“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #50
“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?” (1 Cor. 6:2-3).
Before getting to his conclusion—that Christians should prefer being screwed by a fellow believer to being vindicated by an unbelieving judge against a fellow believer—the apostle Paul sets out the premises that he is reasoning from. Believers are the future judges of the world, and we do not practice for this role by having the world judge us. If we are destined to hear all their cases, then how is it preparation for them to hear all our cases?
The word judge here is not being used in the sense of the Last Judgment. The word is being used here as in the book of Judges—believers will be given rule over the world, and over the angels. God has made us kings and priests on the earth. The meek will inherit the earth, as somebody once said.
We are not yet in this condition of maturity, but like little children in the back yard playing at adult roles, we should be in training for this condition of maturity. One of the ways we train for this is by exercising mature wisdom within the church over “the smallest matters.” And if we are faithful in little, we will be given responsibility for much.
One of the reasons why many Christians have trouble with Paul’s conclusions is that they really don’t like his premises at all.