Responding To Law Suits

'Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge may hand you over to the officer and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny." Matthew 5: 25-26. 

Over the course of our life, we will have many opportunities to work with others through differences. On many of these occasions, we may find ourselves to be the party causing the problem, that is if we are willing to admit we are wrong. That in itself can be  a difficult position to undertake. Once we come to the conclusion we are wrong, asking for forgiveness and offering an apology can be even harder for us . We fear, in doing so, it may place us in an even more difficult position with the other party. But failing to do this, may also place us in the situation where we are facing a lawsuit.

If this occurs, first of all we should ask ourselves, "are we guilty?" This requires a tremendous amount of humility and surrender. We don't want to be wrong and admitting it may place us in a loosing position with the other party. We want to be the winner, but our pride and our inability to deal with the consequences may keep us from accepting our responsibility in being wrong.

If  faced with a lawsuit and we are wrong, our first step should be to seek forgiveness and offer any restitution for any possible damages done. If we are not wrong and have offered our defense to the other party in an attitude of love and kindness, then we have every right to legally defend ourselves. " Paul answered, I am not standing before Caesar's court where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews as you yourself know very well. If however, I am guilty of doing anything wrong deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar." Acts 25: 10

But what if we have been wronged? What actions should we take as Christians towards those who have harmed us in some way? We have already answered that question when dealing with other Christians. Paul stated in 1st Corinthians that Christians should avoid at all cost taking other Christians to court over worldly matters before a non christian world. It is not the question of right or wrong of a lawsuit, but rather what affect does this have on representing Christ to the world. That, Paul is saying,  should be our primary concern.  

Matthew 18: 15-17 provides a path Christians should take in these matters by going to the other person and showing him his fault. If he does not listen, we are to take a witness and eventually we are to go before the church to settle the matter. This, however, is not something that churches practice today, much to our wrong.

I have not been able to find scripture, nor have I been able to have others find scripture that prohibits Christians from suing non Christians. But, we must once again ask ourselves, what is our motive, what is our purpose, what are we after?

Remember the statement from my attorney friend, most lawsuits are caused over money and revenge. 

Our purpose in the market place is to represent Christ and to build His kingdom. We cannot do this with bitterness and a worldly attitude ruling our heart. We can seek restitution when restitution is needed. Loving and praying for our enemy while taking him to court is difficult, but not impossible. Sacrificing our own interest for the interest of the Kingdom is not a natural human characteristic. Only a sincere and spirit filled heart that is truly seeking the ways of God can enter into this position. Maybe that is the reason Paul says why not rather be wronged?