1 Corinthians 6:1-8

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.

1 Corinthians 6:1–8

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.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

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.

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.

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.