When is it permissible for a Christian to go to court?
A Christian may go to court only when there comes a point that one may have to go to the world's judicial system; otherwise, disputes with fellow believers should be kept within the church—taken to the local body, pastor, elders, or deacons—and not brought before unjust courts.
Les explains that the church at Corinth, though born-again and brought out of paganism, was plagued with problems. In chapter 6, verse 1, Paul asks, 'Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?' The Corinthians were wrangling with fellow church members and taking their disputes to lawyers and courts instead of to the local church body, pastor, or church leadership (elders or deacons). Les emphasizes Paul's instruction: 'Don't go to the world's lawyers and the courts with your problem. Keep it within the confines of the believers.' Yet Les also acknowledges that there comes a point—which he dealt with back in Romans—when, yes, you may have to go to the world's judicial system. He illustrates the world's way by referencing a quote from Charles Stanley's book about divorce, where lawyers are the only ones who profit while everyone else is devastated.
More Questions
Is it ever permissible for a Christian to use the world's court system?
There is a point at which a believer may have to go to the world's judicial system, as Les already dealt with in Romans.