Avoid Legal Bills: Reconcile

* *Today around America, individuals, organizations, businesses, thegovernment, and even churches are sitting down across a table from someother person or group for the mediation of a legal dispute. Unbeknownst tomost people, this court mandated step in the cancerous legal process of alawsuit forces the parties involved with their lawyers to try and settle thedispute before a costly trial damages them in time, money, emotion, &reputation. However, by the time that mediation occurs, tens of thousands ofdollars in legal fees have already accrued on top of the amount that thelosing party will be forced to pay. What if the offending person or businesshad approached the person they wronged, hat in hand, and in humility hadasked forgiveness for their offense and offered to pay restitution for anydamages? What a novel idea, and one that would save great sums of money,time, and emotional capital that, frankly, could be better spent in otherplaces.

Let’s take a real life example that I know about. A local newspaper wrote afactually inaccurate story that slandered the good name of a local business.When confronted about the article and its inaccuracies, the reporter arguedthat he tried to get a response to the article from the business beforepublishing the article, but was unable, so he went to press. Big, foolishmistake. Nonetheless, all the business (which happened to be run byChristians) wanted was a public apology and a published retraction in thenext edition. Instead, of following the simple, biblical exhortation to“settle disputes on the way to the court” and “if you find yourself…go toyour,” the paper chose to raise its defensive, legal shield against thesmall business, bringing no resolution, restitution, or justice. And as theproverb says, “before his downfall a man’s heart is proud.” The Christianbusiness owners, who suffered loss from the defaming article, found littleother option than to pursue a lawsuit against the larger, state-wide paper.What could have cost the paper a humble apology and a quarter page oflegible ink, will now add up to $50,000 in legal bills and over a quarter ofa million in settlement money, further hurting the economic condition of thepaper.

America has become the most litigious nation in the world, producing morelawyers per capita than any other country. How does this square with ourother reputation as being a “Christian nation,” “one country under God” asour pledge goes, and a nation of churches? The answer is, it doesn’t.Perhaps the Death & Resurrection message of Easter can lead the Church & theNation to repentance on this issue once again. Perhaps when we consideragain that we had our lives reconciled with God by the death of His own son,we might remember the power of reconciliation next time we offend a neighborby backing into his mailbox. The Cross reminds us that even the greatestdebts which must be paid, can be paid with love & humility.