Our first reading today might give us pause to reflect and ask ourselves the question: how many Christians today take one another to court over issues which might be considered to be "everyday matters?" Should Christians take matters to court? Do Paul's words still have any relevance for us?

This is one of those occasions where it is important to take account of the cultural context within which Paul was writing. For Paul and his generation it would have been a scandal for Christians to seek justice in front of courts that were representatives of a government considered inimical to the moral code to which Christians had committed themselves. Perhaps Paul would have preferred that his Christian converts had nothing at all to do with agents of the Roman Empire if that were possible, but of course, both he and they had to deal with the powers of their day as we in our own day must live in a world guided by different values than the values of the Gospels.

Paul is rather reminding the readers of his letter that Christians should avoid the causes that bring people into the courts in the first place. If conflicts do arise, certainly Christians should resolve them in a way that reflects their values, and their realization that in Christ all Christians are brothers and sisters to one another. If that is so,