Have I Read the Terms and Conditions?

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Matthew 5:25-26

Click here, accept this, check here. I am sure all those who use the web or their mobiles have seen this small box and these words beside it. They all signify the same thing, that you have read and accepted the terms and conditions of something.

But do we really read those terms and conditions let alone plan to abide by them? If you did, here are some things that you would know.

Just one example if you clicked the box with a tick or accepted the terms and conditions when you opened your twitter account, You have agreed that Twitter will have rights to all your content, even if you deactivate or close your account.

Jesus too has given us some terms and conditions to be his disciple. To be his follower. Have we really read and understood or we just clicked as is our practice.

Literal reading of this verse interprets this to mean that we must be friends with everyone who opposes us legally. If we are in a legal battle with anyone, therefore, we must immediately make friends with him or her. But this verse has nothing to do with legal proceedings. It has nothing to do with settling a legal battle. It does, however, have to do with your well-being and your spiritual condition before God.

There is a parallel passage to this in Luke 12:58-59. We read there, “as you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

There is a great hierarchical list here of responsibilities and offices in the court system. We see a semblance of our justice system’s hierarchy in this text. There are the participants, the judge, the bailiff (officer), and the prison or jail.

Another interesting aspect of this scripture is that no fault is identified. There is no mention of who did what, or to whom they did it. Once again, we find Jesus setting up a scenario that is applicable to anyone, regardless of your status. There have been attempts to ascribe fault to either the individual, or the adversary in this verse, but there is no such indication.

If there is an issue between you and someone else that is serious enough for you to go to court, your first concern is how you stand with that individual personally. The battle in court should always be over the legal issue at hand, not over personal contentions. We tend to allow little things like ego and pride get into our way when it comes to “getting what we deserve” or what we view as “rightfully ours.” What Jesus tells us here is that those personal feelings should never remain between two people when they come before the altar.

Admitting faults can have consequences. When you go to that person, therefore, it is not to agree with them on the issue of the law, but to agree with them personally such that you can both enter the courtroom, synagogue (or the church today), with a clear conscience. Being of sound conscience and having no personal or vengeful thoughts toward another is imperative when entering the courtroom, the church, the home, your place of work, or anywhere you enjoy confrontation with individuals.

Dear Friends this Lenten Season can we have a clear conscience with regard to our fellow beings and with God.