I received a letter a few weeks ago requesting my appearance in court… as a juror. Yesterday was the big day. I agonized in my conscience over scriptures like 1 Corinthians 5:12-13:

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside.

In context it seems as though Paul is urging the believer not to try and eradicate an unbeliever of sin through judgment. We can not fix anyone. We can not keep them from sinning. It is not good for us to cast judgment on an unbeliever and try to coerce him or her into living another “godly” lifestyle… because it is impossible for him or her to do so. Rather, our focus should be on encouraging those within the body to live holy and blameless before God. So then, our mode of changing the world is by preaching the gospel indiscrimenently to all people, and being used as tools of God in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, helping them along in sanctification by God’s grace. Presently, unbelievers remain under God’s judgment, not ours.

And there are other verses like Luke 6:37:

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Who am I to condemn another man to prison if I have been graciously acquitted of my capital offenses and an eternity in hell? I would be like a convicted murderer sitting in the juror’s box, sending a hungry thief to the gallows.

However, there are also other verses I was forced to wrestle with like John 7:24:

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.

Who has the ability to “judge with right judgment” except for God himself, or a man filled with His Spirit. It causes me to pontificate the circumstance of the poor man on trial who is judged by carnally minded unbelievers who do not have minds renewed by the Spirit of God. Rather, their minds and their judgment has been corrupted by sin and are not in the process of being restored to God. Should I not plead with God to give me wisdom from above and be a juror as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, so that this man might be judged “with right judgment”? Maybe then, both this criminal and our society would benefit, because by God’s grace there is a higher probability of the jury arriving at a sound judgment with a Christian on board.

This also seems to be the sense of 1 Corinthians 6:1-4:

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?

Judgment is part of our redemptive vocation. We will be judges. Furthermore, Paul says that in light of the role we will play in the final judgment, we are now better judges than “those who have no standing in the church”, even when it concerns earthly matters. Shouldn’t we as Christians hope to exercise this supernatural power in all areas of our influence.

I wrestled… a lot. I didn’t have it all figured out (and still don’t) when I walked into that courthouse building, pleading with God that I wouldn’t be put into a position where I might compromise my witness because of indecision on these matters.

I was chosen for jury selection in a civil dispute. The lawyers first told us about the case before they preceded to interview potential jurors…

The plaintiff’s story

He was riding his bike in a park-like area when a car came speeding through. He exchanged inappropriate remarks with the man in the car, and the car chased him off the road. The man in the car then continued to pursue him on foot, knocked him down, and broke his collar bone.

The defendant’s story

The man in the car claimed that the man on the bike was going too fast and fell down when he got near to the car. The man in the car then stopped the car to get out and approach the man who had fallen down, but the biker was irate.

The man on the bike was asking for over $20,000 in medical compensation, and $130,000 for pain and suffering.

They asked us questions… lots of questions. And we had to answer them in front of the judge, lawyers and potential jurors. Occupation? Employer? Who lives with you? Have you ever been to court before? Education? How do those close to you describe you? Have you ever been in a heated dispute? Have you ever been in a bike accident? On and on and on…

Then the question came… does anyone here have problems with pain and suffering litigation?

I raised my hand. Everyone turned to the ‘UPS package handler, with a wife and two kids, who has a degree in Bible and Theology and wants to do everything for the glory of God,’ (that is what they knew about me at this stage of the interview process) to see what I had to say.

“I don’t think that money fixes pain and suffering, and I’m not sure what I think about the victims of crimes being monetarily reimbursed for suffering. Of course, if this man is guilty, he should pay for medical expenses, loss of work, and any potential future wages that cannot be procured because of the injury. I am willing to do my best to judge this case and give appropriate consequences according to the laws of the country. However, in all honesty, I’m not sure the laws of the country, concerning the matter of pain and suffering litigation, are good.” They asked us to reveal our biases, and I did. Now the ball was in their court. Would I be a good or bad contribution to the jury in their stated goal of achieving “fair trial”?

All of this got me thinking. I wonder if the mass amount of pain and suffering litigation in this country perpetuates the mentality that money will make things better.

“Our unborn baby was aborted in a car accident, but if I had 2 million dollars, everything would be better.”

“I can no longer walk, but if I can come out of this filthy rich, it will all be worth it. Then all my suffering will make sense, it will have purpose… the pain will go away.”

The judge and the jury look at the victim, and they feel so horrible, wishing that they could turn back the clock and undo the damage… “What can we do?” They ask themselves. “We can throw money at the problem, just like we deal with any other problem. That will make it better.”

It won’t, it can’t. Bad things happen. Terrible things happen. If a meteor fell out of the sky and crippled me for life… who could I sue? Who would give me money for my pain and suffering? Maybe I could sue the meteorologists for failing to predict this catastrophe. Or maybe I could sue God for throwing that rock down from heaven. No. I should look to the sky from where this mighty meteor fell, turning my heart towards the mightier God who moved it. I should repent of my sins and thank God for sending this meteor so that I might turn my eyes from this corrupted earth to heaven! Thank you God for allowing me to see my sin through the suffering you have allowed on this earth, so that I might be saved from the suffering which is eternal, through the precious blood of Christ!

they didn’t select me for jury service in this case