Being Right or Keeping the Unity of the Body of Christ

Introduction

How many times have you walked away from a conversation with a brother or sister telling yourself "I was right", but with a bitterness that lingered in your heart for days? How many tensions in our churches, in our WhatsApp groups, in the hallways after the service, started from some tiny disagreement that ended up destroying a relationship?

Narcisse Ipoté, a member of the church council at Paris-Beaugrenelle, opens 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 and puts this question back on the table. The apostle Paul's rebuke to the Corinthians isn't about wanting justice. It's about airing their quarrels before the world instead of settling them among brothers. The real battle in this text: preserving the unity of the body of Christ, even when it costs you the last word.

Sermon Outline

1. What Paul is really talking about (and what he isn't)

• Paul isn't teaching you to cover up crimes, abuse, violence, or behavior punishable by law.
• In cases of assault, fraud, or anything that falls under civil or criminal law, the proper authorities need to be involved.
• Scripture itself recognizes the role of established authorities.
• Paul's real subject is elsewhere: ordinary conflicts between believers being aired in public.

2. The Greek courtroom... and its modern equivalent

• In Corinth, the courts had become a public stage: people went there to win, to humiliate their opponent, to show off their rhetorical superiority.
• Some Christians were reproducing that exact worldly behavior.
• Today, you don't go to court over a misplaced chair or a table that needs moving. But you air your conflicts elsewhere: Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, hallway conversations.
• It only takes one tweet or one message in a group chat to turn a small tension into a deep division.

3. Your identity changes everything

• "Don't you know that the saints will judge the world?" (verse 2).
• The Corinthians are no longer simply residents of Corinth. They belong to the kingdom of Christ.
• If God will one day entrust them with such great responsibilities, how can they be incapable of settling small conflicts today?
• The problem isn't legal, it's spiritual: they've forgotten who they are.

4. The real scandal isn't the injustice suffered, it's the love lost

• "Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?" (verse 7).
• Maybe you really are right. But what good is being in the right if it destroys your brother, your sister, your family, your church?
• Paul isn't condoning abuse. He's saying that in ordinary conflicts between believers, love must be stronger than pride.
• Forgiveness must be stronger than the need to have the last word.

5. Remember the grace you received

• "Such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus" (verse 11).
• Paul isn't reminding them of their past to condemn them, but to turn their eyes toward grace.
• If God has forgiven you so much, how can you refuse to forgive your brother?
• If Christ has reconciled you with God, how can you refuse reconciliation with those who belong to the same body?

Key Takeaways

• Paul isn't talking about abuse, violence, or crimes, in those cases, the civil authorities need to be involved.
• The first-century Greek courtroom has been replaced today by social media, WhatsApp groups, and hallway conversations.
• In the kingdom of God, being right isn't always the greatest victory. Preserving the unity of the body of Christ often is.
• The church isn't made up of perfect people, but of forgiven sinners. And a forgiven sinner needs to learn to forgive.
• You will spend eternity with this brother, with this sister you're struggling with here on earth. That should change everything about how you handle your disagreements.

Personal Application

1. Is there a brother or sister in your church you no longer speak to because of a hurt or a disagreement?
2. Do you ever air your church's tensions on social media, in WhatsApp groups, or with unbelieving coworkers to rally support for your side?
3. When you disagree with someone, is your first instinct to be right, or to seek reconciliation?
4. Are you able, for the sake of unity, to accept a small injustice without needing the last word?
5. What grace have you personally received from God that should make you quicker to forgive your brother and your sister?

Scripture Quoted

• 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 (WEB), the main text of the sermon
• 1 Corinthians 6:2 · "Don't you know that the saints will judge the world?"
• 1 Corinthians 6:7 · "Why not rather be wronged?"
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 · the list of the unrighteous excluded from the kingdom
• 1 Corinthians 6:11 · "But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified"

Further reading

• How to Prepare a Small Group Bible Study
• Home Group Themes: 30 Ideas
• Welcoming New Participants in a Small Group

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Paul really forbid Christians from ever going to civil court?

No. Narcisse Ipoté makes this clear: Paul isn't talking about abuse, violence, assault, fraud, or crimes. Those situations belong before the proper authorities, and Scripture itself recognizes their role. Paul is talking about the ordinary conflicts between believers, the small quarrels that should be resolved within the church.

What should you actually do when a conflict breaks out with a brother or sister?

Seek to talk to them directly, pray, seek to understand, and if needed ask a wise mediator within the church to step in. Avoid airing the conflict on social media, in WhatsApp groups, with unbelieving coworkers, or with family members to rally support against that brother or sister.

Why does preserving unity come before "being right"?

Because Christ has forgiven you infinitely more than what's been done to you. Because you will spend eternity with this brother and this sister you're struggling with today. And because when your disputes go public, the world no longer sees Christ in his church, it only sees men and women behaving just like it does.