Cottonwood Center Puts Its Faith in Scripture--and Subpoenas

A friend and I were shooting the breeze some years ago, and the conversation turned to a budding legal issue involving a church. I don’t remember the details, but I do remember what my friend said.

The case probably put the church in a bind, he said, because of the biblical admonition against suing.

Say what? I know my Ten Commandments but had never heard that suing was even in the same ballpark as adultery.

Actually, it’s not--you have to travel ahead to 1 Corinthians in the New Testament to find it:

“If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?”

The old conversation with my friend comes to mind because Cottonwood Christian Center--an evangelical megachurch in Los Alamitos with more than 4,000 members--is suing the city of Cypress over a land-use dispute.

The church believes, with justification, that Cypress doesn’t want it to build a giant religious complex at the intersection of Katella Avenue and Walker Street. The city wants to develop that choice location with tax-generating retail outlets.

I don’t have a legal opinion. I just wonder whether Cottonwood, even though it owns the land in question and never made any secret of its intentions to expand there, feels any squeamishness about suing.

Forget the civil code.

How about the Bible?

The church is in good shape on both counts, says Mike Wilson, the project manager and an ordained minister. The Scriptures clearly are referring to one believer suing another believer, he says. What it doesn’t preclude, he says, is the church suing a governmental entity.

“As Christians, in Romans it says to respect and honor authority,” Wilson says, “but authorities have also set up recourse for us to appeal. This is not disrespectful to government at all. We’re just using what’s provided to us to get our new home.”

Additional verses in chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians make it fairly clear that Paul the Apostle is talking about legal actions between believers. But who among us is to cast the first stone and call the city of Cypress “nonbelievers?”

Don’t get the idea, however, that the church is eager to sue.

“That’s not what we’re about,” Wilson says. “We’re about people. We need to expand our facilities. This [the legal world] isn’t our realm. We’re not comfortable with all the hassles attached to getting a new building.”

I ask Wilson if the biblical injunction against lawsuits is considered irrelevant in today’s litigious world.

No, he says. Scripture is always relevant, and Cottonwood interprets the Bible literally.

Would the church, then, try to stop one congregant from suing another?

“We wouldn’t try to force anybody’s decision on that,” Wilson says. “We can encourage them and try to get the parties together, but beyond that, we wouldn’t try and have influence.”

I can just see all you nonbelievers out there rolling your eyes. Just another convenient reading of Scripture, you’re saying--just like Jesus’ often-unheeded counsel to turn the other cheek.

On the other hand, if Cottonwood interpreted Paul’s words to mean it shouldn’t sue anyone, it would be battling the city with only charm and persuasiveness.

Most people today find a good subpoena works much better.

“Through much prayer and counsel from our attorneys, we decided we must file the lawsuit,” church leaders wrote in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper. “The bottom line is we must protect our mission.”

If the church were as glib as others might choose to be, it would warn Cypress that “Thou shalt not yanketh Cottonwood’s chain.”

It has chosen, instead, to take the high road and invoke a little Old Testament reminder found in Joshua 1:9:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Nobody can tell Cypress’ legal team it hasn’t been warned.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.