Date:   10/22/2006

Text:   1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Title:   Living in Harmony

Theme: Since God has called us to be His own, therefore our conduct is to reflect this identity.

Introduction:

  When we were in Taiwan , one evening I was rushing to the bus stop to catch a bus to a meeting. Before I knew it, I found that my entire left leg had dropped into a deep pothole. Embarrassingly I pulled myself out, got a taxi and went home to change. I still remember blaming myself for not careful. If my mom were there, she would have said, “how come you don't have your eyes with you while walking?” If this would have happened here, the western mind would say, ‘who can I sue?” If I spill a cup of hot coffee on my body, I would have blamed myself for being careless. But many would say, “I'll sue McDonald's for making the coffee too hot.” We live in a culture of litigation. In Houston , there are at least 16K lawyers, whereas in SF city alone, at least 14K. About 40% of Congress members are lawyers. There is a specialty law for almost every occasion in life: Accidents & Injuries , Adoption , Bankruptcy , Business , car accidents, dangerous products, divorce and separation, health care and so on. I am certain that at different stages in life, we have benefited from the work of different lawyers. They are a very important part of our society, protecting our rights and privileges. However, law suits have also become a means by which we either get our way or get even with others.

  Let's listen to William Barclay's description of the 1 st century Greek culture. The Greeks were naturally and characteristically a litigious people. the law-courts were in fact one of their chief amusements and entertainments……In a Greek city, every man was more or less a lawyer and spent a major part of his time either deciding or listening to law cases. The Greeks were in fact famous, or notorious, for their love of going to law.” Under the Greek influence, the ancient Roman world was also a culture of litigation. Surrounded by this culture, it was quite natural to see such tendencies infiltrated into the Christian church.

  With this background, we now come to the text before us. In this passage, we'll learn a simple truth that Since God has redeemed and called us to be his own, therefore we are to manifest peace and harmony in the Christian community.

I •  Since God has redeemed us to be his own, we are to resolve conflicts through mediation among ourselves .   

  In vs.1 “ 1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? ” There are a total of 11 questions in this passage. Paul is using rhetorical questions to drive his point home. He was shocked and disturbed by the fact that the believers in the Corinthian church were suing each other in the public courts. In 2—3, he explained; “ 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!”

  Paul teaches that on the final judgment day, the believers would join Christ in judging the world. It is not clear exactly what Paul means by judging the angels. It could suggest the judgment of the fallen angels, Satan and his followers. However, the point Paul is making is that on that day of final judgment, the believers will be in such a high position, working with Christ to judge the world. Therefore, with this in mind, vs.4-5, “ 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?” The logic is simple. If you one day will judge the world, can you judge the disputes among yourselves? Don't you have someone in the church that can judge the disputes between the believers? It's such a shame that you have to bring your case to someone who has no relationship with Christ.

  The Scriptures tell us that within God's church, He has given us all the spiritual gifts necessary to carry out her ministries. God has also provided us with resources within the church to help the believers resolve their differences and live in harmony. When we go to courts to settle disputes, it shames the Lord's name and will always damage relationship.

  We don't do too well on this front. We have seen Christians suing Christians, one church sues another church over property, church members sue the church over disclosure of finance and property rights. Paul teaches: don't sue each other. You can settle this matter among yourself.

  In 1982, Chief justice of the Supreme Court, Warren Burger, wrote: “one reason our courts have become overburdened is that Americans are increasingly turning to the courts for relief from a range of personal distresses and anxieties. Remedies for personal wrongs that once were considered the responsibility of institutions other than the courts are now boldly asserted as legal entitlements.” And then in 1987, associate supreme court justice Antonin Scalia made this observation: (in reference to 1 Corinthian 6:1-8)….I think we are too ready to seek vindication or vengeance through adversary proceedings rather than peace through mediation…..Good Christians, just as they are slow to anger, should be slow to sue.”

  Several years ago, a group of Christian lawyers came together and formed the Peace Makers Ministry. Their purpose was to mediate disputes between Christians so that it will not be brought into secular courts. They offered classes on how to resolve conflicts between believers and different churches and organizations.

The scripture teaches that it is wrong to bring disputes between two believers to the court. We are told to settle it among ourselves. We are to find one or two mature believers to mediate and resolve the problem. Disputes between believers are to be settled through biblical mediation and not litigation.

II •  Since God has redeemed us to be his own, we are to resolve conflicts by willing to take the loss.

  Paul not only instructed the believers not to solve conflicts by going to the secular courts, he also expressed his surprise that they were actually suing each other. vs.7-8, “ 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!” In that 1 st century society, very often the wealthy persons would have the financial resources to hire lawyers, or bribe the judges to win his case against the financial lacking person. Paul pointed out to them that when they brought their case to the secular court, this itself was a failure. Moreover, the purpose of litigation is to win the case; one party will always come out as the winner. Paul said, aren't you willing to take the loss? Aren't you willing to be cheated? Aren't you willing to let go of your rights? Aren't you willing to be the loser for a change? Why did you have to insist that you are right?

  Very often we sue because we feel we are being mistreated. Some one has violated our rights. We want to revenge and be compensated. In any law suits, relationship will always be damaged. We treasure our personal gain more than peace and harmony in the Christian community. We don't like taking a loss, This is very foreign to our culture. We want to win. But God's word teaches us that as God's children, we are to be willing to take a loss in order to restore a strained or broken relationship.

  I think of a new Christian who was willing to give up over $20,000 worth of business instead of going to the court to claim it back. Another believer was talked into investing money into business venture which later turned out to be a clear case of fraud. The other person was a professing believer. He could have gone the legal way to get back his money. Instead, after much prayer, he decided against it. He was willing to take the loss.

  Having said this, isn't it also true that revenge can take many forms? Besides litigation, we may also withdraw from that relationship, using cutting words to harm the other person. These are not healthy either. As we learn in chapter 4, when wronged, we are to forgive; when hurt, we are to pray; when cursed, we bless. From a human perspective, we may be taking a loss, but really? Don't forget there is a higher court. God will bring the final judgment. He has the final say.

III •  Since God has redeemed us to be his own, we are to reflect Him in our community.

Up to now, we are clearly taught that disputes between believers are not be brought to the courts. God has provided us resources to solve such conflicts among ourselves. We also know that as believers, we are willing to be humble and take the loss. However, what is the motivation behind this? Why do we have to do this?

The key verses that will help us understand the rationale behind this teaching are found in vs.9-11, “ 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God ? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God . 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ” Most of the sins listed in vs.9-10 are found in 5:10,11. Here, Paul added ‘adulterers, men practicing homosexuality and thieves.” Adultery refers to sexual behaviors outside marriage. There are two words in homosexuality behavior. One is a reference to the passive participant in the homosexual behavior, and the other one is the active, aggressive participant in the homosexual behavior.

What a list. It is more like a description of inmates of the prison at Huntsville or Sing-sing in NY. What a collection of church members. What kind of church is this? Many Corinthian believers used to live like that, but not anymore. Some of them used to engage in homosexual behavior, but not anymore. By the transforming power of Jesus Christ, they rid such sins from their lives.

What does it mean to us today? Every morning, I try to pay attention to the traffic flow. Sometimes a 40-minute drive to church can take one hour. It could be an accident or a malfunctioning traffic light. Yes, it was late, but I got to my destination. Isn't this also true in life? After we come to know Christ, we begin to flow towards holiness and be more like him. There will be bumps on the way, but the direction is right. In the scriptures, we see Abraham denying Sarah as his wife 2 times, David committing adultery, Jonah running away from God's call, Elijah fleeing from Jezebel and Peter denying his lord 3 times. The flow seemed to have slowed down or even stopped. But wait, we saw David's psalms of penitence; Elijah's confronting the king, and Peter's repentance and restoration. The flow continued. The same is true with us. Yes, we used to live in a pattern of sinful behaviors, yet Christ has cleansed us and enabled us to move towards holiness and be like him. There will be failures and set backs in our journey, but we don't stay there long. We repent, receive forgiveness and move on.

Paul also explained to us what happened after we put our faith in Christ. “ But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” In Christ Jesus, God had washed us clean of our sins; He has set us apart from the world; He brought us into a right relationship with Him. He considers us as righteous and holy. This is what Peter meant, 1Peter 2:9, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, ….” We are God's very special people. This God is holy and within the trinity, there is perfect peace and harmony. Because we are his children, we belong to him, he also provides us with guidelines to show us how to live in holiness and harmony with others. Because we belong to him, we are to reflect his holiness and harmony in this Christian community. Because this is God's redeemed community, therefore we are not to tolerate unrepentant sins among us. Because this is God's redeemed community, therefore we are willing to suffer loss, be misunderstood, and to give up our rights so we can live in harmony.

Conclusion:

  The key to chapters 5 and 6 is to understand that we belong to this holy and loving God. When God brings us into his family, he also show us how to live in this world. Yes, the world is saturated with all kinds of sexual immorality and deviation, but the church must not let this culture enter. Yes, the society resolves conflicts via litigation, but the church does not have to be so. God wants our conduct and life-style to reflect who he is. Because he is holy, therefore, we are to reflect his holiness in this redeemed community. Because there is perfect peace and harmony in the trinity, he also wants us to reflect this harmony in his redeemed community.

  At Punjab University in Pakistan , there is a large and powerful student group called IJT. It is fiercely committed to the Islamic faith. This group advocates no drinking, no dancing and no dating. When the university introduced a program in musicology and performing arts, the campus erupted in protest. The leader of IJT said, “ Pakistan is an Islamic country, and our institutions must reflect that….” The Christian church must also have the same zeal to reflect God by committing herself to holiness and harmony.

  In this and other Christian communities, the issue is never whether we have conflicts or not. As long as we live in this world, as long as we carry our marks of brokenness, there will be conflicts. Conflicts between husbands and wives, between parents and children, between believers in a local church. The question is: how do we resolve them?

  The scripture clearly instructs us that conflicts are to be resolved by humbling ourselves, willing to take the loss, to be taken advantage of, even to be cheated. I understand this is a very difficult thing for us to do. But let us listen to this: Philippians 2:5-8; “ 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” If Christ, the son of God is willing to empty himself, giving up all his divine rights in order to restore our relationships with God, are there any rights that we can not give up?