The line between legitimate and illegitimate accountability is sometimes blurry. Nonetheless, it does us well to try to determine when that line has been crossed.
—Paul Cedar
Several years ago, I pastored a church that became involved in a dispute initiated by one of our neighbors. We thought the neighbor both unreasonable and inaccurate in his charges. And if we acceded to his wishes, it was going to cost us a great deal of money.
The church's leaders asked me to sit down with him. When I did, I began, "We at the church are grieved to hear we're having these misunderstandings. I can't promise to solve them, but I want to listen and help in every way possible."
After discussing the issue without progress, I finally said, "Our Lord clearly told us to be good neighbors. Although we think your request is unreasonable, it seems to us that if anyone needs to compromise in this dispute, it's us. Obeying the Lord is more important to us than winning a fight."
Well, you never saw a man's attitude ...
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