Value judgments

Good morning. Yes, Nancy and I, thanks to the many hands helping, are moved into our new place. And as a matter of fact, the list of folks that we have to thank is so long, I don't know where to begin. But thanks so very much to all of you for the part that this body has had in helping us make this move. As you probably suspected, we haven't found everything yet. you'll be glad to know I did find my pants.

So we did show up here. One of the interesting parallel adventures in this has been our getting to know a little more closely Ida and Winnie who were with us this last week. In case those names don't ring a bell, they were a mother and daughter from Uganda who are staying with Nancy and I. Well, Winnie, not our own Winnie here, but Winnie from Uganda goes to National Jewish to deal with some lung issues that she has. I won't go into it because we don't have time, but the things that Ida has been telling us has really been gripping. Ida is a pastor's wife over there in Uganda, and her husband is back there in East Africa.

Last night, she was telling us how under the previous presidency, the soldiers were coming from house to house to kill the Christians. And they were coming up to the door and basically shooting the door with a rocket-propelled grenade. And they had just gotten through and had been killing her neighbors. And they had just gone through and killed her next-door neighbor. And the soldiers were kind of squaring up to her front door and were ready to shoot a rocket-propelled grenade through her front door.

She had her one infant son on her lap. in the house, and she had stuffed a rag in his mouth to keep him from crying with the hopes that that might make them not hear. But she was figuring, it was interesting, she said she was not praying, Lord save us. She was saying, I'll see you soon. And as the Lord would have it, Just as the soldiers were ready to pull the trigger to shoot the rocket-propelled grenade through her front door and to kill herself and her infant son, her husband was away at the time, somebody came running behind the soldiers, somebody from a house nearby, and distracted the soldiers and they lost track of the fact that they hadn't shot the grenade into her front door, so she was preserved. Anyway, and that was only one of the harrowing stories that she had to tell. But real interesting, she said, it comes right down to it. It was not a matter of saying, Lord, save me. It's I'll see you soon. I'll see you soon. Well, we're going to step into this passage that Courtney read for us here in First Corinthians, chapter six. One of the things that we want to have as a backdrop is just to say that lawsuits which are the significant topic of this passage, were very popular during New Testament times. It was particularly popular with those who are more well-off.

As a matter of fact, there were some interesting characteristics of lawsuits in those days. One of the characteristics was you couldn't sue somebody who was above you in socioeconomic class. You could only sue someone who was at your same level or lower. So it essentially was often a means of putting down the poor, putting down those who are less well off.

Another interesting thing is, as you went through the process, you could have a jury of as many as a thousand. Can you imagine that? I'd hate to go through jury selection. But at any rate, you could have a whole theater full of people in your jury. And that would be a way, as a matter of fact, to establish your standing if you came off well in this presentation with even more people.

Now, lawsuits, as you may know, are popular in our own time. And people might sue, for example, they're unhappy with their plastic surgery, okay? Don't like how that came out, okay? People may be upset because their golf game was somehow disturbed. Now, there is an actual case. In our own country, just not too long ago, a man sued for $65 million because the laundry lost his pants. And he sued them for pain, suffering, and internal imbalance, whatever that is. It was thrown out of court.

But nonetheless, lawsuits are popular in our own country and in our own time. The rules for lawsuits are, of course, different. I'm glad we don't have thousand person juries. How they were initiated and how they were conducted and who you're allowed to sue and that sort of thing.

But they're common as they are today among our own culture. They were looked upon as a means of expressing not only get your case out there, but also to express skills that were highly valued. For example, the verbal arts of logic. Oh, rhetoric. And drama and debate. All those verbal arts were looked upon as a means to put yourself out there well in front of the viewing audience.

And of course, you might have a jury of a great many number of people, which would be all the better if you did well. They were also a means of climbing the social ladder, which of course Paul has been talking about. there in the church, he says it's inappropriate to have climbing social ladders be a part of the church. You need to instead look upon the church as something that's not a part of the world.

So that's a message he'd been talking to them about for some chapters as we've talked about here. But one of the things you may have noticed as Courtney was reading is lots of questions. Matter of fact, most of the passage is questions. Why so many questions we have to ask? in nine questions in eight verses. That's lots of questions.

Why does he ask so many questions? What was he trying to get across? What was he hoping to communicate? What was he hoping for them to begin thinking? Why would he ask so many questions? Why in heaven's name, why on earth would he ask so many questions? Why am I asking you so many questions?

Let's go on. Okay, asking questions was an understood way to get the people to think things through, asking questions in order to have them think through the same thought processes that he had. So he would ask them questions in order to get them thinking about what he was thinking. The questions had built-in answers. They weren't simply open-ended. They weren't simply to get them thinking, but to have them end up thinking the thoughts that he had. to think it through and to draw the same conclusions that he had. He wanted them to follow through the same thought processes that he had in order to end up with the same conclusions. So that's why he asked questions. He says, think about this. Think it through. If you look at this and look at the facts, you're going to end up with the same conclusion. That's why he's got these here.

Paul indeed wanted them to have a spiritual, as we would put it, light bulb moment. Are you guys getting this? He wanted them to understand. Not just to tell them, hey, don't have lawsuits between believers, but he wanted them to understand, why not? What's at issue here? So that's why he would ask so many questions. But there's a problem. Problem? With the Corinthians? What a surprise! There is a problem. We pointed out here that some of the believers in Corinth were trying to build these personal empires within the church. It's one of the things that creates, even in our modern day, church politics. We've mentioned that term before.

Ever seen church politics? Basically, church politics is not something God intends to be there. No church politics. None. Church politics is of the world brought into the church. He said, none of that. No empire building within the church. This is the Lord's church. He bought it and paid for it with his own blood. It's his, not ours. Not anybody's to build an empire within. Pursuing these little empires was fleshly and it was causing divisions in the church. Now, another way to build these personal empires was to take other believers to court, at least so they thought.

And Paul is saying, what? You're bringing this before an unbelieving judge. Here are two believers who are going to spend eternity together and you're taking them before a spiritually unenlightened, unbelieving judge. So he makes it clear that this action should not ever take place among them. He essentially restates the issue several different ways with a question. So yes, they have a problem. Their problem is that they've got worldly ideas that they carried over into the church and it was causing divisions. They were looking for what's going to build me up instead of what's going to build the body up.

Now, he uses in verse one this word neighbor. And of course, Nancy and I are discovering our neighbors. We're meeting them and there's some very nice ones, fortunately. Turns out next door neighbors, at least on one side and across and over one house, are believers. So that's neat to find out.

But we think of the word neighbor, we typically think of someone who lives nearby, whether it's physical or geographical. is the usual connotation in our thinking. We think of our neighbor as somebody who lives near you, either next door or somewhere in your vicinity. In the Bible, however, the word often means to be spiritually near or have a spiritual closeness. And here is an example where Christ used it. Here he goes asking a question, right, like Paul does.

He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan and then asks the question in Luke 10.36, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor? Not just live close nearby, but have a spiritual closeness and live it out to the man who fell into the robber's hands. So the Jews use this term neighbor in that way. The Jews had a spiritual closeness because, after all, it was God who had chosen them as a special people, as his own people. It is God who chose them to be brethren. And Paul and other writers in the Bible used the term that way. Within the church, though, we are made spiritually near because we are all in Christ.

As 1 Corinthians 1.30 said, by God's doing you are in Christ Jesus. So even though... I've talked to some people here. We have people here from different parts of the country. We have guests here even from Washington State. We have people from different parts of the country. But you know what?

Paul would say, you're neighbors because you're in Christ. It doesn't have to do with living next to each other. It's spiritual closeness, spiritual nearness. That's what he's getting at here. So when he uses the word neighbor, it's not just the person who lives next to you. It's spiritual closeness because you're both believers.

Ida and Winnie, who are visiting us from Uganda, are many, many miles away. I can testify to it. But they're our neighbors, spiritually speaking. They're our sisters in the Lord. One of the confirmations that he's talking about people who are within the church body is how he talks about these same people in verses 5 and 6 of the same chapter.

I say this to your shame. Is it so that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren? Spiritual brethren. But brother goes to law against brother. So it is an issue of spiritual closeness that he's talking to when he talks about neighbor in verse 1.

Now, without question, one of the things I think, this verse he is very clear, he challenges it. Matter of fact, the way he puts it, it comes across in both the King James and New American Standard. He basically says, how dare you do this? Dare any one of you! It's not like, you know, some of you are doing this and, you know, gee, it'd be better if you didn't do it. He says, how dare any of you do it?

He is really emphatic about this. How dare you, he puts it. So he says it without question. Now, there are some things without a question in life. If you see Lee Van Cleef on a giraffe, you ought to question that. These gals here with the big apple, you ought to question that. But he says this without question.

Nothing to be questioned. Paul says in this and in the verses that follow, Believers ought to take the matters between believers only before other believers. Period. Not into the secular courts and before unbelieving judges and juries. No room for that.

That's exactly what they were doing. Now, what's at stake? Why would he say, how dare you to these people? Why would he say that? What's at stake, and he just goes right into it, is the future that God has planned for us who believe. You and I are to live differently today because of what God has planned in the future. That's what he's saying in these next verses. Because of the future that you have, we are to live differently today for all those days to come on into eternity. Live differently now because of eternity future. But there's also another reason here. What's also at stake in this consideration of how do we show ourselves before the world is what view of the gospel does the unsaved world have?

When they look at Christians, they say, oh, look at that. They're squabbling again. And whether you talk about church splits, church politics, I had an unbeliever once when I said, I'm a pastor, because of course that's the question that they have. And of course, some people, that just throws them.

They don't know what to say after that. I get the question, well, what do you do for a living? Well, I can't tell them I'm an engineer anymore. I haven't done that for over eight years, right? So I say, I'm a pastor. And then one of the questions I had immediately after I said that was, aren't you bothered by church politics?

You see, the world can get a view of what goes on inside these churches. And he says that matters. What does it look like to the world? What does the world see? One of the things that was interesting during the time of the Roman Empire when Christians were being killed for their faith, there were numerous instances, even in the midst of the persecution, even in the midst of life and death issues, where Christians would show love. There's one instance that's recorded where one of the people in the church was picked up by the Roman soldiers and was about to be carried off. And one of the elders ran up to the Roman soldiers and said, no, you should take me instead of him. I'll go in his place.

And so one of the remarks that was made of Christians is, see how they love one another, even among those who are doing the persecuting, even among those who are being cruel. See how they love one another. And that's another key point in this. What does the world see? Paul directed Titus to instruct the believers to live so that the word of God would be honored.

I don't have time to go into how he instructed them to live, but just simply to make that point, Titus 2.5, "...so that the word of God will not be dishonored." Or conversely, "...so that the word of God would be honored." He goes only a few verses later, "...so that the opponent would be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us."

What's bad about that church? I don't have anything. What's wrong with those Christians? I can't tell you anything. I don't know of anything. a couple verses later, so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. Our behavior, by the way, that word adorn is the word we get our word cosmetics from that Greek word that's behind that. Live in such a way as to make the gospel look good. Live in such a way as to make the gospel look really great. In 1 Corinthians 6, 2 and 3, he steps into this, and it's interesting, he has a pattern of words there.

Or do you not know? And it's interesting in this use of do you not know, which has the implication, yes you do, but he's calling it to mind. It is used more times in 1 Corinthians than all the rest of the Bible put together. Do you not know? So he apparently has a lot of reminding to do with these people. Things that they should already know. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? This is the point we're making. Do you not know that that's the future? Live now based on what that future is going to be like. If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?

I'd ask you here this morning, think about this. The Lord could take us home at any time. I hope it's today. The Lord could take us home at any time. Are you ready to begin judging the world? He says start, start by if a conflict comes into the church, be ready to step into that. That's your future. It may start today.

Do you not know that you will judge angels? And by the way, did you know that? You will be judging men and judging angels. And when you die, you don't become an angel, you judge them. God has some amazing things for our future, which could be very soon.

If you, by God's determination, are going to make those kinds of judgments, judging the world, judging angels, can't you deal with some issue between you believers now and not let this spill over into the world? Do you not know? Do you not know? Yes.

What God has in mind for us for the future needs to be factored into our today. We need to consider that. And that's his point here in this couple of verses. Paul makes some contrasts here in these verses, verses 1 through 4, between the world to come when we are in resurrected bodies like Christ's. He contrasts that with this present stage, this world that we're now in.

You see, this is a short period of time. This is really a short period of time. I don't know how long the Lord's going to have me here. My grandpa lived to 97. I might make that. I'd just assume he came today. We don't know how long we're going to be here.

But eternity, compared to however long we're going to be here, is a lot, lot, lot longer, isn't it? I mean a whole lot longer. Eternity is a long time. He's saying, When you are trying to figure out what to do here, look at eternity first. Then what we're doing here will become a lot more clear. He contrasts between the time yet to come, we will judge both the world, that is the people of this world, and angels. In the present time, when he says, you need to be able to judge among yourselves.

Don't let there be some conflict that gets spilled out over into the world. And right in that same matter, don't let there be church splits. Don't let there be church politics. Don't let there be squabbles that the world knows about. Judge among believers now. Biblically, of course, and later to the world and angels, and it could be soon. Paul's point here is that believers ought to be able to come before another believer. After all, we are going to be judges of men and angels, to settle these disputes rather than to bring it before unbelievers.

It's a matter of avoiding public shame. He, in a few verses, is going to make the point here. It's a shame that you're doing this. It's a matter of adorning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Presenting it to the world as something attractive instead of something to say, oh, those Christians, look at them squabbling again. Another church split. That guy's a Christian and I see him squabbling with this other guy just left and right. It's also something else. Are you ready to judge men and angels? The practice starts now. The practice starts now. Paul makes some value judgments here.

He sets these lawsuits between believers and perspective. And the way he does it, here in verse 7, he says, You may go into a court case hoping you're going to win, but whoever wins, you both lose. From a spiritual standpoint, it's a defeat, no matter what the judge decides. No matter what the judge decides and what happens when the gavel goes down, everybody loses if it's a matter between Christians. There is no winner. So that's why he says, it's a defeat for you. I don't care what the judge says. It's a defeat, period.

He also says, it's better for a believer to be wronged and defrauded than to take the matter to court. Now that's a value judgment. If it's a lot of money, do I then say, well, it's a lot of money and so the spiritual issues, we'll just sweep those aside. Oh, but this guy was really nasty to me. He did something really bad, and I'm mad, and so I need to get even.

No. He says, better for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of who you are, for the sake of Christ, better to suffer wrong. than take it into the secular court before an unbelieving judge. Something else, and this is a principle, certainly it applies here, but it applies in lots of situations.

Though there are indeed injustices in this life, there are and will be. From an eternal perspective, God will deal with every single injustice of every kind and size, every one, from an eternal perspective, there will not be one injustice that God will not deal with completely.

And that's a matter of the things that were done against me and recognizing God will, from the eternal perspective, deal with every single injustice against me. Furthermore, God has dealt or will deal with every injustice I've carried out. And by the way, I'm glad I don't get justice. By God's grace and by God's mercy, I'm glad that Christ paid for the things I've done. See, it's not just a matter of the things that were done against me, but the things I've done to others. God will deal with everything.

It's going to happen one of three places. It's going to be happening either on the cross, and I'm glad that Christ paid for my sins and I'm not going to. It will happen sometimes in this life, but many times not. Or it will happen in eternity. God will be just, absolutely, infinitely just in every small detail. There is not one item that you and I need to worry about. There is nothing that you and I need to get upset about. I think of these kinds of things, Nancy and I, as we get in various sorts of counseling situations, we encounter all sorts of injustice and this principle is extremely important to recognize. I've seen instances where an elder at a church sexually violated a young girl. But there was not enough evidence brought up for that to win out in court.

What's the justice? Do you know that in eternity, that will all be dealt with? One of these three ways. One of these three ways. There are a great many injustices. Things that have been done to us. Things that we do. The Lord will deal with it all. And this was something I personally had to reckon with. I, at one point in time, had a vile and violent temper. Scary. Matter of fact, that's what got my attention. It scared me. But I had to reckon with God is a God of infinite justice.

In eternity, nothing will be let go. If I say this, I know you're going to be thinking of something. Is there that thing that is a pain in your heart? If I say, this really hurts, you know what it is, and it comes to your mind real quick, and it's either something that's happened to you, or something that you've done, or both, God will deal with every single one of those.

No exceptions. Including that thing that comes to mind when I say that. God will deal with every injustice, no exceptions, not a one. And He will deal with it absolutely. It's a matter of settling our hearts on this truth and trusting the Lord, that the Lord is eternally a God of justice. We can begin to deal with resentment, with the anger, and yes, with the guilt as well, because of who God is.

Paul also says in verse 8, he addresses the wrongs that are done, the things that are done by believers that are the cause for many of these lawsuits. If there were no wrongs done in the first place, then these disputes between believers would certainly be greatly reduced. Fewer and farther between, as we put it. And no, Nancy and I will not get up here and sing farther along. Okay? Alright. So Paul is getting at the root cause by addressing the cause. This is what people take people to court for to begin with.

He says those who are doing wrong are causing this problem in the church. So what's a believer to do? Certainly relevant to this passage, if you're going into business and financial matters, and certainly all of us have varying degrees of that, with other believers, you can check out, does this person claim to be a believer, but does he also live according to what's spelled out in this passage? You can find yourself rather surprised, because there are a lot of Christians who don't take this passage seriously.

You may even be wise to include language that excludes going to court and requires Christian arbitration? I give a website that you might check that out. What if you say, yeah, but I've never been to court, and I don't plan on suing anybody or getting sued, and I don't think I've done anything worth that? What if these issues never arise? Still, there are a lot of principles to take from this. There are essential truths that we can take home, so to speak.

One is that biblical resolution of any issues among believers is God's intent. Resolving things is God's will. Church splits, church politics, that's not God's intent. God's first and primary intent. is resolution and restoration. That's what God has in mind.

How we live out life as a believer does matter. It does make a difference. What the world needs to see and what other believers need to see is Christ's life lived through us by His grace. Christ's life lived graciously through us no matter what the circumstances. That's applicable. And yeah, as Paul points out here, if the wrongs are avoided, then that'll avoid a lot of trouble, even avoid the issue of believers going before a court against another believer. But it'll deal with a whole lot of other things, too. In the end, it's Christ's life through us. That's what he's looking for. That's what counts. Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, we ask that you would bring to heart and mind the issues that really matter here.

Help us to have settled in our hearts and minds that you are a God of justice and that we don't have to try to, at all costs, settle things here, even if coming before an unbelieving judge for matters between believers. But in the end, you are a God of justice, of infinite justice. You know what we don't. You can prove with absolute certainty what to us is still an unknown. And you will deal with every injustice. And we thank you, Lord, that you're a God of mercy and a God of grace, a God who loves us and a God who calls us to resolution and restoration among believers. We just pray this in Jesus name. Amen.