All right, we got ready.
I wore my New England dress boots this morning.
If you haven't lived up here before, welcome to snow.
It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.
So I wonder what you would do this morning if you walked out and you saw one of your brothers and sisters backing out of their parking space,
completely crush your back bumper, shattering the taillight, and drive off, leaving your bumper hanging,
your side panel dented, and your car technically undrivable because of a broken taillight.
How would you respond?
This isn't normally what we would think about when we come to church this morning,
but in the providence of God and in the writing of his scripture, this is what he leaves us with.
Should we as Christians just forgive and forget?
I, as a brother in Christ, I'm sure he didn't mean it.
It's too bad.
Just overlook it.
Should we follow every bus in New Haven and go get Carter and get our rights and get him to pay us back?
Do we call the police?
File police report.
Somebody hit my car.
What if it's only scratch or a ding?
Does that make a difference?
What if it's undrivable?
You know, we live in a culture where things like this happen every day.
And in our culture, we respond almost always by wanting to protect our rights.
We want to go get what is ours.
Protect what is ours.
Sue if you can.
Sue if you need to.
To make sure that no one takes advantage of you.
My seminary professor, D.A. Carson, wrote this.
We've entered an era of multiplying litigation in which punitive compensatory damages are ardently sought.
Less out of a passion for dispassionate justice than out of our passionate greed.
Out of vengeful pettiness that feeds on newly discovered forms of, quote unquote, victimization.
That's a dense mouthful, isn't it?
Let's unpack it.
What he's saying is what drives our culture?
We love to sue.
Why?
We don't just want to get the money back that we're owed.
We want to punish the person who's made it inconvenient for us to do that.
So we seek punitive compensatory damages.
We want not just our money, but we want to punish the person who did it.
And what drives us?
Not a pure desire for justice in the world, but a passionate pursuit of greed.
Passionate greediness covers us.
And vengeful pettiness.
You did this to me, I'm going to do that to you.
I'm going to get you back for what you did to me.
And a culture of victimization, which says, I'm the victim here, therefore, I am going
to pursue every avenue to make sure that I get paid back for what I have suffered.
It's so easy to feel this way.
So easy to think, but it's my rights.
It's my legal rights.
It's my human rights.
It's my created in God's image rights.
I want to be the judge.
I want to hold everyone accountable.
I want to make sure that I don't lose in the process.
Is this really how the gospel shapes us to respond to situations like this?
Is the church to respond differently in these situations?
What kind of a difference does it make that we know Jesus?
Now, as we explore this, let me give you a couple of disclaimers.
One is that there's no way that we can cover all of the contingencies that might come up.
Life is way messier than case studies.
And you may be sitting there this morning thinking, there is no other way.
That seems really right.
And when you start to hear me read the passage and you think, you want me to do that?
You're going to have all of these yes buts ringing in your ears and rising up in your heart.
Well, hang in there because hopefully we'll address some of those.
This is where we're going to go.
First, we're going to look at our passage.
It's 1 Corinthians 6.
I forgot to look up the page number again.
It's in your bulletin.
It's in, I don't know, 1,000 and something.
9.54.
Thank you.
9.54.
1 Corinthians 6.
We're looking at the next passage.
This is a series.
Nick said it last week.
Let me say it again.
We wouldn't have picked this as a topical sermon, would we have?
It's just the next passage as we go through this letter.
And yet, we have so much to learn and God has so much to speak to us.
And so, what a blessing it is for us.
We're going to look at the passage first and just try to understand it in its own context.
What does it say?
And why does it say it?
Secondly, we're going to express what I'm guessing are some of those yes buts that rise up in your heart.
Some of the questions about these kinds of situations.
Third, I'm going to look at two case studies to try to apply it in depth for you to think about it.
What would this actually look like in practice?
And fourth, we're going to look for the grounds.
How is it?
How is it that the gospel might actually help us do this?
How might the gospel shape our thinking so that we could actually do what this passage tells us to?
So, first, let's read together 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 1 through 8.
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?
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 rather suffer wrong?
Why not rather be defrauded?
But you yourselves wrong and defraud even your own brothers?
Let's pray.
Lord, we come to this passage this morning and we confess that it is hard.
This is not how we typically think.
And it's not how we typically act.
God, I pray this morning that you would help us to understand your word.
That your spirit would lead us to clarity.
Clarity of what the truth is.
And also, Lord, a clarity about who you are and why who you are makes a difference.
How we live our everyday life.
God, I pray for your help for me as I speak.
That my words would be yours.
That you would use them in all of our hearts for your glory.
And for our good.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Just to remind you, last week, Pastor Nick preached on chapter 5.
And it talked about how within the church family, within the church body,
pursuing the good of the whole, the good of each of us,
in our happiness and our spiritual well-being is pursuing holiness.
And that to pursue that holiness is in love to confront sin when it arises.
And to even break judgment within the church against those who, in repeated, unrepentant sin,
contradict their confession of being a follower of Christ.
And so it ends, chapter 5 ends with, are we not to judge those within the church?
We are.
Are we to judge those outside?
No, that's God's job.
But within the church, we are to pursue this holiness together.
Paul picks up this thread and he deals with a slightly different situation.
But the theme is still judgment.
And the context is still within the church family.
Within those who have committed themselves to Christ.
And interestingly, if you've noticed, even as I read this, this passage is not an argument.
This passage is a rant.
It is a diatribe.
He just cannot believe what the Corinthian church is doing.
And his explanation, he sort of says, you're doing this?
How could that be?
And then he gives a couple of reasons why his outrage is so deep.
And so let's look at first what he's saying and then why he says it.
What are the grounds in it?
First, you see it in verse 1.
He says, you're going to the law before the unrighteous instead of the saints.
He's saying, when you have a dispute, you are taking them to the civil courts.
Now, the civil courts in Corinth were a very public matter.
It was actually a place of entertainment for the Corinthian community.
Many people would gather for these spectacles.
Think of, you know, the people's court on steroids.
This is what the civil courts looked like.
And Paul is saying, why are you taking a dispute with a brother in Christ or a sister in Christ
in front of the public?
Why are you doing that?
Now, one of the things we need to define very early on, and this will become very important
as we address some of the yes buts, right?
Is what is the case?
Look at how he describes what the problem is.
Verse 1 says it's a grievance.
Verse 2 says it's a trivial case.
Verse 3 says it's matters pertaining just to this life.
Verse 5 calls it a dispute.
What is it that is being addressed here?
It is important to see that this is not breaking a law.
This is not assault.
This is not violence.
This is not high-handed, large malfeasance and corruption.
These are smaller cases.
These were what, in our legal system, would typically be called civil cases, where we're
seeking damages or money to be paid back or resolving money that is owed.
It tends to be oriented towards property.
If you've ever seen Judge Judy, this is what she does.
She offers legal arbitration for small claims court.
And these are the issues that I think that Paul has in mind here.
We'll come back to that.
But let me just say that that's an important framework.
These are the kinds of cases.
And he's saying, why are you dragging this into the public forum for entertainment, for
the shame of the church, as he says in verse 5, for the dishonoring of the name of Christ?
He says, because there's another way to do this.
There's another way to resolve this, right?
Look at the end of verse 1.
Dare he go?
Does he dare go to the law before the unrighteous?
Instead of the saints.
And so his first reason, we see in verses 2 through 6, is because the saints, because
of God's regenerate work in them, because of their knowledge, however imperfect, of the
justice and righteousness of God and the nature of his kingdom, have a role eternally in God's
creation to judge the world.
This is probably built off of a, there's a tradition built from Daniel 7, 22.
You don't have to go there.
But where it seems that the saints will judge the world, will sit in judgment.
You see in Matthew 19, 28, Jesus seems to indicate similarly that the church will sit in judgment
of the world with Jesus.
With Jesus.
As Jesus is the ultimate one, who has the ultimate right, and who is the perfect judge, we will
join with him in that future eschatological judgment, that judgment that is to come.
He says if the church is going to participate in the future, judging not only even the world, but
even the angels, the spiritual world, as well as the physical world, don't you think that
the saints can resolve a little petty disagreement over stuff that's not going to last forever?
He argues from the greater to the lesser.
If the saints are going to do these great things, why do you not think they could do the lesser
things?
And why would you abandon that judgment?
Take that judgment out of the church, a community where understanding of God's principles of justice
and righteousness, of moral purity, and also of mercy and of grace, and how these things
ought to work together.
Why would you take them outside to a community that's going to have much less, only a common
grace understanding of those principles?
Those who don't know the God of the Bible struggle to understand how he can be both a God of justice
and a God of grace.
Struggle to know how his patience with the fallen world and his absolute moral purity and righteousness
live together.
Friends, we know within the church this God.
Don't take it outside is what Paul is saying.
So that's what we see in verses 2 through 6.
And then in verses 7 and 8, he takes it another step further.
Not only are we to resolve these disputes within the church because the saints are to judge the
world, but also in verses 7 through 8 because, and this is hard to say, let alone for it to land
in your hearts, but let me just say it.
Because it is better to be wronged than to win.
Paul says if you have these lawsuits publicly happening out there, you have already lost.
You have already lost the honor of the Christian community.
You have already lost because you have abandoned the places where you are most likely to find judgment
that will be just and right.
But you have already lost because when you do that, you have taken your brother and sister,
one for whom Christ died, and you have made him an adversary.
When you take it out into the civil court system, you are functionally and fundamentally making
your brother or your sister an adversary.
And Paul says, why not suffer being wronged instead of destroying the unity of the church and bringing
public dishonor to the name of Christ by pursuing your rights?
Paul says you are being motivated by self-protection and self-gain, and you are jeopardizing something
precious for the sake of money and your own personal sense of rights.
Now I know you're all saying, but, but, but, but, but, but, we'll get there.
Please hang in there.
Don't lose, don't let me lose you.
But this is a striking command that Paul gives.
Why not rather be wronged?
That's what he's saying to the party who has lost in this civil case.
And then in verse eight, he turns it on the other person and he says, but you're already
wronging one another.
You're already doing these things.
He says, stop it.
Even your own brothers, you are doing these things.
And in doing so, you are destroying the church.
So this is what Paul's saying.
Paul's saying when we have these petty disputes, if someone backs into my car in the parking lot,
I ought to resolve this first and foremost with my brother and sister in Christ within the church,
in a way that the church, in a way that honors one another as fellow heirs of Christ,
in a way that reflects the justice and mercy and love that are to characterize the church community.
Rather than seeking to assert our rights or wanting to just win or make sure that we don't lose,
we are to address this remarkably different.
All right.
Are we ready?
Now we're there for the but, but, but.
Here we go.
Here are a couple of things that I'd like to be raising up in your heart as you hear this passage.
First is, is the church really safe?
Is the church really going to do this well?
And look, the track record is not great.
We know, I mean, let's be honest, we are in this church today partly because of the scandal of the Catholic church
and its inability to deal internally with justice and righteousness to protect its parishioners.
But lest you feel like I'm throwing stones at stained glass windows,
if you went home and Googled the Southern Baptist Church
and sexual assault,
you would find that our own denomination has a pretty lousy track record in this case as well.
There is quite a public record of ways in which our, broadly, our denomination has not dealt well with this.
Let me just acknowledge that up front.
But what Paul is arguing here is that if chapter 5 is actually working, chapter 6 makes sense.
Okay?
Is the church safe?
I'm going to tell you, it's flawed.
But, Nick stood up here last week and said to you,
we are committed as a church to chapter 5 being what characterizes our church.
And we may not do it perfectly,
but we are committed to doing it and growing in it
and doing it better and better and better.
because we love holiness and because we want your happiness
and because we want the honor of Christ.
And so we're going to deal with our stuff
internally
as a church.
And if that's true,
then I want to ask you to at least have hope
that chapter 6, 1 through 8,
could be a real thing as well.
Because trusting the ability
and the judgment of the church
to address sin and wrongdoing
is a part of the picture
of what Paul is painting here
as a gospel community.
It is absolutely essential.
If I polled you,
my guess is that over 50% of you
would say,
if I had a dispute,
would you rather go to a civil judge
or to the church elders
to have it resolved?
My guess is over 50% of you,
your gut reaction would be,
I wouldn't go to the church.
I think that's just where we're at today.
But friends,
1 Corinthians 6 challenges us
to rethink that.
I know I haven't allayed
all of your fears.
We'll keep going with some of those
in just a minute.
The second,
the second what about?
What about people
who aren't in church?
What do I do if it's,
I don't know who it was,
some guy driving a frontier car.
It didn't look like
it was a member of our church.
What do I do then?
Well, you know what?
Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2
outlay the fact that God
has given us a civil government
in order to address,
in an attempt,
in a common grace way,
those civil governments
are meant to rule over our lives
and to rule over our societies
to bring justice
and to provide care
for the citizens of it.
Right?
To promote health
and safety and peace
and to punish wrongdoing.
That seems to be the role
of a civil government.
And you know what?
If it's someone outside the church,
then we can engage
in the civil government's role
that it would have.
So it's okay to do it there.
Paul is not saying
that we can't ever take someone
to court for something like this.
But he is saying
that if we do it in the church,
if it's someone in the church,
we ought to have
a different approach.
Now,
you'll see this play out
in a little bit.
We still need to check
our own hearts.
Because as a believer,
I should never be driven
by,
what did Dr. Carson call it,
vindictive pettiness,
passionate greed,
punitive compensatory rights.
We should never be driven
by those things.
Even in our interactions
with others outside the church.
But if it is outside the church,
the church can't,
it has no authority
to rule over this case.
And so it's okay
to address it
appropriately
in society.
The third thing,
this is the one I'm guessing,
is
ringing in your ears.
What about cases
that don't seem
so trivial?
All right?
We're going to go
right for the jugular
because sexual abuse
is one of the places
where the church
has failed
so drastically
and so dramatically.
Okay?
Let me help you understand
how this passage
relates to that.
First of all,
as I clarified earlier,
this passage
is about civil cases.
It is not actually
about criminal cases.
That's a distinction
in our legal system.
There might be
some gray areas.
For those of you
who are lawyers,
you might be saying,
well,
what about this?
What about that?
We could talk through that.
We could try to think through
the contingencies of it.
But broadly,
if a crime is committed,
that's not what
Paul is addressing here.
And in fact,
if a crime is committed,
we as a church
are thankful
that we have a government
to oversee us
and to rule us
in those ways.
And so,
in a criminal case,
breaking the law
is still wrong.
And there are
appropriate consequences.
Let's talk about
sexual abuse
as a breaking of the law
and its place
in the life
of the church.
And we have to deal
with this directly
because in the history
of the church,
it's a bad track record.
Some of you
this morning
may be sitting here
having experienced it
being done badly.
Whether you have been
a victim of that,
whether you have
known others
who have suffered that,
whether you have
seen churches
implode
over it
being handled poorly.
the public nature
of the abuse scandal
in our culture
and in our country
makes it necessary
to do this.
So let's talk about it.
I want to allay your fears
by addressing
very directly
what would happen.
What would happen
if there was
an accusation
of sexual assault
abuse in our church?
First of all,
would we apply
1 Corinthians 6,
1 through 8
to this?
Basically,
the answer is no.
We don't think
it applies
directly.
We don't think
that it's addressing
a similar situation.
What would we do?
Some of this
comes straight
from our sexual abuse
policy that's
publicly printed
on our website.
You can find it
under Children's Ministry
if you want to go
see what it looks like.
First of all,
we secure
the safety
of the one
who has
allegedly
been abused.
Secondly,
we remove
the accused
from any
further opportunity
to continue
their abuse.
and then
we would call
the police.
Within 12 hours
is what's
in our standard.
We would remove
the accused
from any
further
responsibility
or role
within our church
that might
give them
access to
or opportunity
to do
any other
abuse.
We would
fully cooperate
with the
police investigation.
We'd not only
call them
and invite them
but we would
seek
to bring
every fact
to light
for them
so that
they can do
their role
in investigating
a criminal case.
Why would we
do this?
Well,
first,
because it's
not a trivial
matter.
Abuse
destroys
people's lives.
It also
destroys
the integrity
of our gospel
community
and the witness
of the church.
For us
to do
anything
less
than to
bring it
to light
and to
see it
followed
through
would be
to
dishonor
Christ
more than
it would
be
to
misguidedly
try to
hide it.
to
do
to
do
this.
Because it
is a
crime
and we
would
recognize
that the
government
has a
proper role
in investigating
the claim.
Thirdly,
we would
see that
the government's
role in
investigating
this claim
is a part
of God's
gracious
work
in this
situation.
This is
probably one
of the places
where it's
hardest for
us to
understand.
But what
the police
do is to
try to
establish
the facts
of the
case
so that
they can
determine
whether the
crime was
actually
committed
and if it
was,
then there
are appropriate
consequences
that are
brought down.
Now I know
our justice
system isn't
perfect,
but it's the
only one we
have.
And so we
would invite
that and
we would
see their
role in
prosecuting
an offender
as God's
gracious
discipline
upon,
assuming the
offender was
a member of
our church
or a
participant in
our community,
we would
see the
consequences
of it as
a part of
God's
gracious
discipline in
their lives.
We would
seek,
for them
to confess
their sin
fully.
We would
seek for
them to
know the
forgiveness that
is in Christ,
that there is
no sin that
is unforgivable,
but we would
also see that
the consequences
of their sin
are a part of
God's gracious
discipline in
their lives.
And so we
might love
them and seek
their restoration
and even
forgive them,
but we might
also throw
them in
jail for
their good.
That's hard
for us to
swallow,
but that's
the policy.
We as the
elders would
be committed
to shepherd
both the
victim and
the accused
through the
process.
Here's what
it says.
This is the
instructions to
us as the
elders.
Do not
prejudge the
situation,
but take the
allegations
seriously.
Reach out to
the victim and
the victim's
family.
Showing care
and support
will help to
prevent further
hurt.
Extend whatever
pastoral resources
are needed.
Remember that the
care and the
safety of the
victim is the
first priority.
Treat the
accused as well
with dignity
and support.
So that's how
we would want
to work it.
That's the
stance that the
elders would want
to take.
We would let
the civil
court, the
government, do
their job.
And as we
come alongside
the
victim, we
would want to
bring comfort
support and
help and
support.
We want to
rebuild in
them a trust
in the
community and
a sense of
safety.
We would
pursue
understanding
the truth of
what happened.
And if
necessary, we
would pursue
1 Corinthians 5,
the church
discipline of
one in our
midst who would
do something
against a
brother or
sister like
that.
that's what
it would look
like.
I take time
to address all
this because I
think it's one of
the major reasons
why we have
such a hard time
imagining that we
would trust the
church to judge
anything well
because we
haven't done
this well
historically and
publicly.
I hope that my
laying out of
how we would do
it, maybe
some of you
are shocked
by it, maybe
some of you
are thinking
well that's
not very
forgiving.
Maybe some
of you are
thinking are
you sure
that's enough?
We'd be glad
to engage with
you more if
you need to,
if you want to
process that with
us as the
elders.
But I hope
that it
restores or
helps build in
your heart and
mind in some
measure a sense
of why we can
do this,
why we can
trust the
church to
have judgment
because this
is how we
would handle
it if something
like that
happened.
The church
has far too
often misapplied
1 Corinthians 6
in these kinds
of cases in a
way that has
been very
destructive and
unhelpful.
So how do we
apply it?
Let's transition.
This is our
third point.
Two case studies
I want to think
about so that you
can think through
how do we
actually do this?
Case study number
one, the case of
the unpaid rent.
I really wanted to
wear a Judge Judy
robe today so I
could bang on the
gavel and just have
us step into the
courtroom for a
minute, right?
How do we do
this, right?
You're the owner
of a house that
has an apartment
in it that you
rent out to
someone else.
You rent it to a
Christian, you find
out after six
months that they
are two months
behind.
You depend on
that rental income
to stay above water
with your mortgage
and tax payments
in the long run so
it's pretty important
to have your money.
How do you respond?
Run it through the
paradigm of this
passage and the
principles that we
see here.
How do we do this?
First of all, what I
want you to see is
that the place it
needs to start is
our own heart.
Are you annoyed?
Are you impatient?
Are you treating
this fellow believer
as a cash source
rather than a person
with a life and a
soul?
Are you peeved at
them for other
things and see
background as an
opportunity to evict
them or to get
vengeance on the
ways that you've
been slighted or
dishonored in your
working relationship
with them?
Are you really
seeking biblical
justice?
Are you just
trying to get your
piece of the pie?
How are you loving
this fellow believer
even as you are
confronting them?
So first, check your
heart.
But then secondly,
address the issue.
Go to them and say,
brother, sister, two
months behind.
What's going on?
How can we resolve
this?
I need the money.
You need to follow
through on your
commitments.
How do we do
this?
Let's try to solve
this.
Let's try to work
together.
Let's try to be
creative.
Let's address this as
a relationship between
two people who
ultimately want the
same thing because
we're brothers and
sisters in Christ.
We don't want this,
there to be an
outstanding debt
between us.
So let's figure out
how we can resolve
it.
Explore mutually
beneficial solutions,
think creatively,
be sober.
Now, in an ideal
world, that would
resolve everything,
right?
And then we'd be
able to go home.
But we know that
that's not true.
And so sometimes when
we address this, if we
get no response or if
they're unwilling to
pay, unwilling to
acknowledge or just
say, I can't pay it,
sorry.
It's not my problem
anymore.
Right?
What do you do?
1 Corinthians 6 is
very clear.
You involve the
church.
You involve the
elders or other
mature Christians.
Maybe we have
Christians in our
midst who have
mediatorial skills and
gifting and training.
Bring the church into
it to resolve the
dispute.
church.
If for some reason
this local church isn't
the right place to do
it, there are some
great national resources
for you as a part of the
broader body of Christ.
The Christian Legal
Society has a great
website that gives some
of these things.
Look up mediation.
The Christian Legal
Society, there's some
great resources there.
There's a whole ministry
out there called
Peacemakers that has some
really, really good
things.
Systems.
They will even provide
mediation in certain
circumstances.
Both of these can help
you think through this
with brothers and
sisters.
Not outside in the
courts, but with
brothers and sisters
who can help you
resolve it.
But friends, don't
take runoff to Judge
Judy and get your
five minutes of fame
and $5,000 of
rewards.
Bring it to the
church.
Bring it to us.
Let us walk with you
through this process.
Let us help you work
through the dispute.
And you know what?
If there's not a
successful resolution
after all of that,
there are a couple
of things that might
happen.
One is that if the
delinquent guy is just
being irresponsible,
the church might begin
chapter five,
church discipline,
on a brother who's
being ungodly in his
behavior towards someone
else.
That's not right.
If you steadfastly refuse
to pay a debt that you
promised you would pay
within the church,
that is not a good thing,
brothers and sisters,
and we would begin the
process.
That's part of what the
elders would do.
But for you, who are the
offended party, you have a
choice.
This is where verse seven
and eight come in.
Are you willing to be
defrauded?
Are you willing to lose
what is rightfully yours
for the sake of the
unity and the love of the
body?
Have you wrestled with
that question honestly
before the Lord?
Lord, the New Testament
is full of places where
we are pointed to
overlooking offenses,
forbearing with one
another, being patient
with one another,
allowing love to cover a
multitude of sins.
Now this is not the trump
card that says there is no
other way to deal with it,
but this is the tenor and
the tone of a Christian
heart, of a gospel-shaped
community as we try to
address these kinds of
disputes and conflicts.
Don't run off to court to
sue this person first,
but pursue every means of
reconciliation and
resolution within the
church.
This is what God would
want you to do.
I wanted to take a few
more minutes to think
about a second case study,
one that doesn't require
money and one that might
be slightly further afield
from the direct application
of this passage, but might
be much closer to home in
terms of how I think this
goes in our own church
community, what it might
look like.
It's not a monetary issue or
a criminal issue, but it's a
relational issue.
Here's this case study.
Two Christians have an
argument with one another
over comments that one made
in public insinuating that
the other had been an
unfit and neglectful employee
and had deserved their
recent dismissal from their
job.
These comments happened in
the context where the
unemployed might potentially
be employable by some of the
others in the conversation.
So the one who made the
comments said, we weren't
talking about you.
We were talking about the
principles of how you think
about how you run your
company, what you expect from
your employees.
It was hypothetical without any
reference to a person.
The Hurt Party, however, saw
that every detail of the
hypothetical applied to them.
And it believed it to be a
thinly veiled attack meant to
keep the person from being
employed.
So, though the core issue is
still relational, there are some
material and very real things at
stake in this conflict.
How do you resolve that?
First, check your heart.
Why is it so painful and
difficult to hear someone say
something about you?
Is it true?
Are you ashamed of it?
Secondly, is there a proud,
defensive spirit in your heart?
If you were to go after them and
sue them for slander, loss of
employment potential, would you
do it really for justice or just
because you're really mad because
you feel so publicly humiliated,
spoken poorly of?
What do you seek to gain?
What do you seek to gain from a
suit like this?
Are you going to actually get
anywhere?
You might be proven right, but
are you really any more
employable?
Even the $5,000, is that going to
actually assuage the hurt or
address the core issues?
Are you actually acting in love
towards this brother or sister?
Are you just protecting yourself and
your reputation, trying so hard to
pursue this publicly?
So first, check your heart.
Secondly, go to the person
privately.
Give them a chance to explain.
Share with them how hurtful it was,
how damaging you thought it could
be.
Give them a chance to honestly
respond.
Maybe they need to confess they're
wrong if it was wrong.
Maybe they didn't understand the
consequences of their hypothetical
words.
Maybe there's a way they can address
the potential harm that you see,
even if they didn't do anything
wrong.
Seek for ways to resolve it
relationally and lovingly.
What if that doesn't work?
This is where I think this passage
can really help.
Do you really think the church will
help you at that moment?
When Joe so-and-so totally threw me
under a bus at the cocktail party,
do I really think the church can
help me?
Do you really believe that those who
will one day judge the world and the
angels can help you work through this
dispute?
Paul says, take it to the church.
Take it to the elders.
Take it so that you have others with
wisdom and grace and a commitment to
righteousness and mercy who can help
you, help mediate and help resolve this
dispute.
Judge Judy is not going to do that.
Take it to the church.
And again, friends, even if it's not
satisfactorily resolved to your liking,
will you be the offended party, be
willing to bear the wrong rather than
destroy the unity of the body?
So often, in cases like this, there is
neither confrontation nor mediation nor
resolution.
There is just cold distance,
backbiting and unkind comments,
awkward avoidance, and a crippling
disunity of the body where brothers
and sisters, though pretending to be
together, in their hearts are not.
Can you bear the cost?
Can you bear the weight of being wronged
and defrauded?
Can you bear words spoken badly of you
for the sake of Christ?
For friends, this is where we go.
This passage points us just in hints to
the gospel solution.
But remember what we've looked at in 1 Corinthians
1 through 4.
Do you remember how he says there is a way
of the world which is about pride and about
getting ahead and about stepping on other
people to get there if you need to,
exalting yourself and putting down those
around you in the process.
This arrogance and pride that does this.
And Paul said, this is not the church, friends,
because the church is led by a Savior who did not
count equality with God something to be grasped.
But he made himself nothing.
He emptied himself and took on the form of a servant.
He bore not only the physical beating
and the physical pain of our sins,
but Jesus also was accused of unrighteousness.
He was called a blasphemer.
He was wronged and defrauded in every way
by the very people who should have seen him
and acknowledged him and welcomed him
and honored him.
And he came from his father,
who, as we read earlier in Deuteronomy,
is a father who is not partial,
takes no bribe, but who executes justice
for the fatherless and the widow,
who loves those who are vulnerable,
those who might be taken advantage of by others.
This God, who is a God of justice
and a God of love,
sent his son into the world,
and this son humbled himself
and was wronged for us.
Friends, this is what ought to characterize his church.
This is the one that we are called to serve,
a God who loves enough to be wronged
so that we might be made right.
There was no self-protection in Jesus.
There was no vindictive retribution.
There was no passionate greed for his own gain.
There was no playing the victim for his own benefit.
He became a victim of one of the greatest injustices in the world
for our redemption, for our salvation,
to make us a people who will be holy.
And he calls us to love our brothers and sisters
with justice,
with sacrificial mercy,
for his glory.
Let's pray.
Oh, Lord, this is a hard passage.
Lord, for it shakes us in our commitment
to our own rights,
to our own freedoms.
Lord, it calls us to follow in the pattern of Christ
who humbled himself and suffered for us.
Lord, will you give us a vision of our church?
Lord, that is truly a loving community
where we pursue justice and holiness
for our own happiness,
for your glory,
that pursues righteousness and mercy
so that we might reflect
the very core nature of the salvation
that we have in Christ.
Lord, help us, we pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.