Taking a slander to court

[mike]

Nelta,

I don't think there is a single "right" answer to your question. So much depends on the circumstances. In general, though, it's better to suffer than to go to court against a brother or sister.

I was sued several years ago by a man that I went to church with. He falsely thought I owed him some money in a business arrangement (I won't go into the details here, but please trust me when I say that it was very apparent that I didn't actually owe the money). What is worse, he never even contacted me to talk about this before just filing a lawsuit.

He discussed this with a couple of people, and it didn't take long before numerous folks knew about this -- almost at the same time I found out about it!

Anyway, there was great concern over what this would do to the congregation. It was apparent to me that the best thing to do was pay up. So I did, and he dropped the lawsuit. This man was spiritually immature but appeared to me to be a true believer. I think I could have easily won the fight over the money, but who would have actually won anything of value in the long run?

I was able eventually to reconcile with this brother, who has grown in his understanding and devotion to Jesus. I believe I made the right decision, even though I never got my money back!

However, what to do when you are damaged or sued by a non-Christian may sometimes be a different matter. Also, no one needs to be forced to stay in an abusive situation. Yet, when dealing with God's family, I still say most of the time it's better to be hurt than to defend yourself.

Mike

[WileyClarkson]

Nelta,

is this Nelta "nib" that I have known for a few years?

[david johnson]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (WileyClarkson @ Sep. 26 2002,5:00)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]Nelta,

is this Nelta "nib" that I have known for a few years?[/quote]
my suspicion also

dj

[Bon Voyage]

I believe this to be Nelta Brock.

[Nelta]

Advise please:

What do you all think about taking someone who is presumed to be a Christian.. to court?  What if this someone slanders you and continues to do so?

Just wondering.

Nelta

[WileyClarkson]

Mike,

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]However, what to do when you are damaged or sued by a non-Christian may sometimes be a different matter. [/quote]

I've been struggling with that issue in a slightly different perspective.

A man I know(not a Christian) purchased a bull dozer from me several years ago.  I received about 1/5 of the value in some form of payment from him.  He and his wife divorced and the dozer (along with an old truck that belonged to my daughter he was supposed to repair for me as partial payment) dissapeared in the process.  I had been planning to file a law suit and auto theft on the man until recently when I was reading Luke 6:27-36.  That changed my mind and made me realize that, even though the amounts involved several thousand dollars, it is only money and that the stress of the trial and the satisfaction of claiming victory and winning a judgement from someone who already has nothing would not outweigh the damage I was doing to myself seeking "satisfaction" for the wrong that was done to me.
We could use that money--that's for sure -- but the price?
Before reading the following, I was dreading all the stress but looking forward to filing criminal charges.  Now, I have peace on the matter.

Jesus said "If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back."  

Wiley

[janine]

Perhaps, if the both the sue-er and the sue-ee claim to be Christians, there could be mediation on the basis of the fussing Paul did when Christians dragged each other to court.  He, too said something about how we oughta trust our fellow churchmen to settle stuff long before we put it before worldly civil authorities.

[mike]

Wiley,

Sounds to me like you made a wise decision. It's what Jesus would have done.

Mike