1 Corinthians 6:1

If then you have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren. But brother goes to law with brother and that before unbelievers. Now, therefore, there is utterly fault among you because you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? No, you do wrong and you defraud and that your brethren.

When believers drag one another into court, Paul says they have already lost—and the cure is the cross-shaped willingness to be wronged.

A Church Filled with Problems

As we've seen in our study of 1 Corinthians, the church at Corinth was filled with problems. They had factiously divided the fellowship. They allowed moral looseness to taint their witness. And as we'll see in chapter 6, they were filing meaningless lawsuits in the courts of Corinth instead of dealing with matters as they arose within the church.

As Paul was establishing another church in Ephesus, the news of Corinth's carnality weighed heavy on his heart. The church he had planted years prior was missing the mark at many levels and rapidly losing its testimony in the city. The parallels to the church in our own day are clear, and therefore the exhortations and rebukes found in this letter are applicable to us.

A Litigious Culture

The Greek culture of Corinth was dominated by a litigious nature. The people loved debate and bringing lawsuits before the courts, because those courts—as in Athens—sat right in the middle of the marketplace, the agora, the open market. Watching these debates was one of the chief entertainments of the day.

If a civil matter could not be decided by a private arbitrator, the case was brought before the bima, the judgment seat of the city, where the pro-consul and the tribunal gathered. It was right in the open marketplace where everyone doing their day-to-day business could hear the lawsuits and draw their own conclusions—a public rumor mill of the city's problems.

It was at that very bima in Corinth where Paul was brought before the pro-consul of Achaia in Acts 18. Acts 18:12 says, "When Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made a united insurrection against Paul, and they brought him to the judgment seat." That "judgment seat" is the word bima.

The Jews did not normally go before public courts to decide civil or religious matters. Typically the elders of a Jewish synagogue settled such disputes, considering it far better to settle a matter in a family spirit than a legal one. But the Greek culture was almost the opposite. William Barclay notes that in Athens and Corinth disputes were decided in the open marketplace, sometimes before anywhere from 40 to 6,000 jurors. The Greeks were notorious for their love of going to law, and that custom had permeated the Jewish synagogue at Corinth—and apparently the Christians had been infected by it as well.

The Folly

In verse 1 we see the folly: "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints?"

When Paul says "unjust," he is not saying the courts of Corinth were too corrupt to hear a case. We know Paul himself appealed to Caesar under Roman law. He is simply saying these judges are not believers; in a religious sense, they are unjust. Why, then, would you go before them for judgment? This is folly.

Paul clearly found this custom distasteful, perhaps because of his Jewish heritage, but also because he considered it disgraceful to the church. And he was shocked and ashamed that the Corinthians were not shocked and ashamed. Shock and shame only leave us when we've become accustomed to certain behaviors. I wonder how many things go on in churches across our nation today that should biblically shock and shame us, yet we're so accustomed to them that they pass by unnoticed.

Why was this an issue? First, Paul did not want disputes to cause greater discord in a church already divided. Second, he did not want such matters to diminish the church's witness in Corinth. Third, he expected that the Corinthians should have been able to judge these matters themselves. Paul did not naively expect Christians never to have disputes—even he had a dispute with Barnabas—but such disputes ought to be resolved in a Christ-like manner within the church.

The Future of the Believer

In verses 2 through 4 Paul reminds them of the future: "Do you not know that saints shall judge the world?… Know ye not that we shall judge angels?"

Eleven times in 1 Corinthians Paul asks "Do you not know?"—six times in chapter 6 alone. The implication is that the Corinthians should have known these things. Partly he wants them to consider these realities; partly, with his characteristic sarcastic wit, he is shaming them. This church was puffed up, considering themselves wiser and more spiritual than everyone else. So Paul takes them down a notch: "You who are so wise, don't you know these things?"

This is a phenomenal revelation. There is coming a day when Christians will be called by God to deliver judgments upon this world and even angels. Our present commission—the Great Commission of Matthew 28—is a huge task. But beyond that temporal call, God has a plan for us in the ages to come in the area of judgment. Apparently, when we get to heaven, we're going to serve some heavenly jury duty.

Jesus reveals this in Matthew 19:28: "You also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." In Daniel 7:22, "judgment will be given to the saints of the Most High." In Revelation 2:26, Jesus gives the overcomer "power over the nations"—the Greek exousia, meaning jurisdiction to judge. In Revelation 3:21 He grants us to sit with Him on His throne. And Revelation 20:4 outlines this clearly: "I saw thrones and those that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them."

Prophetically, there is coming a day when Jesus rules and reigns on the earth for a thousand years after Armageddon, and the church reigns with Him. At the end of that thousand years, we will sit in judgment against those who rejected Christ and the angelic beings that opposed God.

Judging Angels—and Living Accordingly

This idea of judging angels is interesting. We are created a little lower than the angels, yet God has committed a judgment over angels into the hands of the church. This does not mean you'll find your guardian angel in heaven and demand to know where he was when the red-headed kid punched you in third grade. It does mean that when God passes judgment upon fallen angels in Revelation 20, we will somehow be involved.

If we are going to judge men and angels, then God has gifted and enabled us in Christ to pass righteous judgment—to discern who is right, who is wrong, and what ought to be done. This reality ought to affect our daily lives now. We ought to live in a manner befitting a judge, above reproach. And we should recognize that even those we might practically look down upon within the body of Christ have been gifted by God with His wisdom to make righteous judgments. As 2 Peter 1:3 says, God "has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness."

How Should We Judge?

If we are to judge issues between believers, how should we do it? First, we should judge in righteousness, seeking to judge as our Father does. Isaiah 11 says He does not judge by the sight of the eyes or the hearing of the ears, but with righteous judgment, hearing both sides before deciding.

Second, we should judge with meekness, considering ourselves, because every one of us is a sinner, and often the very things we judge are issues we ourselves have dealt with. Third, we should judge with ready forgiveness. And fourth, we should judge in a biblical manner.

Matthew 18:15 gives the pattern: "If your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone." This is crucial, because typically when someone wrongs us, we don't go talk to them—we go talk to all our friends. That is not what Scripture says. Go to him alone; if he hears you, you've gained a brother. If not, take one or two more, "that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." If he still won't hear, tell it to the church, so the whole body can call him to repentance. And if he neglects to hear the church, "let him be unto you as a heathen man and as a publican"—not a republican, but a publican; in other words, a tax collector.

Colossians 3:13 says we are to forbear and forgive one another, "even as Christ forgave you." The New Living Translation renders it, "You must make allowance for each other's faults." How many of us are perfect? Nobody. We've all fallen short of God's glory. So when someone takes our parking space or sits in our seat—trivial, frivolous things—we must make allowance for their faults. These are sibling rivalries; we are brothers and sisters in Christ. When your kids fight, you don't bring them into the cul-de-sac and call the neighbors to judge between them. It's a family dispute. Deal with it.

What Does "Least Esteemed" Mean?

At the end of verse 4 Paul says you set "them to judge who are least esteemed in the church." Students debate this. Some think Paul is again being sarcastic: you're better off asking the weakest member of your church than the most qualified unsaved judge. Some think "least esteemed by the church" refers to the worldly judges themselves. Others think Paul means God can use even the least member of the body, since the Holy Spirit has empowered them.

The result is the same: it is wrong for Christians to take disputing matters within the body of Christ out into the open courts. I must add that there are circumstances where worldly courts are necessary. If there is criminal activity, law enforcement should be involved—we are not to hide such things within the church, as some have wrongly done in recent years. If there's criminal activity, we call the police. But if it's a dispute between believers, we ought to be able to deal with it.

What keeps us from settling these things in a Christ-honoring way? Simply, our flesh. Our motives are pride, the desire for retribution, or sometimes simply the desire to make money. Our competitive, sinful nature loves justice and clings to "my rights." But Romans 12:19 says, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves… Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."

The Failure

In verses 5 through 8 we see the failure: "I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you?… But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers."

The Corinthians were wise in their own eyes, so Paul shames them: if you are so wise, why is there not a single wise person who can decide these matters? "To have such lawsuits is a real defeat," says the New Living Translation. Just by going to the courts against your brother, Paul says, you have already lost. The Phillips paraphrase reads, "It is surely obvious that something must be seriously wrong in your church for you to be having lawsuits at all."

"Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" When we hear these words, something inside us recoils. Once again we're confronted with a litmus test: if at this point we're thinking, "This is nuts, Paul," perhaps we're more influenced by our culture than by the values of Scripture. And I say this as someone right at the front of that fleshly frustration.

Turning the Other Cheek

Luke 17:3 says, "If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him." We like that part. Then we read quickly and quietly, "and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespasses against you seven times in a day, and seven times turns again, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him." We don't like that part. "But you don't understand—I am right, he is wrong." Have you ever been so right that you're wrong? Especially the married couples here—we've been down that road. The law may be on your side, but aren't you thankful that every day, when Satan accuses you before the Father, God doesn't think that way?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:38, Jesus says, "You have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye… But I say unto you, that you resist not the evil person… If a man shall sue you at the law to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also." Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you. Why? Remember who you are, children of your Father in heaven, who makes the sun rise on the evil and the good. If you love only those who love you, what reward have you? Even the tax collectors do that.

Romans 12:19 again: "Avenge not yourselves… If your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink. For in so doing you shall heap fiery coals upon his head." We misunderstand the context. In ancient times, when a guest left at night, you would put hot coals from your fire into a clay pot so they could warm their home—it's an issue of hospitality. "Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good."

When we fight fiercely for our rights and push for justice, are we not rendering evil for evil, jumping back into an Old Testament mindset of an eye for an eye? Often, because of the bent of our culture, when someone wrongs us, we get dollar signs in our eyes—"How could I benefit from their failure?"

The Fix

In verses 9 through 11 we come to the fix. For the third time in this chapter Paul says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers… nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

How do we fix these disputes? We gain a proper perspective. We tend to have a ranking system for sin—this is a bad sin, that's a not-so-bad sin; his sin is terrible, mine isn't so bad. God doesn't do that. "Do not be under any illusion," says the Phillips paraphrase.

I know there are officials today calling verses 9-11 "hate speech" because they identify homosexual immorality as sin God will judge. Let me be clear: we don't hate people who practice such sins. We recognize that such sins will be judged. We needn't debate physiology or genetics, but we must recognize that the person who practices homosexual immorality is no worse a sinner than the one who practices heterosexual immorality. The unrepentant adulterer is just as bad off as the one who verbally abuses his spouse. There is no partiality with God, no hierarchy where one sin is worse than another. Sin is sin, and it will be judged.

Therefore, what? Repent. Turn to God, because only in Christ Jesus is found forgiveness and pardon. The punishment for sin is severe, and Jesus bore that punishment for all who receive Him as Savior and Lord. In Christ we are saved from the punishment of sin (justification), from the power of sin (sanctification), and one day from the presence of sin (glorification).

Such Were Some of You

Verse 11 is key: "And such were some of you." In this room are people who were once fornicators, drug dealers, extortioners; in a crowd this large there may be some who once lived in homosexual immorality and no longer do. Even though our culture says that's impossible, it's a reality, because every one of us was born a sinner with inclinations to sin, and only in Christ can that be dealt with.

All of us came from sinful backgrounds we'd probably rather not dwell on. We are thankful we've been washed and cleansed. And so we cannot take a holier-than-thou position, because we are not holier than thou—we are sinners saved by grace. Since God has made us new, we ought to live as new creations, not biting at one another, not seeking to bring judgment on one another. "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

Willing to Lose

What must we do? If we have a problem with a brother or sister, we go to them alone and make it right, coming with a heart of forgiveness, considering how Christ has forgiven us, willing to let it go—even if it means we lose. That's Christ-like. Jesus was brought before judges and false witnesses who accused Him of things He never did, and He opened not His mouth. Through His death, He won. And amazingly, in Christ, when we die to ourselves, there is victory—over our flesh and over the enemy. Far better to lose financially than to lose spiritually: for the sake of God's glory, the unity of the church, and our witness in the community.

I once heard a pastor on the radio tell how, early in ministry, he lent his car to a friend in the church and got it back totaled on a tow truck. He sat down and wrote out an itemized list of everything to be paid, kept a copy in his filing cabinet, and every week when he opened it he'd think, "That guy owes me." At lunch after church he'd glare at the man over the check. Months later, preparing to teach on Christian forgiveness, he pulled that yellow paper out, tore it into pieces—and said it was the hardest thing he ever did.

How many of us have filing cabinets full of such things in our hearts against a brother or sister, against our spouse? When we reach 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says love keeps no record of wrongs. Oh, that we'd open those filing cabinets and let it go. "But you don't understand"—that's okay. Just as Christ forgave you, so also you must do.

Closing Prayer

Father, Your word is sometimes hard for us to swallow. But what You've called us to is greater than anything we in our flesh could do. We ask that You, by Your Spirit, would enable us to walk in meekness with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Lord, that we'd honor You, maintain unity within the body of Christ, and have a good witness in this world—not constantly bickering or arguing, but willing to yield, even if it means a loss in this life, because by doing so we gain so much. If we lose our lives, we find them. Strengthen us this week to apply these hard truths, as no doubt You have tests prepared for every one of us the second we walk out these doors. Help us walk worthy of the calling with which You've called us, remembering what You've called us to. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.