enduring injustice — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

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!

Well, Paul has certainly been taking these believers to the proverbial “woodshed.” In the preceding texts we’ve looked at the past few weeks, Paul has admonished them for their arrogance and unwillingness to discipline a brother in the church for living in an immoral relationship that Paul says is not acceptable even among the culture around them.

Notice that Paul does not expect these people to be perfect. He understands that there are disagreements, conflicts, and grievances in this world and life. He does not suggest these are avoidable. The problem Paul is addressing here is how they handle it. This is consistent with the situation Paul addressed prior to this. The man’s immoral relationship with his father’s wife was wrong. It needed correcting. But, just as important was the testimony and integrity of the church, the community of faith. By ignoring it, they were sending a message that they didn’t have a problem with this. Outsiders would rightly question what is different or better about the Christian faith if they didn’t live any differently than everyone else. This is an important principle for this situation as well.

The problem is that believers are not settling their conflicts among themselves. They are taking the problems to the courts overseen by the “unrighteous.” What is Paul’s first attack against this? He says in verse 2 the “saints will judge the world,” and if that’s the case, can you (as saints) not handle issues that are trivial? Then, he adds in verse 3 that “we (the saints) are to judge the angels.” Whoa! I’ll be honest with you. I don’t have a clue how this would/will look. It’s difficult for me to imagine how or why God would want me to judge the world or angels. Perhaps there are things that God works in my life for the world and even angels to observe, and they serve as a witness for that to which they are held accountable. Whatever it is, at the very least, the message is that Christians following Christ should grow in God’s wisdom for the purpose of being a testimony of God’s holiness, wisdom, love, truth, righteousness, justice, mercy, and all good things that come from God. We should not fail to be able to address the “matters pertaining to this life” (v. 3) when God is preparing us for a life in his kingdom.

Paul’s counsel is to let other believers in the church help you settle your disputes with your brothers instead of sending a message to the world that Christians are foolish and can’t handle their own problems.

Paul digs a little deeper in verse 7. He says, “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” His point is that it is even better if you just let it go instead of suing your brother. Your loss is better than having even a Christian third party decide on the matter. Why is that? Isn’t that allowing injustice not to be addressed? Well, the fact of the matter is Paul is just following Jesus’ instruction on the matter. In Matthew 5:39-40 Matthew records Jesus saying, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” (Matt 5:39-40 ESV) Wow! I must admit that I need some maturing in this area. It is so easy to become upset at some perceived injustice, especially from those who call themselves Christians. I want it to be made right.

Paul is not finished and adds in verse 8 that they are also guilty of defrauding their brothers in the faith. This highlights the fundamental problem he’s been addressing from the beginning of the letter: these believers at Corinth are thinking of themselves first and foremost and not Christ or their fellow believers.

Prayer: Lord - Give us the mind of Christ and let it change our values and thoughts so that our highest desire is to be a testimony of your grace, truth, mercy, and righteousness to the world that they would want to receive Jesus1