Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 6:1-10

Introduction: Lawsuits - Another way we are uniquely shaped by the culture

Throughout this series, we’ve talked about ways in which we can subtly be influenced, shaped, and molded by the culture.

The world around us can be so filled with certain philosophies and ideals that run contrary to the Scriptures that we can become captive to those same philosophies and not even realize it.

One such way that this can happen is in the way we view lawsuits.

And the reason I say that is because the US is ALL ABOUT SOME LAWSUITS!

We absolutely LOVE to SUE!!!

We are in the top 5 of the MOST LITIGIOUS COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD!

Meaning we are in the top 5 of countries in the world MOST UNREASONABLY PRONE to settle our disputes in court.

We have 1 lawyer for every 300 ppl in the country.

That’s the smallest ratio of lawyers to citizens IN THE WORLD!

<Shout out to my brother, Matt Clark, this morning!

We love you brother and want you to keep doing a great job!>

This is not a knock on lawyers but rather an attempt to draw your attention to how SUE HAPPY the culture we in can be and how that can influence the way many of us look at the courts as an early option to settle our disputes rather than an option of last resort.

But not only do we rely on the courts to handle our disputes, we rely on them in the most trivial of matters.

In 2014, a California man sued McDonald’s for $1.5M.

His reason: He only received one napkin with his order and the argument that followed left him emotionally distressed.

In 2016, a Chicago woman sued Starbucks for $5M.

Her reason: putting too much ice in their cold drinks.

She said that they were advertising 24 ounce drinks but putting the ice in them resulted in only getting 14 ounces of liquid.

In the drink.

Apparently, It never dawned on her to go with the other option of just asking for easy ice.

We are a SUE HAPPY culture.

And that unfortunately does not exclude the church!

There a stories in the news right now of members suing their church over church votes, of preachers suing other preachers, I even saw a few years ago, where a church sued one of its former members for leaving a bad review of the church on Google.

We are a SUE HAPPY culture.

So Paul’s words to us this morning are worthy of our consideration.

Let’s take a look at them starting at verse 1

A Historical Look

When you take a quick look at the historical background of the legal system where this scene is playing out, you see that it was plagued with a lot of problems.

(1) According to scholars/historians, the Roman legal system was often tilted towards those with wealth:

a. “Lower-class” folks were prohibited from prosecuting those that were considered in the elite class.

On the flip side, people from the elite class could absolutely bring cases against those of a lower class.

b.

The jurors were typically selected from wealthier social groups.

For example, in North Africa in order to be considered for jury duty, citizens had to have a property value of 7,500 denarii (roughly 20 years worth of wages for an average employee).

c.

In addition, lawyers were also far more expensive than an average citizen could afford

Which leads us to think that most likely this was a lawsuit between two of the more financially privileged members of the Corinthian church because the other members either didn’t have the authority to sue or didn’t have the resources to sue.

(2) Another problem that plagued this system was corruption.

Some historical documents show that juries would sometimes conspire to see innocent people thrown in jail.

Caesar Augustus saw the issues and released an edict that described what he saw

“There exist certain conspiracies to oppress the Greeks in trials on capital charges.…

I myself have ascertained that some innocent people have in this way been oppressed and carried off to the supreme penalty.”

This is the environment in which Paul is writing and speaking with the Corinthians concerning lawsuits.

This isn’t everything Paul has in mind here, but it certainly could be a little of what he has in mind when he says in verse 1 “Does he dare go to law before the UNRIGHTEOUS instead of the saints.”

Their systems are imbalanced and even at times corrupt, but most importantly, they have NO INSIGHT into how the Kingdom of God calls us to treat one another.

And despite all of that, y’all are going to take your dispute with one another on a TRIVIAL matter to the world according verse 2?

Paul again is just like we found him last week in chapter 5…HE’S BESIDE HIMSELF and I sense that they’re definitely a few reasons why.

Paul is asking, “Does he dare got to the law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?” for a few reasons

Reason #1: The Lawsuit Shows An Absence of the Church’s Authority

Notice that this passage that we’re reading this morning comes right after an entire section on church discipline in chapter 5. Remember last week, Paul confronted the church on their unwillingness to address the grievous sin in their camp.

And in his confrontation was a section in which Paul says these words: “12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders?

Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?”

So here is Paul basically saying, “You needed to judge the one sleeping with his father’s wife, and you withheld judgment.”

Now you have another situation that needs the church’s judgment and instead of dealing with it, you’re withholding again, letting the world with their unspiritual and at times imbalanced and corrupt systems handle it.

For Saints THIS SHOULD NOT BE! Matters that you should be handling and judging on the inside, you’re either taking them to the outside or ignoring them completely!

We’re not sure what all is happening, but it appears that maybe due to the idolatry of leadership, or the chasing of great orators, or the widespread sexual sin that seems to be at work, the Corinthian church has lost its ability to speak with authority to its members.

APPLICATION: A CHURCH WITHOUT AUTHORITY IN THE LIFE OF ITS MEMBERS can only be a WORLDLY church.

If the members are taking their cues from what the world thinks of them versus what the brothers and sisters think of them, then they will be mainly shaped and molded by the world that they so highly regard.

But the church should have a role of authority in your life.

You should treasure and sit under the authority of the Word.

You should value and consider the leadership of those shepherding you when they do so as unto and with the Lord.

You should embrace the whole counsel of the church and its members when searching for wisdom in your decision.

Ask these folks around you when the Lord is calling you to make tough decisions!

The church is not intended to be just a place for social belonging.

It is a place where you are nourished and shaped to become more like Jesus.

We have to treat it as such.

Actually take its counsel to heart.

Don’t just hear the word of God and nod approvingly of it, but actually ask yourself “HOW DO I TAKE MY LIFE and ALIGN IT WITH THE WORD OF GOD!” Women ask yourself how much authority do the sisters in this church have in my life?

If I go left, can they pull me back and if not why not and how do I address that?

Men ask yourself the same questions, if the brothers in this church don’t have enough authority in my life to call out my waywardness and put me back on track, why not and how do I address it?

The fact that these men are taking their trivial matters outside of the church suggests that the church doesn’t have a large enough role in the shaping of their lives.

Here’s another reason Paul is asking “How dare you go to unbelievers!”

Reason #2: The Lawsuit Shows An Absence of An Eternal Vision

Paul comes out in verses 2-3 swinging for the FENCES as he continues to address the “WHY” for his words in verse 1, “does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?”

“Does he dare take his trivial matters to the outsiders rather than handling them internally in the life of the church?”

In verses 2 and 3 Paul is is making so UNBELIEVABLE statements, statements that have COSMIC and ETERNAL implications for us if we take them to be true!

First Statement: The children of God will judge the world!!!

Second Statement: The children of God will judge angels!!!

JUST STOP for a MOMENT AND TAKE IN THOSE TWO REALITIES.

Fallible and sinful man…You and I...will be transformed into the image of Christ in such a way and conformed into the likeness of Christ so much so that one day WE WILL TAKE PART IN THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD AND IN THE JUDGMENT OF ANGELS.

This is a truth that is hinted at in Daniel 7:22 when Daniel prophesies “22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.”

We also hear hints of it after Peter asks Jesus in Matthew 19 “what will we get in return for leaving everything and following you?”, and Jesus responds in Matthew 19:28 with this: “28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

We will judge the world and we will judge the most powerful created beings in the entire known universe.

Now we don’t know how that will look, and we don’t know the full cosmic assignment in all of its details, but I don’t believe that is the point Paul is trying to make.

Paul is trying to turn the gaze of the church from the natural and temporary to the supernatural and eternal.

Paul is saying here in verse 2-3 that if God is preparing us for such a monumental and enormous task as judging the world and angels, is it too much to ask to have you judge these more trivial matters?

Is it too much to ask for the church to serve as fair arbitrators in petty cases?

Is it too much to ask for the church to judge whether one of our church members should be owed money for rent or should be paid for work done for another church member?

I would venture to say that what keeps us not only unable to resolve trivial disputes between Christian family but actually involved in trivial disputes between Christian family in the first place is that we don’t take in the cosmic and eternal implications of what God is doing in us as we should.

YOU AND I are being prepared for ETERNITY HERE.

The way in which we engage with one another and love one another.

The way in which we learn to forgive one another and look past one another’s faults.

The way in which we resolve our disputes with Gospel ethics.

The way in which we handle our disagreements in the way of Jesus and not our own flesh is ALL preparing us for our judgment in the ETERNAL Kingdom.

On the flip side note what Paul says in verse 4

Those on the outside aren’t being renewed spiritually, they aren’t being prepared for eternity, and they aren’t being challenged and taught to embrace the way of Jesus.

So, why would they be called on to settle trivial disputes amongst people who are?

When we are going this route to settle disputes, it probably speaks more to where we are than where the outsiders are.