I Corinthians 6:1-20
Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? (v. 7b) Paul spoke of greed and cheating (swindling) in yesterday’s reading. In today’s Chapter 6, one begins to wonder if Paul was clearly pointing a finger at particular people in the Corinthian congregation when he mentions suffering wrong and being defrauded (v. 7b). These two items are part and parcel of greed and cheating. I’m guessing that someone, say Corinthian believer “A” was, in fact, the greedy swindler who was cheating Corinthian believer “B”, and now “B” was taking “A” to court. Paul’s advice is to suffer the wrong and move on – or have the issue decided within the church. His unspoken word is that God will deal with believer “A”; it’s “A’s” problem, not “B’s”. Please note that Paul is speaking about a situation of believer vs. believer.
Being defrauded by someone outside the church is a different issue. Then the civil courts are in session. However, I also imagine that Paul’s advice to Why not rather be defrauded? is still relevant. If in confronting the wrong-doer the wrong done is not righted, we just have to trust that the Holy Spirit will convict the wrong-doer of his/her cheating and that the Christian’s example might bear fruit in that person’s life. Still, for a major amount or a major wrong, the civil courts are in session. For 15 years we were landlords in Richmond. Different tenants did us wrong and we let it slide. But there was one case where we felt compelled to take a young man to court. We won the case easily and the young man paid his debt in full over the course of two years. He knew he was wrong, he paid up. And, a happy ending – he later, through a common friend, sought our friendship and we have since reconciled. “Sweet justice”, but not in the sense that we typically think of “sweet justice”…! This situation was truly both justice and sweet!
See also: April 24 / I Cor. 6:1-11; April 25 / I Cor. 6:12-20