Lesson 12

To Sue Or Not To Sue?

I Corinthians 6:1-8

We live in a lawsuit crazed society. One author has referred to the U.S as the "lawsuit happy Americans." Presently, there are some 18 million new lawsuits in America annually. The number of "tort" suits (a person who has somehow been physically or psychologically injured and tries to recover money for losses such as pain and suffering) rose by 30% between 1985 and 1992, during which same time period the population grew by 5%. Besides tort suits there are medical malpractice suits, product liability, broken contract suits, small claims suits, property rights suits, estate settlement suits, domestic relations suits, etc.

Some think that the reason why there is so much litigation in this country is because there are so many lawyers. 70% of the world's lawyers live in America. In fact, 1 out every 36 Americans is a lawyer. That's a scary thought!

Joke - The American Medical Association (AMA) has recently suggested that we switch in medical research from using rats to using lawyers. Reason #1 - there are a lot more lawyers than there are rats in America. Reason #2 - There are just things that you can't get a rat to do. Just a joke.

Ours is indeed a litigious society. Some, even some politicians, have campaigned for tort reform. They claim that the present system clogs the judicial system, enriches only lawyers while straining social relations and sapping the nation's economic strength.

It hasn't always been like this in America. For example, in 1842, Nicolas Farwell, a $2-a day engineer for B&W Railroad crushed his hand on the job. He sued the company. The case went all the way to the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of the company saying that Mr. Farwell assumed certain work-related risks when he took the job.

In 1870, lawyers first started taking cases on a contingency - that is- they are only paid if they win the case. In 1911, Missouri became the first state to adopt laws allowing workers to receive compensation for workplace injuries. In 1919, for the first time, a car owner sued the manufacturer for injuries he received claiming the car to be defective. The point is that our litigiousness is a relatively new phenomenon.

The purpose of the courts, civil and criminal, are to punish evildoers and settle human conflicts in a fair, equitable, and just manner. However, going to court does not guarantee justice. I realize that some issues are complex, but many matters are just common sense. For instance, you've heard of MacDonald's being sued by the lady who spilt coffee while pulling out of the drive-through and was awarded $2 million. A man in a telephone booth was hit by a car and injured. He sued the telephone company for not making the telephone booth car crash proof and won. A convict trying to escape prison was seriously shocked while trying to climb an electric fence. He sued the prison for not posting that the fence was electric and won. Sears was sued by a man who used his lawnmower to trim his hedges and cut himself. The man sued because the instructions had not said that the lawnmower could not be used as hedge trimmers and won.

In the ancient world, the Greeks in cities like Corinth and Athens where known for their litigious ways. In his commentary on I Corinthians, William Barclay writes, "The Greeks were characteristically a litigious people. The law courts were one of their chief entertainment. (Sounds like today - Remember "The People's Court", Judge Wapner and Doug Lewellen, Court TV and, of course, the O.J. Simpson Trials). 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." Citizens of Athen were required to serve as arbitrators for the court during their 60th year of life and as jurors beginning when they turned thirty.

The ancient Jews were not at all like the Greeks in this regard. Jews tended either to settle their disputes privately or in a synagogue setting. They refused, for the most part, to take their problems before a pagan court, believing it would reflect badly on their God.

In Corinth, however, the church was imitating the world, not only in their immoral behavior but also in their settlement of difference. And so, as Paul writes this letter, he gives the church instruction about whether or not Christian church disputes should be settled in secular courts.

It happens. In the 1950's, a Southern Baptist Church which I know in Kentucky, voted by a strong majority to leave the convention and become an independent Baptist Church. A vocal minority in the church, however, wanting the church to remain in the convention, sued the other side for the building and property. The case went to court. The majority argued that because Baptist churches are governed by the majority of the congregation, the church could vote itself independent. The minority argued that since the church had always been a Southern Baptist Church, the minority who wanted to remain in the convention should keep the building and the rest should go and start their own independent Baptist church. Do you know who won? The devil won the case, that's who. The cause of Christ and the reputations of both churches was deeply scarred by the courtroom conflict. In the end, the judge ruled in favor of the majority and they turned around and gave the building to the minority and relocated. But, today, more than forty years later, both churches still bear the blemishes of that court action.

As I was preparing this message, I ran across a newspaper front page headline about a squabble taking place in a Baptist church in Decatur, Georgia. It seems that several members started fighting on Sunday morning and the Sheriff had to lock the doors of the church. Several people involved took out warrants against each other and were getting ready to push their cases through the court.

Another church, here in the tri-state area, discovered that the man who had been the church treasurer for 28 years had been stealing money from the treasury virtually the entire time. Some of the members wanted to sue him in hopes of recovering some of the tens of thousands of dollars he had stolen. The pastor advised them not to, saying that he had once been in a church which filed a lawsuit. The only thing to come from it was great damage to the reputation of the church.

Several years back, Tom, Don, Steve and I attended a legal seminar. The lawyer who led the seminar said that lawyers were currently being trained on how to sue churches. He also said that the most likely person to sue your church is a member.

I Corinthians 6 deals with subject of lawsuits between Christians in the church. It is important to understand what this passage does not say. There are some limits on the application of I Corinthians 6:1-8. Some Christians take this passage to mean that no Christian should ever be involved in any kind of lawsuit. However, that is not what the text teaches. Paul is not teaching that a Christian should never go to court. God has established human government and human courts to insure that we get justice. In the Old Testament, Moses acted as a judge to settle the disputes of men until he was advised to choose 70 wise men to act as judges. This passage is not condemning civil proceedings, lawyers or judgments. Sometimes, the laws of the land, make a secular court absolutely necessary.

Verse 6 is the key to understanding this chapter. Paul writes, "brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers." The Bible is condemning conflicts between Christians in a local church, which is unwilling to arbitrate the issue within the fellowship, and so the two factions choose, rather, to look to secular courts for justice.

In the eight verses that comprise our text, Paul asks nine questions, rhetorical questions, to demonstrate why we must not sue each other. In his words we discover four reasons why we should not sue each other in secular courts.

Unbelievers Are Unqualified, v. 1.

The secular court system is termed as "unjust" in verse 1. Not every judge is crooked, not every lawyer a Schuster. This is not referring to the wickedness in the court but simply that they are unjust, not justified, not saved. When it comes to settling Christian conflicts, unbelievers are not guided by Christian values nor Biblical principles and are, thusly, are unqualified.

Church conflicts are unique. Christian conflicts within the church between individuals or groups are usually the result of a spiritual problem and require spiritual discernment. People who do not possess the Holy Spirit are incapable of making spiritual decisions.

The secular court system is unqualified to pass spiritual judgment on church matters. Unbelievers are unqualified.

Christians Are Qualified, vs. 2-4.

The more I read the Bible, the more I am amazed at what God has in store for us in the future. The Bible teaches that during the Kingdom period, the people of God will reign with Christ on the earth, II Timothy 2:12. The apostles, said Jesus, will "sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). In the parables, Jesus taught that we will be given the rule of cities based on our faithfulness in this present world. This text says that we will judge the world and the angels, vs. 2-3. Just what all that means, I'm not sure I fully understand. But the point that Paul is making is this - "You are qualified to sit on the Supreme Court of the universe so you ought to be able to handle the petty disagreements that come up at church." Verse 4 is difficult to interpret. I think that Paul is saying that even the least esteemed Christians is more qualified to arbitrate a church dispute than a secular court.

It Disgraces The Church, vs. 5-6.

When Christians go to court before unsaved judges, they are bringing disgrace to the church. Paul writes in verse 5, "I speak this to your shame." Paul is saying that it is disgraceful that such actions are taking place in the Corinthian church.

With a hint of sarcasm he asks in verse 6, "Isn't there anyone wise enough in the church to figure out what to do?" These Corinthians thought they were so smart, so wise, so intelligent. If they were half what they thought themselves, they should be able to resolve the kind of church squabbles that were going on.

All too often, the church's faults and a Christian's faults are openly displayed. When someone in the church falls, the failure receives even greater publicity. The news media may even carry the story of a church's conflict, if the secular court is involved. Through these kind of things, the church is disgraced. It is shameful.

Brother against brother, suing each other in court. I know a family where that happened. One member of the family sued a sibling and the case went to court. It has put a bitterness and an awkwardness and a strain on the whole family. As bad as that is in a family, it is even worse when it is the family of God - and a lawsuit is filed between Christian brothers. What kind of witness can such a church have to its unbelieving community?

It Is Unchristian, vs. 7-8.

Paul makes it clear in verses 7-8 that suing your Christian brother and fellow church member is just not right. It is, in Paul's words, "utterly a fault among you". To do it is "wrong" (v. 8) and "defrauds" (cheats) your brother.

It would be better, Paul says, to suffer the wrongdoing yourself, better to be cheated than to damage and disgrace the church by going to court, v. 7. This is what Jesus taught. Matthew 5:39-45 "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. ... Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:"

The Christian thing to do is forgive. Colossians 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Jesus suffered the ultimate in injustice and still said "Father, forgive them." As Christians, we should be more interested in forgiveness than in justice, as it relates to matters of church and Christian conflict.

When a church quarrel comes up and the question is to sue or not to sue, the answer is easy. The Bible says don't sue, settle it at church, endure the wrong, forgive the person who wronged you.