Saturday, March 12. 2011

Resolve Disputes Among Yourselves

If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before rhe saints? -- 1 Corinthians 6:1

We are a lawsuit happy nation. We also claim to be a Christian nation. Funny how we tend to overlook comments like this one when we read the Bible. Paul seems to think that Christians should be able to work out disputes among themselves without involving nonbelievers. What do you think?

It would certainly save a great deal on court costs and attorney fees. Things might move along a whole lot faster too. Of course, we'd probably disagree over whether someone was a Christian or not. Anything to fuss a little more.

We do like to fuss. We like revenge, including all those plotting stages that happen right up to the event. We don't want to turn things over to God. We'd rather handle them ourselves so we can feel "good" about someone else getting what they deserve. It works great until the situation reverses and we're the ones getting what we deserve.

The truth is we could avoid a lot of legal tangles, hurt feelings and bitterness if we would follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We'd be kinder and more compassionate if we'd read the Bible more than we run our mouths. And we'd be a whole lot happier if we'd stop thinking that revenge will heal our hurts. Only God can do that.

Resolving disputes is never fun but Paul was right. Christians should be able to revolve disagreements among themselves. Failure to do so should be a red flag that something is just not right within our souls.