Church Spats

I Corinthians 6:1-6 (NIV) states:

If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!  I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!  (Scripture thanks to Biblegateway)

Unfortunately, churches seem to forget about this scripture when money or property is involved.  The latest case of this is Avondale Church of Christ v. Merrill Lynch.  In this case the Court of Appeals found that this case deals with ecclesiastical (church) law and the trial court had no jurisdiction.

So, what do we learn from this?

1. If you are a church that claims to be an independent congregation, have some sort of written operating agreement.
2. Read the scripture.  There are plenty of us who are Christian attorneys who can mediate or arbitrate your church disputes.  Don’t take the matter to court.

Here’s another scripture:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)

This entry was posted on November 10, 2008 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Litigation, General Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.