Transcript
Ben Fallon: Welcome to another episode of “Ask Paul Tripp.” My name is Ben Fallon, the Executive Director of Paul Tripp Ministries, and if you've been following along with this series or our podcast, you might have noticed that we took an extended break from “Ask Paul Tripp” over the last few months. That was due to the fact that Paul had gotten pneumonia this winter and was struggling with some long-lasting side effects which affected his ability to speak, primarily coughing fits, so we wanted to spare you from those interruptions.
But we're back now and Paul is healthy and feeling great, and every Friday, once a week, we'll be posting a new answer from Paul that provides gospel clarity to the confusing situations and relationships of everyday life in a fallen world, which is exactly what today's question addresses. It comes from a business owner who asks:
I have a client suing our company for a substantial amount of money that was a direct result of his mismanagement, and then attempting to take out the required costing for rectifying his failure. When mistreated as such, do you believe God's Word gives recourse to protect ourselves, in this case, counter their lawsuit, if God allows the courts to find us negligent, when it is clearly not so? My intention here is to protect my company so that I can continue to employ and provide income for a handful of families.
So, Paul, what's your answer to Christians making use of the legal system to protect themselves, seek justice for mistreatment, and suing or counter suing for financial compensation? And how do we know when we're within the limits of justice, or if we're going too far and seeking vengeance selfishly?
Paul Tripp: Yes, I think this is a very important practical question because we live in a broken world. It's not functioning the way God intended. Wrongs will take place; there is injustice every day in our world. And so, I want to give the helicopter view of this first before I get down to the nitty-gritty.
The human justice system came out of the mind of God, and it's something that we should deeply appreciate and respect. Justice exists because God is a God of perfectly holy justice. And that's comforting because there's no such thing, right now, as perfect human justice. And so, we always look to God for the hope that someday perfectly holy justice will reign on earth once again.
Now here's the zeal behind justice. This is what justice is: “Justice exists to right wrongs, protecting the one who has been wronged, and meeting out consequences to the wrongdoer.” That's justice. Protecting the person who has been wronged, who has experienced some form of injustice, and meeting out consequences to the wrongdoer. And I want to say one other thing before I get more directly into an answer. The biblical view of justice always leads you to the cross where God's justice and his mercy meet. It's the holy justice of God that drove Jesus to the cross. Sin needed a penalty payment and it's the perfect grace of God for sinners that drove Jesus to the cross.
Now when a Christian is sued, there are several issues to consider. First is, I should begin by examining myself–“Is there any way that I have wronged this person that is now suing me?” Rather than immediately assuming my righteousness, I want to be willing to consider that maybe there was some form of wrong that's been done, and that would require some suitable form of restitution. So, I always want to be willing to start with my own heart, start with my own behavior; humility and self-examination is always the way to begin.
Second thing I would say is, “Yes, it is right for a Christian to make use of our civil justice system.” Again, God in his grace, in his mercy, in the thing that we call ‘common grace,’ has ordained for courts to be set up and for there to be judges and juries, and all of that is part of his love for us, his care for us, and his providing for us an ability to rightly deal with injustice that doesn't take vengeance into our own hands. The Bible clearly says, God says in Romans 12:18, “‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” I love what Paul says in that passage; he says, “Leave room for God's wrath.” He's basically saying, “Stay out of God's way, let him do his job; don't try to do God's job for him.”
I would follow that by saying it's not right for a Christian who is being sued to counter-sue as an act of vengeance; “I'm just angry that you sued me and I'm going to get you back.” That's a misuse of the court, and listen, the justice system can be used to do injustice. Just because you're in the court doesn't mean what you're doing is just, and so you have to be willing to, again, examine your heart, “Why are we wanting to counter-sue?” Maybe the counter-suit is because in order to defend ourselves, we've had a massive loss of money or time away from our business concern. Those are rightful reasons for counter-suing because the suit was an injustice, it's right to want to right that wrong of the injustice of the suit. So that's perfectly right in God's eyes, and Scripture doesn't speak against that as long as the counter-suit isn't an act of anger and vengeance.
Fourth thing, we're called to be peacemakers. So, the first choice of a Christian in a civil dispute should be to seek mediation or arbitration before taking things to court. Is there a way that we can opt for a peaceful settlement that doesn't require a suit and the court?
There's a fifth thing, and although this may not have been the situation of the person who asked the question, I think it's important to talk about. The Bible is very specific about what should happen when it's a Christian suing a Christian, and this is 1 Corinthians 6, 1 through 8, I want to read this.
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to the law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So, if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud–even your own brothers!
So, pretty strong words by the Apostle Paul and basically saying that if a brother has experienced injustice from another brother or a sister from a sister, they should first go to the church before they go to the civil court. I'm thankful that there are now Christian para-church ministries that are giving themselves to assist the church in these kinds of situations. One of those is called ‘Peacemakers,’ and they are very skilled at mediation to help believers settle their wrongs against one another.
Well, let me summarize what Paul is saying. Believers should do their best to settle their differences, using resources within the Christian community, before taking their dispute to civil court. So let me summarize. Our justice system is a gift from the Lord. It's not wrong for a Christian to make use of that system. That's God's good gift to us because he understands in this fallen world there will be injustices. It's completely appropriate to use all of the weight of the legal system to defend myself when being improperly sued. It is right to counter sue if that's just not an act of anger and vengeance but settling the injustice that may have taken place and the losses that may have taken place as a result of an unjust suit. I love how God reaches into all of the circumstances of our lives with his goodness and his grace. It's a good thing that courts exist. I would not want to live in a culture that had no legal system. That legal system exists because God exists–He's holy and just and he loves us!
BF: Thank you, Paul. Be sure to come back next Friday for another episode of “Ask Paul Tripp.” You can find this on the “Paul Tripp podcast,” on the “Ask Paul Tripp podcast,” or at paultripp.com/ask.
And if you have a question that you want to submit, you can submit it online at paultripp.com/ask or email ask at paultripp.com.
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