Lawsuits among believers

I remember a few times when brothers and sisters from church, whom I knew well, were going through the painful process of separation and divorce. Invariably they wound up seeking the help of lawyers on matters of custody and financial support of their children. The commonest reason for their divorce was marital infidelity. Despite a real desire of forgiving the offending person, all but one couple resulted in divorce and child custody and ongoing support became the bitter battle ground for these couples, which sometimes dragged on for years.

In today's scripture reading, the apostle Paul seemed to suggest that the church, and not the legal system, should take care of disputes among believers:

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! 
(1 Corinthians 6:1-6 New International Version)

I like The Message translation of these same verses:
And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians? The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of followers of Jesus. If someday you are going to rule on the world’s fate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? Why, we’re even going to judge angels! So why not these everyday affairs? As these disagreements and wrongs surface, why would you ever entrust them to the judgment of people you don’t trust in any other way?

I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you’re doing. Is it possible that there isn’t one levelheaded person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don’t believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don’t even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don’t believe in the God of justice?

My interpretation is that Paul was not suggesting that we should never use the legal system ever. After all, he admonished us to submit to the governing authorities in Romans 13:1-7. The context is important here:
1. What was the legal system like in Corinth at the time? Was it known to be a fair and just system?
2. What was the church like in Corinth? Was it a mature church?
3. What was the particular dispute that Paul was addressing among these believers? Was there any legal responsibility to report (e.g. child abuse)?

I do think that the church should play a role in settling some disputes arising within the church. Mary Fairchild wrote a nice commentary on this subject in christianity.about.com:

Paul implies the following reasons why Christians should settle arguments within the church and not resort to secular lawsuits:

1.     Secular judges are not able to judge by biblical standards and Christian values.
2.     Christians go to court with the wrong motives.
3.     Lawsuits among Christians reflect negatively on the church. 

As believers, our testimony to the unbelieving world should be a demonstration of love and forgiveness and, therefore, members of the body of Christ ought to be able to settle arguments and disputes without going to court. We are called to live in unity with humility toward one another. Even more than the secular courts, the body of Christ ought to have wise and godly leaders gifted in handling matters involving conflict resolution. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Christians submitted to the proper authority should be able to rightly resolve their legal arguments while maintaining a positive witness. 

Matthew 18:15-17 provides the biblical pattern for settling conflicts within the church:
 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

I guess if the matter is still not settled after following these steps, the offenders are to be treated as unbelievers and the matter will then have to be settled in court.