Let It Go. Leave It To God.

 

In First Corinthians 6 Paul speaks to Christians and strongly urges them to avoid lawsuits against other believers.

In fact, the language choice he uses in verse 1 includes this sentence of condemnation, “how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers?”

It’s a strong order.  One that Paul seems rather passionate about giving.

He says, “Don’t you realize that we will judge angels?  So you should surely be ale to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.”  (verse 3)

In verse 7 he says, “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 just let yourselves be cheated.”



Ahh.. the hard words to hear for the one who still holds tightly to fleshly living.

But Paul looks like the Savior in this moment.
Because wasn’t it the Sermon on the Mount that issued all kinds of challenges.  “If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.”  (Matt 5:40)  “But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”  (Matt 5:39)  “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”  (Matt 5:44)

Oh such duty we would call nearly impossible is not only our assignment… it’s a command right from the heart of the Suffering Servant.

The call of the Jesus people - the ones who are to, “be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16) and, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48) - is to be tender-loving, mild in temperament, and radically forgiving in all their dealings.  Period.

And the difficulty comes when we see this as “rule” and not as a way to display His glory in the universe.  When we see this as merely another “impossible command”, then we fail to see the good that could be fashioned in our life as a result.

What we ought to be most concerned with is the cause of Jesus Christ.
We ought to be more afraid that the cause of Jesus would be injured than we should be worried about being a little weaker looking by those who oppose us.  We should be less concerned with any worldly loss we suffer from the misconduct of others, and more concerned about the suffering in our spiritual character at the injustice aimed at our destruction from outsiders.

Think about this… it would be better for us to suffer an improper wrong than for the case of Christianity to suffer.  We should love the cause of our Jesus more than our own individual interest.

And so maybe we can take this even further than in-court litigation.  Maybe we can hold this same standard in all of our disputes and disagreements.

It might be time to let it go.  Leave it to God.  Lest it damage our soul, and diminish the Gospel.

It really matters…