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1 Corinthians 6:7
NKJV
Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you
that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why
do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?
NLT
Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a
defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not
let yourselves be cheated?
Why not accept the loss and move on…Paul is harsh! Should I
take that loss rather than fight for what I think is right? Context is
important here. Paul is talking about small trivial matters being taken to
court (i.e., Believer vs believer). Paul is asking for something here that was
hard back then, but harder now because of the stature of the church in the
modern world. In the Jewish culture back then it was common for a Jew to carry
a dispute against another Jew to a rabbi. This was skewed a bit when the
gentiles started getting saved. They were used to taking things to a court, so
they continued this practice and it started becoming the norm.
So, if I borrowed a shovel from you and returned it with a
cracked handle and I denied it…this was going to court. Seems a little silly,
doesn’t it? Even more so, was Paul’s concern that these matters were believers
going before unbelievers to be judged. There are a couple of reasons we shouldn’t
let nonbelievers judge our disputes on small matters (we’re not talking about
criminal activity or gross felonies). We are destined to judge
angels, we should be able to have discussions to handle petty
disagreements, or at least be willing to have a third-party believer be the
judge? We need to also consider what this looks like to unbelievers. What do
our disagreements do to the name of Christ?
If, we as believers, are supposed to have the Holy Spirit in
us, the very act of doing battle in a secular court over a minor dispute is
already a defeat. Whoever wins, both lose. Both will have demonstrated how
little value they place on Christ’s command to love one another and serve each
other. The reputation of Christ will be damaged because the world will look at two
squabbling believers and say…” they’re no different than us, why would I want
what they have?”
In this verse Paul is encouraging us to just accept the
defeat for the cause of Christ. A “take one for the team” attitude. That goes
against our nature. We don’t like to lose, and we don’t like to be taken
advantage of. We all have a sense of justice, of what we believe to be right
and wrong. But most of the time it is skewed toward what is best for ME. I
believe that if we can step back from a situation and look at it though our “God
lens;” we can see if it is and injustice we can accept and move on in the name
of Christ.
Paul was talking about petty lawsuits in courts in this
verse, but I also believe this can talk to us about our disagreements and
arguments. When talking with people before they get married, I always ask them
to step back from the disagreement and look at it from a safe distance then I
ask them to decide if “this is the hill you want to die on?” Sometimes it’s
better to take the loss.
As I talk to myself in writing this, I think…what is the one
thing I want to get out of this? I think that one thing is this:
Sometimes if taking the defeat benefits the Kingdom, then I’m
going swallow my pride and take the defeat.
Take the Loss,
Pastor Cory
