AP

We live in an increasingly litigious society. There is the obvious, though perhaps caricatured, example from the 1990s when a woman sued McDonald’s after being burned by the hot coffee she spilled on herself. More recently, tennis players have taken their parents to court over prize-money disputes, and actors air their dirty laundry for months at a time in televised cases. It is a tragic comment on society that Family Law firms are advertised on the backs of buses. The threat of being sued is everywhere.

Of course, to say that the legal system is abused is not to say that it is inherently problematic. At its best it protects the vulnerable and punishes the guilty. But when litigation becomes a way to attack others, it teaches young and old that problems – even family problems – are settled not by conversations but by courts.

It is one thing for this to be happening in broader society, but quite another for it to be happening in the Church. The Apostle Paul distinguished between ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’ in 1 Corinthians 5:12. His point was that just as we would not expect the world to live according to all the standards of the Church, so we should not expect the Church to adopt the tools and methods of those who have not been granted the light of grace.

On this foundation, Paul launches what might be called, respectfully, a tirade (see 1 Cor. 6:1-6). He was outraged that Christians would dare to take other Christians to court. Evidently, a man in the Corinthian church had been defrauded by another. Rather than settling the issue privately, or with the church’s help, he took his opponent to the secular magistrate at the ‘judgement seat.’ This was a public place in the heart of the market where disputes were heard and judged by a Roman official. Paul was incensed. As one commentator puts it, Paul alternated between statements of horror, rhetorical questions, sarcasm, and threat.

If any of you has a dispute against another, how dare you take it to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases? 3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life? 4 So if you have such matters, do you appoint as your judges those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers? 6 Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers! (1 Cor. 6:1)

The issue that Paul was addressing was a private dispute between two professing Christians. Would it not have been even worse if believers were trying to manipulate the Apostles’ teaching using this method? Indeed, this is exactly what a group tried to do in Acts 18:12-17.

Given the increasing prevalence of the use of litigation in society, perhaps Paul’s rebuke has become more relevant to the Church again. Elders are increasingly trying to work out not only what God’s word says about a given question, but also how various laws would apply if someone decided to bring legal action against church officers. Naturally, once legal action is threatened it is only human to worry about what might come of such threats. In that way, even the threat of legal action has already achieved much.

There are reasons why, in general, it would be wrong for Christians to use courts to influence church teaching and decisions. First, Paul argues that the saints will judge the world (1 Cor. 6:2). The apostle is not even saying that elders will judge the world, but that all Christians will. Just as Paul encouraged Timothy to be confident despite his youthfulness, so he encourages Christians not to undervalue their own judgement. Paul is angry, but he is lifting us up. Of course, the church will get things wrong. But there is no reason to think that the means Christ instituted for the church to make decisions is deficient. Therefore, it should be the norm that we trust the church to make church decisions.

A second reason as to why it would be wrong for a Christian to use secular courts in church disputes is that this is a terrible reflection on the church. Paul exclaims at the end of 1 Corinthians 6:6, ‘and that before unbelievers!’ If we desire to present the gospel in the best possible light to all who have not yet received the grace of Christ, then Christians should avoid getting anywhere near the courts when it comes to internal church debates or disputes. We all know the feeling – there is nothing quite as awkward as the occasion when a family invites you for dinner only to start arguing instead of eating. It’s the same with the church. If Christian love is the best way to show Christ’s love to others, then internal bickering in the courts is the best way to obscure it. Jesus taught that it is by our love that others will know we are his disciples (John 13:35).

Finally, at its worst, using courts to try to influence church decisions goes against what is required by the fifth commandment. A Christian is one whose instinct, surely, is to honour and support the church authorities who are placed over him. An important part of being a church member is to promise that, with Christ’s help, we will honour and submit to the elders over us. The Westminster Larger Catechism adds virtues such as ‘reverence in heart, word, and behaviour; prayer and thanksgiving for [those over us]; imitation of their virtues and graces; willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels; due submission to their corrections; fidelity to, defence and maintenance of their persons and authority, according to their several ranks, and the nature of their places; bearing with their infirmities, and covering them in love, that so [we] may be an honour to them and to their government.’ For a Christian to use the courts against the church would be like a child suing his parents if he didn’t like a decision they made. It has been known to happen! But surely all God’s people respond: ‘God forbid.’

            In an increasingly litigious society, an easy way for the church to be a breath of fresh air, and a haven for all, is for Christians to take no part in using the courts to try to influence or manipulate brothers and sisters in Christ, especially in internal church matters.

– Jacques Nel