, and to us today, that when Christians take other Christians to court by filing civil lawsuits that appear before nonchristians, we reveal four things about our day to day lives as Christians.

Yesterday we discovered that when we take one another to court before nonchristians, we reveal a faulty focus. Paul then continues by explaining to the church at Corinth, and us today, that Christians filing lawsuits against Christians reveals something else about our day to day lives. And that something else is that when we take one another to court before nonchristians, we reveal a faulty reflection. We see this in 1 Corinthians 6:3-6:

Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? 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, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?

Paul here is revealing for us that reality that in eternity, follower of Jesus will judge the angels. Angels are God’s special agents who are unseen supernatural spiritual beings who have supernatural but limited knowledge and power to accomplish God’s will or resist God’s will through their activities. Paul’s point here is that followers of Jesus will be divinely commissioned by God to sit on a tribunal that will judge how these supernatural beings fulfill their role as God’s special agents.

Paul then asks the members of the church at Corinth that, in light of this reality, are you not able to handle the ordinary and everyday matters that occur here on earth? Paul again is confronting the church on their failure to live up to their responsibilities and their role in relationship to one another in the church.

Paul also asks the members of the church at Corinth a question to expose the reality that the courts that had been established in the city of Corinth to handle the ordinary and everyday matters that occur here on earth are overseen by individuals who have no standing or merit as Christians in the church. The judges in these courts are not Christians and do not look at life through the prism of the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. And because of this reality, these courts could provide judgments that are not aligned with the message and teachings of Jesus, which could further promote and reinforce the unchristian behavior that was occurring in the church.

Paul then hammers home his point by stating that the fact that they rely on nonchristians to solve their lawsuits against one another should shame the members of the church. In addition, he sarcastically asks the church if they could not find one person among them who could help render a legal decision between two fellow believers. Paul then continues by stating that instead of handling their lawsuits amongst themselves, they had to expose their selfish and sinful behavior to the world by seeking legal resolution from nonchristians.

Paul is exposing the extremely poor reflection of Christ that the churches unchristian behavior was presenting to the community. The fact that the members of the church could not resolve these issues internally resulted in their sin being exposed publicly, which resulted in a poor reflection of Christ to their community.

And in the same way, when a community that is supposed to be marked by unity and a Christ-like response to conflict ends up suing one another civilly and publicly, we present a poor reflection of Christ to those who are far from God.

So, what reflection do others see when you are involved in conflict? Do they see Christ? Or do they see something altogether different?

Should Christians file lawsuits against other Christians?

There seems to be many stories that are now available through newspapers, the Internet, and on television that have chronicled cases of Christians filing lawsuits against other Christians. And these stories raise a fundamental question: should Christians sue other Christians? Should followers of Jesus file lawsuits against one another? Is it ever O.K. for one Christian to take legal action against another Christian? And does anyone actually win when one Christian sues another Christian?

In a section of a letter to a church that we have been looking at recently, we see that the issue of Christians suing Christians is not a new problem- it is a human problem that has existed for thousands of years. A man named Paul had a lot to say about this issue of Christians suing Christians, which we see beginning in 1 Corinthians 6:1:

Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?

Paul begins this section of his letter to the church at Corinth by asking a rhetorical question: Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Paul’s question to the church is designed to expose the reality that Christians who had a matter of legal contention against one another were bringing their legal cases to court before those who were nonchristians instead of Christians.

It is important to understand that these legal cases were not criminal cases that involved Christians committing acts of violence or property offense that violated the laws of the land. In another letter in our Bibles, located in Romans 13, Paul addresses the issue of criminal offenses by explaining that as members of a community we as Christians have a responsibility to participate in the protection of the community by following and assisting the government in the enforcement of the laws of our community. What was occurring in Corinth, however, was that members of the church at Corinth were filing civil lawsuits against one another that were being heard and judged by nonchristians.

Paul, having heard what was happening in Corinth, responds by revealing for us a timeless truth that can occur when Christians act unchristian. And that timeless truth is that Christians act unchristian when we take one another to court before nonchristians. In 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, Paul explains to the members of the church at Corinth, and to us today, that when Christians take other Christians to court by filing civil lawsuits that appear before nonchristians, we reveal four things about our day to day lives as Christians.

First, when we take one another to court before nonchristians, we reveal a faulty focus. We see this reality in 1 Corinthians 6:2:

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?

Paul introduces the well known and generally accepted fact that the members of the church at Corinth should be aware of in the form of a rhetorical question. And that well known fact is that Christians will judge the world. At the end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus Christ returns, followers of Jesus will be divinely commissioned by God to sit on a tribunal that will judge those things in the world that are hostile to God and set themselves up in opposition to God and His kingdom.

Paul then asks the members of the church of Corinth that, in light of the reality that they would be given this incredible large responsibility by God, are they not able to conduct a court that can handle the civil lawsuits that they were experiencing that are relatively insignificant and trivial by comparison. The members of the church at Corinth had become focused and engaged in legal fights that were over the temporal and temporary that they should have been mature enough and equipped enough to handle in light of the role and responsibilities that they were to have in eternity.

And in the same way today, Christians who act unchristian by suing one another civilly often find themselves focused and engaged in issues that are insignificant and trivial compared to the kingdom mission that we have been called to be engaged in and that we should be mature and equipped enough to handle.

So, as a follower of Jesus, where is your focus when it comes to conflict with one another that can lead to civil court? Are you allowing a conflict to get out of control, instead of bringing in others who are able to help before it gets to court?

What Failing to Deal with Sin in a Church Reveals, Part 4...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter written by a man named Paul to a group of Christians who were acting unchristian that reveals how failure to deal with sin through church discipline reveals four things about that church. We have seen that failure to deal with sin in a church reveals an arrogant acceptance of sin amongst its members and a lack of leadership in that church. We have also seen how failure to deal with sin in the church reveals a misunderstanding of its power.

Paul then concludes this section of his letter by showing us how a churches failure to deal with sin that is occurring within the membership of the church reveals a fourth thing about that church:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES. 1 Corinthians 5:9-12

Paul begins by addressing a misunderstanding that caused the members of the church at Corinth had taken his statements in a previous letter to mean that they were not to associate with anyone who was not a follower of Jesus. And even today there are churches who believe that as followers of Jesus we are to separate and not have any contact with those who are not Christians.

Paul then corrects their misunderstanding of his previous letter by explaining that he was not referring to nonchristians when he expressed that they were not to associate in community with those who practice a lifestyle of unlawful sexual intercourse, or for that matter, with anyone who is greedy, or lives a lifestyle of deceit, or who worships something other than God as God. Paul then tells the church that what he was directing the church at Corinth to do was that they were not to associate in community with a person who claims to be a Christian yet acts unchristian and lives a lifestyle marked by unrepentant unchristian behavior in their sexuality, in greediness, in the worship of something other than God as God, verbally abusiveness, drunkenness, or deceitfulness.

Paul then asks two rhetorical questions to expose the upside down nature of how the church at Corinth was handling church discipline. First Paul asks “for what do I have to do with judging outsiders” to which the answer is no. Paul here is explaining that Christians and the church are not to be passing judgment or condemning those who are non Christians. Paul then asks the second rhetorical question “do you not judge those who are within the church” to which the answer is supposed to be yes. Paul here is explaining that the church is supposed to be passing judgment or condemning those who are Christians who are acting unchristian through unrepentant sin.

Paul is revealing for us the timeless reality that failing to deal with sin in the church reveals our hypocrisy. Too often the church and Christians expect non Christians to act like Christians before they become Christians while at the same time allowing other Christians to act unchristian. It is not our place as followers of Jesus to pass judgment on those who are far from God or who have rejected the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Jesus Himself said in John 3:17-18 that He did not come to judge those who were not Christians, because they were judged already. Instead Jesus stated that God had sent Him into the world that the world might be saved through Him.

So do you expect non Christians to act like Christians before they become Christians while at the same time allowing other Christians to act unchristian? How have you seen hypocrisy impact Christians and the church?

What Failing to Deal with Sin in a Church Reveals, Part 3...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter written by a man named Paul to a group of Christians who were acting unchristian that reveals how failure to deal with sin through church discipline reveals four things about that church. We have seen that failure to deal with sin in a church reveals an arrogant acceptance of sin amongst its members and a lack of leadership in that church.

Paul then shows us how a churches failure to deal with sin that is occurring within the membership of the church reveals a third thing about that church:

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

In verse 6, Paul confronts the members of the church at Corinth by explaining that their prideful acceptance and approval of this sinful behavior is not good. Paul then provides the reason for the necessity of church discipline by bringing the members of the church back to the Jewish festival of Passover. Paul begins with the statement “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump”?

Leaven was a piece of fermented dough, that when mixed into a batch of dough, would cause it to rise. Paul is reminding the church that a little leaven will mix through and spread through the rest of the dough and ferment the entire dough. In the Bible, leaven is often used as a word picture for sin; so what Paul is communicating to the Corinthian church, and us today is “do you not know that a little sin in the church will mix its way through the entire church and infect the entire church with sin”?

Paul here is revealing for us the reality that failing to deal with sin in the church reveals our misunderstanding of sins power. In verse 7, Paul then commands the church at Corinth to clean out the old leaven. But what does that mean? To understand Paul’s point here, we first must understand what a Jewish person would do in order to prepare for the Passover Feast.

In preparation for the Passover feast, every Jewish person would go through their home and search for any leaven. This leaven, which was a picture of sin, was to be swept out of the home, so that the home would be in the right condition in order to celebrate the feast. Before a Jewish person and their family could worship God through the celebration of Passover, their houses needed to be free from sin. Paul was taking this Old Testament tradition and applying it to the New Testament situation in the church at Corinth by commanding the members of the church of Corinth to sweep away their attitude of tolerance and approval of sin from their church in the same way a Jewish person would remove the leaven prior to celebrating the Passover feast.

Paul then explains that by conducting church discipline, the church would be a new lump, just as in fact you are already unleavened. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Paul is bringing the members of the church back to the reality that the Jewish nation celebrated Passover every year to commemorate their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. During Passover, every Jewish family took an unblemished lamb and killed it at twilight. They would then take the blood of the lamb and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel, which was the piece of wood that formed the top of the door frame. That evening, the Lord went through the land of Egypt and struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, but He passed over all of the Jewish homes who had marked their doors with the blood of the lamb.

Paul’s point here is that as Christians, their previous selfish and sinful nature had been overcome through faith in Christ, who was the ultimate Passover lamb who allowed Himself to be treated as though he lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. And because of the reality that Christ is the ultimate Passover lamb, in verse 8 Paul calls the members of the church of Corinth to come together as a community that is not marked with the negative attitudes that marked their life prior to becoming Christians, or with a lifestyle of wickedness or a lack of moral and social values that that mark a selfish and sinful life. Instead, Paul is directing the members of the church of Corinth to be Christians who act Christian through a lifestyle marked by purity and truthfulness to Christ and His teachings.


So, what is your view of sin? Do you understand the impact and influence that selfishness and sin can have on those around you? Do you think that churches understand the infectious power that sin can have among their members?

What Failing to Deal with Sin in a Church Reveals, Part 2...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter written by a man named Paul to a group of Christians who were acting unchristian that reveals how failure to deal with sin through church discipline reveals four things about that church. Yesterday, we saw that failure to deal with sin in a church reveal an arrogant acceptance of sin amongst its members.

Paul then shows us how a churches failure to deal with sin that is occurring within the membership of the church reveals a second thing about that church in 1 Corinthians 5:3-5:

For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Paul explains that even though he is not in Corinth, he has evaluated what he has heard about the nature of the sin in the church and the churches refusal to deal with the offenders and has come to a conclusion about how he will respond as a leader. Paul here is revealing for us the reality that failing to deal with sin in the church reveals a lack of leadership. Since the current leadership at the church in Corinth is refusing to deal with the sin that is occurring in the church, Paul tells the church that he will deal with it from Ephesus, where he was writing this letter.

But how is Paul going to deal with the churches sin when he is hundreds of miles away? Paul answers this question by stating that the next time that the church is gathered together in community for worship, even though he will not be physically present, as a leader on the basis of the authority given him by Jesus, he will be spiritually present. And because of his role and position of authority, Paul states that he will deliver the couple over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Really? What does Paul mean here when he states that he has decided to hand these people, who say they are Christians, over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh? Paul here is directing the church, through this letter, to exercise church discipline and expel the offending parties from the church community and back into the non believing community, which is under the sphere of Satan. Paul’s point here is that since these members would rather act unchristian, let them live like nonchristians outside the community of faith and away from its spiritual protection. By being placed outside of the church community through church discipline, Paul is hoping that the flesh, which is our selfish and self-centered orientation away from God would be destroyed, resulting in repentance and salvation from the judgment of God that will occur when Jesus returns.

The timeless truth that Paul reveals for us about the nature of church discipline here is that church discipline is divinely designed to bring repentance and a return from rebellion against God to fellowship with God and His people. And since the current leadership at the church seems to be unwilling to exercise church discipline, Paul is writing the church and exerting His unique authority and leadership as an Apostle and church planter to exercise correction and church discipline against those who are rebelling against the teachings of Jesus.

The harsh truth that Paul shows us here is that a failure to deal with sin in the church among its members reveals the reality of a lack of leadership in that church.

So how do you think your leadership is doing at handling church discipline? Does your leadership exercise church discipline in a way that is focused on repentance from rebellion from God back to fellowship with God and His people? Does your church ever even talk about the purpose of church discipline and why it is necessary?

What Failing to Deal with Sin in a Church Reveals...

Whether you are a follower of Jesus or you consider yourself skeptical or even far from God, when you hear the words "church discipline" a picture comes to mind, doesn’t it. But have you ever wondered why the phrase church discipline conjures up such images? Why do the words “church discipline” carry such baggage?

In another section of a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to a group of Christians who were acting unchristian we see a timeless truth as to why the issue of church discipline is such an important issue. We see this truth exposed in a passage that begins in 1 Corinthians 5:1:

"It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst."

Paul begins this section of his letter by explaining to the church at Corinth that he has heard that there was a couple who were members of the church that were involved in sinful activity that was so grossly offensive that it would not even be considered by nonchristians. When Paul uses the word immorality here, he is referring a family in the church was involved in an incestuous relationship where a father and a son were having sex with the same woman. Paul here is stating to the church at Corinth that the sin that was being committed by this couple in the church was so grossly offensive that even that people who were as far from God or had rejected God would not even consider acting in such a way.

In verse 2, however, Paul continues by revealing the true nature of the problem. Paul explains to the church at Corinth that the problem is not just the incredibly offensive nature of the sinful sexual relationship; for Paul the issue is that the church was actually approving of this sin and viewed themselves as being very spiritually mature and tolerant. And it is this situation at the church at Corinth that reveals a timeless truth that Christians act unchristian when we fail to deal with sin in the church.

In these verses we see that failing to deal with sin in the church reveals an arrogant acceptance. Instead of grieving over the impact that this sin would cause in the life of the individual and the church; instead of confronting and dealing with the sin by exercising church discipline, the church instead had an exaggerated concept of how healthy and mature they were as a church.

Paul’s point to the church at Corinth was that their failure to deal with the gross sin in their church by their tolerance and their acceptance was actually hurting how the world around them viewed the church. Paul is saying to the church “this gross sin does not exist among the unbelieving world around you, so how are you going to be able to influence and impact those around you with the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with this arrogant and tolerant attitude about such grossly sinful behavior”.

And today, when we act arrogantly and accept behavior within the membership of the church that clearly contradicts the message and teachings of Jesus and the Bible, we lose our ability to influence and impact those around us with those teachings.

So, does your church arrogantly accept behavior among it's members? How does that arrogant acceptance of sin impact your view of the church? How does that arrogant acceptance of sin impact how those who are far from God or who are skeptical about God impact how they view the church?

This week, we will look at how a church's failure to deal with sin among its members reveals three other things about that church...