What does the Bible say about the church suing someone?
The Bible’s teaching on the church suing someone is clearly seen in 1 Corinthians 6:1-7. The principles presented in this passage are directed toward believers, but I think you can apply the same principles to whether churches should sue anyone.
The principles on lawsuits given in 1 Corinthians 6:1-7 include:
- (v. 1) Don’t dare go to unbelieving judges to settle a matter of disagreement between believers. Instead, go to the believers in the church.
- (v. 2-3) Realize that the saints of God will be used as judges at the end of the world and these same saints are capable of judging matters now.
- (v. 4) If you use the courts to deal with legal matters, you are allowing unbelieving judges to judge?
- (v. 5-6) It’s a shame that believers don’t try to find a fellow-believer to judge these matters!
- (v. 7) Believers suing believers is an utter failure and if the matters can’t be settled by believers, then they should just accept injustices, instead of going to unbelieving judges.
The immediate consideration should be whether or not you’re talking about suing “believersâ€, because this passage clearly forbids Christians from suing other Christians. Assuming that the “church†you’re talking about has true believers in it, then the church is forbidden from suing a believer, or another church of believers. However, in clarification, if the “believing church†had just cause to sue an unbeliever, then they could. Certainly, the church leadership would need to prayerfully consider this decision, because of the many ramifications of such an action, such as bringing their reputation in the community into question. But, I think the Lord can lead through legal proceeding to bring about human, earthly justice. God alone will bring about Divine justice at the end of time and into eternity, but He may desire to use human laws and legal proceeding to expose injustice and vindicate the innocent.
I hope this gives you enough insight to answer your question. God bless you!
