Here Come Da Judge

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?  Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?  Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!  Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church?  I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?  But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! (I Corinthians 6:1-6)

          Yesterday’s passage dealt with what might be considered criminal matters. It was a case of someone doing something morally wrong. The offender was to be put out of the church. Today, we deal with the other side of the court system: civil court, and lawsuits. While in criminal matters, the guilty party is to be put out of the Church and turned over to Satan, in civil matters, Paul tells us to handle it ourselves. We’re not to take our squabbles to the court of law or the court of public opinion. We’re to handle it ourselves because it gives us practice and wisdom toward when we will judge the world. 
          Wait! Didn’t Paul just get done telling us not to judge those in the world, but to leave that up to Jesus? Yes, he did. The best way I can explain it is that we are told to judge minor, civil cases, but leave the criminal cases to the world’s courts and to Jesus, and to use our civil cases as an opportunity to learn how to judge better. But we cannot miss the point that the goal is not to not judge, but to learn to judge wisely.