Daily Devotional for Saturday, March 29

Handling Disagreements

   “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?” 1 Corinthians 6:1.

In a conversation after church one Sunday, Rick learned Joey was selling his pickup truck. Rick had been saving money and looking for a truck, so he went over to Joey’s the next afternoon to have a look. The truck was a perfect fit for Rick. The two negotiated a price. Joey brought the price down lower than he had for others interested in buying the truck because Rick was a fellow church member. Rick paid half in cash and returned the next day with a check for the rest. A few days later, Joey tried to cash the check, but it bounced. He confronted Rick, who said he would call the bank and work it out. A couple of weeks went by with no resolution. After a couple more weeks, Joey was getting irritated, and Rick was avoiding him. After nine weeks, Joey filed suit.

Details are not disclosed, but a Corinthian believer took a fellow-believer to court over a major disagreement. When Paul heard about it, he was clearly appalled. In 1 Corinthians 5, he addressed the church judging outsiders. In 1 Corinthians 6, he scolded them for taking inside matters to outsiders. They should have been able to come to an agreement with godly wisdom and help from the Holy Spirit. By taking their problems to the world’s court, unbelievers view the whole spectacle and see believers in Christ as no different than themselves. Paul called it a fault and spoke to their shame.

Jesus taught how to handle disputes in Matthew 18. First, have a private conversation about the disagreement. If the offending one will not listen, take along one or two fellow-believers to discuss the issue so that every word will be heard by witnesses. As Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:5, at least one wise person among the group should be able to present a solution.

THOUGHT

It matters how we handle conflict. The world is watching.

Kelli Reynolds