We like to win. because winning feels good. Apparently, the Christians in Corinth thought so too.
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul addresses church members taking one another to court. In the Roman world, lawsuits could involve more than settling a disagreement. Courts operated within a culture shaped by wealth, social status, and honor. The goal wasn't necessarily to find out who was right or wrong. Taking someone to court could be another way to show who had power and who didn’t. Scholars note that many of the conflicts in 1 Corinthians revolve around these kinds of divisions and expectations of social privilege.
And Paul tells the Corinthian Christians to stop. But then he says something even more uncomfortable: “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?”
Now, I don't think Paul is suggesting that injustice is okay. He's asking whether getting what we think we're owed has become more important than becoming like Jesus.
How does that question sit with you? How much does winning matter?
Because you can win an argument and lose a friend. You can prove your point and hurt a relationship. You can get the last word and find out it wasn't worth having. Someone said, "You can be right, but wrong at the top of your voice."
Paul even calls their lawsuits a defeat before anyone gets to the courtroom. That's because the problem isn't who wins the case. The problem is what their need to win is doing to them.
The cross offers us a strange victory. Jesus wins by giving himself away. Power takes the shape of sacrificial love.
What if the most Christlike thing to say isn't “I was right," but “This isn't worth hurting you”?
Again, grace doesn't mean becoming a doormat, but it does mean not allowing winning to become your master. We're looking for victory that looks most like Jesus.
Stay blessed...john
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