The Need to Negotiate

Scripture References: Exodus 18:13-17; 1 Corinthians 6:4

When American recalcitrance to pay taxes motivated the colonies to fight the English Crown, statesman Edmund Burke felt the time had come for accommodation. The American spirit couldn’t be removed, he said, and criminal processes against them couldn’t be implemented. The best response was to negotiate. Later, when the framers of the Constitution met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, they found compromise essential to success. Such stratospheric differences existed between the delegates that only a willingness to negotiate kept the convention alive. When the delegates signed the finished document, many did so reluctantly, sensing its shortcomings but feeling it the best possible product under the circumstances.

Cornelius Vanderbilt left the bulk of his $100 million estate to his son William. Cornelius, Jr. contested the will when he learned that he had received only $200,000 in a trust fund. The trial took two years and was finally settled in a compromise. Junior got a $400,000 trust fund and $200,000 in cash, but the lawyers got more than $500,000.

Christians cannot afford to be known as contentious obstructionists. Where nonmoral, nonspiritual issues become points of disagreement, negotiation is always an advantage. Only where God has specifically spoken are negotiation and compromise impossible. Where we speak to each other, negotiation should always be considered the alternative to harmful disagreement.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.