Several years ago word came to me that a fellow pastor was critical of me. I knew that it had to be something in his own life because we had never had any dealings with each other before. We had never had any conflict; we had never had any differences. We had had very few dealings at all. So I just ignored the first word that came to me.
Then there came a second word that he was critical of me a second time. I ignored it that time also. Then there came a third time and when I was told that third time that his man was critical of me, I picked up the telephone and I called him and I said, “Let’s have lunch together.” So we visited together at lunch and talked about a few insignificant, trivial things and then I asked him, “Is there some contention between us? Is there some problem?”
You know how he reacted. I knew what he would do before I asked him. He denied that there was any problem. But by his expression and his mannerisms I knew that he was not telling the truth. So I said let me tell you what I’ve heard. And when I was done I said, “I just thought that since we are brothers, since you are a preacher and I am a preacher, and we are supposed to be in the same work together, that maybe we ought to talk about it.”
We left that day having resolved the issue that was in his mind and in his life, at least to my satisfaction.
Nobody likes that kind of confrontation. Nobody likes that kind of challenge and laying things out on the table to talk about them. But there are times in our lives when we must deal with problems that way or they will stay inside of us and they will fester and grow until they produce bitterness and resentment and anger that is sinful against God.