#GOFAMINTDailyDevotion Sun. 19/11/2017
Quarter’s Theme: CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE CHURCH
UNIT 3 – Steps To Resolving Conflict In The Church (Lessons 8-12)
LOYALTY CAMPAIGN MONTHS
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 154, 159
Devotional Reading: 1 KGS. 3:16-28
Topic For Adults
ACCEPT THE VERDICT OF SAINTS
Topic For Youths
RESOLVE THE DISPUTES AMONG YOURSELVES
Topic For Intermediates
ALWAYS FORGIVE
Lesson Scriptures
MATT. 18:6-9; 1 COR. 6:1-7; MATT. 18:15-17
19/11/2017 LESSON 12
AVOID CIVIL LITIGATION
MEMORY VERSE
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 7:12) NKJV
DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING
Sun. 19/11/2017
Involve God In The Process
Gen. 32:9-21
When God goes with you or even before you into the arena of conflicts or disputes, you can be assured of peaceful resolutions. Therefore, pray to God for wisdom to handle your issues. God can cause your enemies to be at peace with you when He delights in you. God can work on the hearts and minds of all stakeholders to achieve a peaceful result. Trust God and commit the disputes into his hand and He will do justice. Can you imagine the fear that hit Jacob’s heart as he prepared to meet his brother Esau? He had supplanted him by taking His birth right and by receiving their father’s blessings through deceit. Esau swore to eliminate him, but by connivance with his mother, Jacob escaped to Padan Aram to sojourn with Laban. Now after many years of sojourn, Jacob is returning to re-unite with Esau. His plans and preparations showed how terror stricken he was. There was a serious dispute that could lead to his death. It must be handled, not ignored. He approached the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac and God intervened. The episode of their re-union was touching, it was emotion-laden. There was peace again between them. God can handle your own conflict, too!
Point of Emphasis: Involve God in the process of your conflict resolution.
Prayer Point: Our Lord Our Peace, let me enjoy peace in my relationship with people.
BACKGROUND
Avoid civil litigation? Yes, that is what the message of this lesson is. Civil litigation refers to resolution of disputes through a judicial process that involves civil laws, the court system and enforcement of court decisions. Aggrieved persons approach the courts either personally or assisted by lawyers to present their disputes before judges. The judges look at the facts presented, evaluate the evidence adduced and give judgment in favour of either of the deserving parties. It is expected that justice will be done and the deserving party will be compensated or vindicated! Thus, litigation involves going to court to settle disputes. However, children of God are under instruction not to take one another to court. Do not sue your fellow Christians! So how may you resolve disputes with fellow believers?
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: DISPUTES ARE INEVITABLE (MATT. 18:6-9)
Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that “Offences must come, but woe to that man by whom offence comes”. Offence here means sin, a wrong, an infraction, a breach, etc which hurts another individual and for which the aggrieved person will be entitled to some remedy. Whilst seeking to know how many times he would need to forgive a brother who sinned against him, Peter received this answer from Jesus “I do not say to you up to seven times but up to seventy times seven? (Matt. 18:21-22) The subject of forgiveness is borne out of the inevitability of wrong doing. Whilst we seek and pray to be perfect in obedience to God’s command, we all know that we are not! Only God Almighty is perfect.
Husbands may offend their wives and they often do. Children may act contrary to set parental standards and indeed, they do. Bosses at work may step on the toes of their subordinates and that often happens. Employees may breach their contract of employment and that is not uncommon. Employers too may contravene terms agreed with their employees and owe salaries, this also is common experience in the labour market. Borrowers fail to pay their loans to the creditors with interest as agreed. A church may be uncomfortable with the leadership style of a particular minister and proceed to terminate his appointment without following the laid down procedures and this happens often in Christendom. Tenants owe rents and landlords seek possession. The list is endless.
Believers are involved in these circumstances and in some cases, the parties are both believers and worse still, they may be members of the same denomination or local assembly or parish. Where a breach occurs, dispute arises. If the dispute is not resolved quickly, it may balloon into crisis, leading to a chain of events the end of which may not be predicable. When disputes show up, let us remember that even though we try to live in peace with others, we cannot avoid disputes or what Christ calls ‘offences’.
PART 2: DON’T GO TO COURT (1 COR. 6:1-7)
Paul was disturbed that brethren in the Corinthian church were taking fellow believers to civil courts on matters among them. He wondered why they should submit disputes between believers in the Christian fellowship or community to courts for adjudication by unbelieving judges. Do you know that churches today take their leadership crisis to civil courts for adjudication? Very recently, a Church in Nigeria sacked her General Overseer. The latter went to court to void the sack. The case proceeded from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court affirmed the sack. The dailies were reporting the story as it evolved. Factional leaders in Churches take their adversaries to civil courts.
Apostle Paul posits that internal disputes among believers should be settled by wise believers, not by civil courts. He reasons that spiritual matters should not be taken to court for adjudication; they should be settled within by mature wise members. In other words, leaders of the Church should settle any disputes arising. It is a shame to submit dispute between brothers to unbelieving judges to be resolved according to secular laws. Experience has shown that such unbelieving judges make scathing remarks about such believers who come before them.
We must be willing to allow ourselves to be cheated or to endure the wrong rather than sue our fellow Christians to court. It is expected that since disputes are inevitable, Christian organisations must provide effective machinery for dispute resolution among their folds. The disputing members, too, must be willing to abide by the decisions or verdicts of brethren who are assigned to resolve such disputes. To do otherwise, is to reject the word of God. Jesus gave this instruction in Matthew 18:15-17.
PART 3: ADOPT ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION METHODS (MATT. 18:15-17)
It is apparent that disputes should not be ignored or left hanging. Endeavour to resolve all disputes as quickly as possible. Civil litigation is costly, time wasting, frustrating and subject to numerous unpredictable dynamics. It strains relationships. Enforcement of verdicts is by coercion. Therefore, it is advised that we seek to use more effective, less expensive and more friendly dispute resolution methods. Mediation, reconciliation and arbitration are well recognized techniques of dispute resolution in contemporary societies. For believers, they should approach the other party personally first to resolve the matter. If that fails, invite one or two other persons to participate in the process and that may give the much desired outcome. However, if that fails, the matter should be reported to the Church for the intervention of the leadership and it is hoped that this stage will yield a verdict that is acceptable to the parties involved. Where that fails, the obdurate erring party should be treated as an unbeliever. In all issues involving children of God, this must be the model. Going to court should not be an option at all.
Where a party to the dispute is an unbeliever, civil litigation may not be ruled out. And where a brother rebuffs the decision of the Church, and the wronged party is unwilling to forgo his right or the deserved legal remedy, he may approach a civil court for justice. But even then, they should still consider the alternative dispute resolution methods earlier mentioned. In all cases, it is good to seek good professional advice especially to avoid the trap of statute of limitation. A statute of limitation prescribes the time frame within which the law permits an aggrieved litigant to seek a legal remedy. Outside the time frame, the person’s legal right is foreclosed and unenforceable thereafter.
CONCLUSION
Jesus has revealed to us that offenses, though undesirable, will certainly come. He gives us a dispute resolution model or frame work to resolve disputes as they occur among believers. He urged forgiveness and reconciliation. Paul, too, instructed that disputes among believers should be settled within and some wrongs should be endured rather than engage in civil litigation against fellow brethren. Believers should avoid going to court against each other. They should submit themselves to the wisdom of the leadership of the church in handling disputes that they cannot handle personally. However, where a non-Christian is involved, litigation may be option, but that must be the last option. It is advised that even where recourse is made to litigation, alternative disputes resolution techniques should first be explored.
QUESTIONS
- Why do you believe disputes are inevitable?
- How did Jesus say believers should settle their disputes?
- How did Paul say believers should settle their disputes?
- Why should believers not take each other to civil court?
- My tenant is my church member; he is owing me rent for two years. He refuses to pack out and has refused to pay rent. What should I do to him?
