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1 Corinthians 6:4-6
NKJV
If then you have judgments concerning things
pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the
church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a
wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his
brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before
unbelievers!
NLT
If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go
to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to
shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide
these issues? But instead, one believer sues another—right in front
of unbelievers!
Paul said “I am saying this to shame you” That’s a statement
that will get sideways in a hurry in today’s world. Since we’re not so
different the ancient Corinthians, I’d guess that it got sideways with them
too. The city of Corinth was a hub of trade, culture and religious
significance. It flourished as a center for trade and influence. The temple of Aphrodite
was there and brought with it all of the depravity we as a people are capable
of, so when I say the “I say it to shame you” statement probably offended folks…it
was probably lit them up like a dry Christmas tree and a match!
As we saw in the first three verses, we’re called to “Beware
that our relationships are fragile and be aware that at times we are the cause
of the damage.” We need to mature as
Christians and become capable of making decisions, with
our grounding firmly on the roots of Godly wisdom. We also need to be wise,
and humble, enough to know that our
pursuit of being right will at times override what is
right.
Verses 4-6, in a nutshell basically (to me) say that we
should be capable of having hard conversations about hard things…and still love
each other as believers. We should be able to disagree without being
disagreeable. The world would tell us that if I don’t like something in your
life, then I don’t like you. It’s satans whole premise, to separate us into factions
and keep us divided. When believers fall into this trap, we miss out on some great
conversations about what is truth and what the Word says about truth.
When the “Paul” in our lives says something that shames us,
do we get mad and kick back? Do we consider the source, is this a respected
person in our lives? Is the reason we kick back because maybe they’re right and
we’re embarrassed that we got caught? How humble are we? Can I objectively look
at myself and say, “yeah, I’m capable of doing something shaming. I need to
address this” Am I willing to have the hard conversations about hard things to
help people grow in Christ? And am I willing to accept it in love, or give it
in love?
Maybe this seems a bit of a ramble, maybe this is out of
context with the verses…but here I am and this is where I ended up. These are just
some thoughts from a random mind on how much humbleness am I willing to endure
and what I’m willing to do with it. God first, above all else!
I say this to shame you?
Pastor Cory
