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August 20, 2017 |
| Worldly Matters | ||
Christians are a people set apart from the world by God. As such we live to a different standard and have a different perspective on life. The promise of everlasting life also changes our priorities in this life.
But we live among the world and we see how the world lives. Sometimes we can forget who we are and start acting like the world that we see so much of every day.
In this lesson we will look at some verses that talk about how we should handle disputes with other Christians over worldly matters. Like everyone, Christians make mistakes and have misunderstandings. We'll see here how we shouldn't handle those and how we should. More importantly we'll see the underlying principle that should guide us.
1 Dare any of you, when he has a dispute with his brother, to judge before the evil and not before the holy?
In this translation it's a little hard to understand what Paul is talking about here. By brother, he means brother in the faith, not biological brother. He is talking about brothers who have a dispute between them; perhaps one of them feels the other hasn't lived up to an agreement he made. Paul is asking, "how dare you take this matter to a worldly court?"
More than that though he refers to a worldly court as a place where evil men sit in judgement, rather than holy men. His unspoken point is, why would you expect a godly decision to come from that … or even a just one.
This message goes back to a point that is made in many places, that we are not to be unequally yoked with the world. We are a people who are set apart from the world. This isn't just a figure of speech. It has real consequences in our lives, how we look at things and our relationships, both with the people of the world and the governments of the world.
2 Or do you not know that the Saints shall judge the universe? And if the universe is judged by you, are you not worthy to judge small disputes?
Paul is referring to a concept that is not generally recognized in the church. At the time of the Second Coming, there is a judgment day of the believers. This is not the judgement day that will not come for another 1000 years after that. There are very few clear references to this in the Bible. This is one.
Yeshua said to them, "Surely, I say to you who have come after me, in the New World when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones and will judge the twelve Tribes of Israel." (Matthew 19:28)
On this judgment day, Jesus will enter his decision for who was raptured and who was not. We will sit in judgement of that decision to determine if it was just. Of course it will be, but it must be judged.
Some will wonder why people they knew are not present. Some may wonder how on earth some people they knew are present.
So Paul's message is that if we are wise enough to sit in judgement of God's decision of the universe, surely we are able to judge in these small disputes between brothers in the faith (and sisters of course).
3 Do you not know that we judge the Angels? How much rather those who are of this world?
Even less well known is the idea that we will judge the angels.
[…] God did not spare the Angels who sinned, but cast them down in chains of darkness into the lowest depths and handed them over to be kept for the judgment of torment (2 Peter 2:4)
He puts no trust even in His servants; and against His angels He charges error. (Job 4:18)
At the Second Coming, Satan and his angels will be bound up for 1000 years so they cannot deceive the people. We will be the judges over that decision as well.
4 But if you have a judgment concerning a worldly matter, seat those for you in judgment who are neglected in the assembly.
Paul speaks of worldly matters and therefore implicitly of spiritual matters, the other side of the coin. Elsewhere Paul has said how to handle disputes about spiritual matters - take it to the elders of the church to judge. Here he says, if you have a dispute about worldly matters, take it to the least of the church to judge.
Paul is certainly making two subtle statements here:
5 But I say to you now: Is there not with you even one wise person who will be able to reconcile between a brother and his brother?
The words "I say to you now" are hiding a deeper meaning like "I have to speak with you this way now." It has a negative tone that other translations have captured in words like, "I say this to your shame."
He has just finished saying that we will judge men and angels so we are competent to judge in worldly matters and even the least in the church are better judges than the world. So he is really asking why the church isn't judging its own.
Notice what Paul is setting up here. We would call it an extrajudicial justice system. We are also bound by Paul's words, derived from the Ten Commandments, that we are to honor (obey) our government, except where they contradict God's rules. So we need to be careful here.
The crimes recognized by our judicial system are divided into civil and criminal. "Civil cases usually involve private disputes between persons or organizations. Criminal cases involve an action that is considered to be harmful to society as a whole."1 The government generally has no direct interest in civil law matters. The government does have a vested interest in criminal matters and often requires that they be reported. Failure to do so is itself a criminal matter. This varies widely from state to state.
To have this work, of course, the people need to agree to be bound by the decision. This is no different than mediators that are in use in many states now.
6 A brother disputes with his brother, even before those who are unbelievers. 7 Now therefore you have condemned yourselves, because you have lawsuits with one another; for why are you not rather wronged, and why are you not rather cheated? 8 But you are doing wrong and you are cheating even your brothers.
Paul uses a question to make a very important point here. He questions the general idea of taking a brother to court, independent of whether it is a court of unbelievers or not (though unbelievers is worse). He asks why do you prefer to take a brother to court rather than accept that you have been wronged or cheated?
This is a key difference between the Christian life and the worldly life. The world is always seeking to get even, to make sure they get what is theirs. When you believe this life is all you've got, that is how you think.
For the Christian, this life is a small thing compared to eternal life. We live in the care of God who directs our steps. We do not accept that "the person who dies with the most toys wins."
Paul also uses the words "even before unbelievers" to highlight how disputes like this reflect on the church. The world sees us doing the same things they do and can only assume we are no different - that we are hypocrites.
9 Or do you not know that evil men do not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; no fornicators, neither worshipers of idols, neither adulterers, neither sexual molesters, neither males lying down with males, 10 Neither frauds, nor thieves, neither drunkards, nor the insolent, neither extortioners; these do not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Notice what Paul does here. He has been discussing disputes about small worldly matters. Then he asked why wouldn't you prefer to be wronged or cheated as opposed to taking a brother to court. Now he lumps people who would take a brother to court together with idol worshippers, adulterers, and others.
At first that seems a little harsh but it isn't. Loving ourselves or our lives more than God is idolatry. Hating others is murder, as is diminishing them in our eyes. Whatever desire is motivating us to do this thing to a brother, that is evil. Recall the words Paul used in verse 6, "you have condemned yourselves."
When Paul says "Do not be deceived" he is referring to the serious of taking a brother to court. While a worldly matter may be a small thing, a heart like this is not.
11 And these things had been in each one of you but you are washed (purified by baptism), you are sanctified and you are made righteous (justified) in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God.
Paul says these evil desires were in us before but should be gone now because we have been:
Despite this we still make mistakes and injure our relationships with God and man.
The one who is great in the Kingdom of God is the one who is servant of all. We know this to be true but we sometimes don't know how to apply it. In this case we apply it by sacrificing the natural desire we have to get what we deserve. We do this to promote unity and growth in the body of the Messiah. We are able to do this because we know the things of this world are temporary and we've put God in control of our lives. Once we’ve done that the worldly matters become less important.
1 http://litigation.findlaw.com/filing-a-lawsuit/civil-cases-vs-criminal-cases-key-differences.html