Am I a good Christian if I did this?

Question

I was about to move out of the apartment when the lease expired, but the landlord refused to return me the 800 yen deposit. I had two options. 1) Hire a lawyer, which would be costly and time consuming. 2) Threaten him.

So I called him:" If you don't come over here with the deposit tonight, I will buy a liter of red paint and paint all the walls in this apartment into red." He showed up that night certainly.

Should a good Christian threaten a bad guy like that ? If you were me what would you do? (By the way, the lawyer's fees may easily exceed 800 bucks) If you do not want to tell us what you would do if you were me, please don't answer this question at all. Thanks.

Answer 1

I understand the dilemma you were faced with; your landlord was being unfair and unjust and your initial reaction was to repay him with similar attitudes. This makes you human, as a Christian however your dilemma increases because you must reflect the light of Christ in your actions and words even when it goes against your feelings. Anger and frustration are easy to let loose when you are not focused on Christ. Would court have given you the satisfaction of giving back as good as he was giving to you, maybe not, but through the time it would take you may have been able to show him an attitude that would have made an impression. There is no doubt that money is vital to physical survival on earth, just like there is no doubt that Christ is vital to spiritual survival period. I think if you can bring yourself to trust God to make all situations glorify Him, you will find that those choices that make you nervous or anxious turn out for the best, sometimes better than you even imagined. Forgive yourself now and ask your landlord to forgive you, maybe even explain how you failed; then move on and only look back when it helps you to avoid this kind of situation again. May God continue to lead you and support you on your path.

Answer 2

How can you possibly ask this question? Who said those were the only two options? I'm not even a Christian ... would you have done that? Destroy his property to get money from him? There aren't different sets of rules you use with "bad guys" and "good guys."

Here's a good Christian way which I offer without sarcasm. Why didn't you pray about it? Even ten minutes would have let you come up with other options.

PS: I'm sure you mean 800 yuan, right? If you did that for 800 yen the right question is, "Am I a sociopath if I did this?"

Answer 3

It was not the best decision, but not the worst. If you had hired a lawyer it would have only been for revenge due to the loss of money. On the other hand if you have steadfast faith in God then he provide all things, so doing nothing was also the option. Doing nothing is what I would have picked. It would have been hard though to feel like you were wasting 800 yen

Answer 4

Dispute Resolution

Matthew 18:15-17 provides guidelines to settle disputes and conflicts. Conflicts which arise among Christians must be handled according to Biblical guidelines.

The Bible commands all of us to be Peacemakers. In Romans 12:18 we are commanded to live peaceably with all men so far as it lies within our power, and in Matthew 5:9 we are told, "Blessed are the peacemakers."

The Biblical formula for conflict resolution is found in Matthew 18:15-17. This passage instructs that when a dispute or conflict arises between Christians, the one taking offense shall follow these steps after first examining his/her own life and conscience:

Applying Matthew 18:15-17

"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.'

And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector" (Matthew 18:15-17).

Although the above guidelines are for Christians, the principles can be applied to conflict in general. Try to solve conflict at its root, present the case objectively and only involve more parties when the need arise.

Answer 5

Well, the way I see it - you did try talking and reasoning with him in an adult manner. He chose not to conduct himself in such a way, so you chose a creatively NON-VIOLENT means of bringing him to terms.

I think what you did was perfectly fine. Even if you did end up painting the walls - it wouldn't have harmed him! He just would be using the deposit he was STEALING from you to fix up those awfully colored walls!

I think your approach was excellent. Think of what you did - you set things right in a non-violent manner. I think a lot of people here are missing the positives in your story. And, in any case, you can repent for what you've done - I'm agnostic - but I'm sure you can seek cleansing through your God for anything you feel has tarnished your soul.

Answer 6

I certainly understand your problem; however, there is no such thing as a good Christian based on any human merit, but when it comes to dealing with problematic people remember this. King David and his men came home to find all of their families captured and all of the men, warriors, in fact, sobbed with tears and wailed. They even plotted to kill David as the scapegoat for this situation. What is my point? David did what was reasonable. He used his own commonsense to gain back what was rightfully his. He took charge of his own life when there were no clear restrictions by God to proscribe David and his men from kicking butt and taking names from evil men. Evil persists when Good men do nothing. I often pray with my hands and feet by moving towards the problem in an effort to solve it. Courage is fear in action.

Answer 7

I, a christian from birth and till death think you didn't do ANYTHING wrong. I believe threats, bad words, and lies are not wrong if used to help someone, or enforce your needs. I mean cursing is so "bad" in christianity, however it has rarely ended in bloodshed. Threatening is okay as long as it did not involve Life Threat (such as give me the money or you die) or actual bloodshed.

Answer 8

though you should have proabbaly hired a lawyer i would have done the same thing. it's not liek you threatened to hurt him. paint is paint, but you didn't do a bad thing. your still a good christian. good for you for sticking up for yourself and doing something without having someone else help

Answer 9

If you are entitled to your money and it is in your lease that you are to get it back when you move, then do what you can to get it back. If you have a lease that says you're to get it back then you can probably take him to court without a lawyer. Whatever you do, don't put your hands on this jerk or you may be in more trouble than you would like.

Answer 10

I don't care what religion you are, that was just stupid....
You do realize 800 yen is just roughly 7 or 8 American Dollars?