It Is Not Going To Work In Your Favor

  It really is a true story.

  It happened in Florida back in 1986.  Jurors were being transported upstairs by elevator to hear a case when the elevator got stuck between floors. For twenty minutes they hung there until the elevator was finally fixed. On their late arrival, the judge was concerned that the event might sway the jury. Why?  

  The case they were to rule on involved an escalator accident. And the company being sued was the Otis Elevator company. The same company that operated the elevator they had just been stuck in. And they knew it because they have been staring at that sign for the last twenty minutes. Amazingly, the judge decided not to disqualify any of the stranded passengers/jurors, concluding instead that they were able to put aside their recent experience with the defendant and rule fairly.

  I’m not so sure.

  The actions that surround a message have a great impact on the message. We need to remember that. If a person searching for truth and a church family comes thru our doors to a place that looks ill kept and out of date with nary a smile or greeting, to a service that looks throw together at the last minute with halfhearted singing and rout prayers, it might not matter what is preached the message will have been delivered long before.

  It’s not just at worship. Our lives are a sign hanging proclaim the Lord as our creator and ruler of our lives (1^st Peter 2:12). If we are not functioning the way we were intended, it brings reproach on His name.

sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

Titus 2:8

  Let never let those that are supposed to bring people to Christ be the very thing that loses the case.