Making Ekklesia Judgments
Does any of you who has a complaint against someone dare go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels—not to speak of things pertaining to this life? So if you have cases pertaining to this life, do you select those who have no standing in the church to judge? I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who will be able to arbitrate between his brothers? Instead, brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!
Therefore, it is already a total defeat for you that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you act unjustly and cheat—and this to brothers! Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: no sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, revilers, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. Some of you were like this; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
(1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®)
The first part of what we call 1 Corinthians chapter 6 is difficult to imagine being possible or even appropriate when we try to interpret it in light of what we call “church.”
James 1 of England gave instructions to the employees he assigned the task of providing him an English translation of Scriptures that he could use to rule over the Anglican Church. Instruction number 3 was related to the intentional misinterpretation of ekklesia. He directed them to use an English word that would properly be used for “the Lord’s day” in Revelation 1:10 and “the Lord’s supper” in 1 Corinthians 11:20. If they had used “ruling council” or “authoritative gathering” or “judgment gathering” to translate ekklesia, that would have been honest to the readers, and dangerous to the king. Even “congregation” would be more honest than a word that appeared twice in the New Testament (above) and was properly translated “the Lord’s”: “kuriakos.” That word is the source of the English word “church.”
When we, instead, look past the deception of James, we can more easily grasp that Paul had Kingdom of God in mind and not Church of England. Believers are called to bring the rule and order and provision and righteousness of the Kingdom of Heaven into the affairs of the earth. That includes making righteous judgments. It also means that any unrighteous behavior and business in our lives will affect the future we have in the next phase of the Kingdom: when we do not inherit the Kingdom if we have not properly represented the Kingdom.