Discipleship and Tylenol

Still on stuff you find at Walmart:

In the autumn of 1982 McNeil Healthcare owners of Tylenol experienced a crisis. Seven people in the Chicago area were found dead after taking Extra Strength Tylenol. The reason was because the tablets were laced with cyanide poison.

While the perpetrators were never caught, Johnson and Johnson the parent company of McNeil responded decisively that averted a disaster. When senior officers of the company were told of the situation their immediate response was to voluntarily recall all its products at a cost in excess of one hundred million dollars.

What precipitated that decision was simple, Johnson and Johnson had formed its values long before the tragic crisis – they believed that their primary responsibility was to provide the best healthcare for their customers.

What we can learn from the Tylenol incident:

Our values determine our course of action. Values set us up for future behavior. It is here that Tylenol and discipleship connect. Is discipleship a key value with you personally and with your church?

Is it the priority that takes up the time and resources of the church? Or is it just another program that is mentioned but can be overridden by another activity?

Is it central to what you are doing? Or is it buried under numerous religious activities that keep people busy without hitting the target?

If discipleship is to happen it must be valued and repeatedly communicated to everyone that it is, regardless of the cost.

"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:31-33

Read also: Prayer and Vitamin C