I was reading through 1 Corinthians a few weeks ago and I was struck by a passage I have read countless times before.
6:1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 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! 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? 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!
Though the words are far from new for me, the bolded part of the passage never hit me as it does now. This is a pretty radical statement by Paul. In a me first society, rather, in any human society, the idea of suffering and not avenging one’s self is an insane proposition. Why not rather suffer wrong? Paul is telling his brothers that it is better to allow yourself to be wronged, to be defrauded, by another brother, than to fight back with a lawsuit.
How often do we as disciples of Christ lash out at one another? Criticize one another? How many anti-[enter Christian organization here] websites do we have attacking brothers/sisters in the faith because we feel we have been wronged? How many times do we cry out “stop judging me” when someone is trying to hold us accountable? How many times do we have conflict in the church, splits in the congregation?
Paul writes STOP! Remember who you are!
…you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (Verse 11)
We need to go back to the Gospel, to return to the roots of our faith. We need to remember the God that we serve. Not only are we wronging a brother or sister, we are wronging an adopted son or daughter of God.
Remember Christ’s words in Matthew 12:26?
And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
How can we thrive as the body of Christ, glorifying God and preaching the gospel to all nations, if we are divided against ourselves?