One of the least-written-about areas of business life for Christians appears to be the issue of lawsuits and legal actions.  What Biblical principles govern Christians when fair play falters or disputes arise.  We've put together some of the wisdom gleaned from a study of Scripture passages addressing lawsuits directly, and from principles which appear to offer additional insight into God's views on these matters. 

     (It's important to note here this article covers civil disputes which don't involve a violation of the law or a threat to a person's safety.  The Bible gives governments authority to take legal action against its citizens as a part of its duty to provide and maintain an ordered society.  This includes spouses who must seek legal injunctions to protect themselves from abuse; the Bible does not prohibit such actions, even when it involves two Christians. Abuse of any kind is not a civil dispute but a criminal act, and legal action protecting those involved does not violate Biblical standards.)

    Over-arching Governing Principles:

1. Christians may never sue for selfish or punitive reasons.  Revenge, greed, protection of reputation, pain and suffering, and punishment are not sufficient reasons to overcome Biblical intonations against lawsuits in civil courts by Christians. In fact, in most instances, even seeking justice is not a sufficient motive to allow Christians to sue other individuals in civil courts.
   
2. Christians must consider the impact "dwelling on the wrong" will have on their spiritual lives before proceeding.  Lawsuits are generally characterized by a preoccupation with the wrong, and that preoccupation inhibits our ability to fellowship with God and with others.  Even if a lawsuit appears Biblically justified, it may be wiser to avoid it than to pursue it because of the collateral damage.
   
3. Christians must have restoration of relationship as the primary objective in suing.  If inflicting damage, harm, or punishment is the purpose of any lawsuit initiated by a Christian, it fails the Biblical tests.  Even suing to protect others fails the test if the person initiating the lawsuit isn't motivated by Biblical love for the person being sued. 
   
4. By restoration of relationship, we mean in this order: Restored to God; restored to each other; restored to the body of Christ; restored to others who have been/are being wronged. 
   
5. We must be able to "look God in the eye" and be satisfied our motives are pure before moving forward in a lawsuit; then;
   
6. We must examine our own actions to determine what, if anything, we've done to contribute to the conflict; then;
   
7. We must freely confess those actions and seek forgiveness, even if it weakens our position; then:
   
8. We must examine the impact a lawsuit will have on our spiritual life, on the spiritual life of the person being sued, on the spiritual life of the people involved in the suit, and on people observing the lawsuit; then
   
9. We must determine what outcomes restore relationships in a just fashion and seek only those outcomes.

With these principles in mind, here are some general observations:

     Christians should never sue other Christians. No exceptions appear to be offered in Scripture.  Not even in extreme cases. Not even for social justice causes. Not even for recovery of losses.  While it's true that Matthew 18's discipline/restoration process tells us to treat Christians who resist the process "as unbelievers", it doesn't mean we take actions against them.  It means we refrain from fellowship with-shun-them.  Paul in I Corinthians 6:1-8 describes a spiritual impact in the life of unbelievers that makes Christians suing each other too costly when measured by God's standards.  When Christians reach the point in a dispute where they can no longer restore the relationship (the primary object of all conflict resolution among believers), they are to walk away from each other. 

     What makes this particularly difficult for Western Christians is the Body of Christ has eliminated one of the principal roles the church is to play in our lives: arbitration of disputes among believers.  We historically abrogate that duty to the civil courts with no Biblical rationale for doing so.  Only in a theocracy, where the judges are ideally selected for their religious training, does Scripture allow for civil courts to adjudicate between believers.  Absent a theocracy, Christians are to use the Body of Christ to resolve disputes, and then only with restoration of relationships as the primary objective.

     Christians therefore have two choices in disputes with other believers: Find mutually acceptable Christian arbitration options, either professionally or through their own church(es) (predicated on a binding agreement by both parties to honor the resulting decision as a final solution); or, to drop the matter entirely (turning the other cheek.)  Dropping the matter means the wronged party must completely forgive the wrong, even if there is no remorse on the part of the person inflicting the damage.  In that case, however, it also involves a cessation of relationship, business, spiritual and personal.

     Christians should rarely sue other individuals. Christians must clear an extremely high hurdle to discover a time when it would be permissible for a Christian to sue other individuals.  The potential damage to the Christian in terms of preoccupation with the wrong, the heightened emotional impact legal action always has on a dispute, and the necessity of self-centeredness in successful litigation efforts makes it highly unlikely a Christian can successfully initiate and conduct a lawsuit without sinning in thought or action.  That said, there appear to be no direct Biblical intonations against Christians suing other individuals who are not Christians. While the Bible clearly teaches against Christians suing Christians, and while both Paul and Jesus teach that it is better to be wronged and drop it than to pursue justice, retribution or profit, no place does it specifically say Christians cannot sue non-Christians.  So, if a believer genuinely believes they can sue a non-believer with restoration as the primary objective, and the Christian passes the tests outlined in the Governing Principles section noted earlier in this article, then it may well be they are not violating Scripture by the lawsuit.  

     What about justice? There do appear to be times when legal action is the only way to be made whole in disputes.  However, before we decide to initiate legal action, we must remind ourselves of a parable Jesus told: The man who had his debt forgiven by the king, but then that forgiven man went out and refused to forgive the debts owed him.  When God tells us to "turn the other cheek", He is reminding us that He has already "turned the other cheek" when it comes to past, present and future sins in our own lives.  Can there be a wrong so great that it exceeds the wrong we've been forgiven by God?