A dishwasher made me think of the #1 Question You Should Always Ask Before Coming To A Conclusion. Out of every blog I have ever posted I believe this could be one of the most beneficial in everyday life if you apply it.I was taught this lesson from a godly mentor and it has served me well. This is so important because Christians are often critical and judgmental of people, situations and churches. This is usually due to dysfunctional baggage that we carry.The undeserving grace that we have received from God is not always given to others and a consequence is broken relationships.Not just between me and the person but to many others as our criticism is shared with others. Proverbs tells us that God hates this.
Last week we had a new whirlpool dishwasher installed. I was very happy and excited to say the least.I couldn’t wait to put the dishes in after dinner instead of washing them by hand. It was filled to the max and I turned it on. Wow. The sales person at Lowes sure wasn’t kidding about how quiet it would be. It barely made any sound at all. At the end of the cycle I open the door and realized all the dishes were still dirty. I called Lowes and they schedule someone to come take a look at it. Bad news.The motor did not work. They scheduled us for another dishwasher to be delivered the following day.Dishwasher #2 came out.I was happy and excited. After dinner I loaded it up. It was also quiet but Lowes said the new dishwashers are. After the cycle I open the door. The dishes are still dirty. No way. This is weird. After two that don’t work I begin to question if I really want a whirlpool.I’m thinking maybe I want something else. Then Todd reminds me of all the time he spent researching dishwashers with Consumer Report. He reminded me of the reputation that Whirlpool has and about a million other facts that I didn’t even know existed about a dishwasher. He then reminded me about Lowes and the high reputation they have. They will stand behind any product. He also reminded me about the refrigerator we purchased a few years ago and when the installer made a small rip in the flooring they sent someone out immediately to repair it. Todd reminded me to look at the reputation of Whirlpool and Lowes and also our experience with them.
This dishwasher experience reminded me of the #1question to ask before making a conclusion.The question to ask before coming to a conclusion is IS THIS A PATTERN?Told you it was simple. Yet we often don’t ask this because of emotion, anger, hurt or just the baggage we carry.This is not a godly response.It is spiritual immaturity.
Last summer there was a bogus article on the front page of my local newspaper about some friends of ours. We know these folks. We have broken bread with them, spent hours praying with them and spent time in their home and they in ours. They know the Lord and have the highest integrity. Yet this article blasted everything we knew about them. I imagine many who read this assumed it was true. We never did for a second. We know them. We called them the next day to see how they were doing and yes we did ask them about the article. We gave them the opportunity to explain and we took them at their word. A business competition started the inquiry and fed the press lies due to their anger of losing so much business to them. Our friends had to spend a small fortune on an attorney but they were proven innocent and the other party guilty. Yet a godly man had his reputation ripped in the news. We were disappointed that the newspaper did not post the conclusion of the story.
I share these stories to remind us the importance of the #1 Question To Ask Before Coming to a Conclusion….Is it a pattern? What is the reputation? What has your experience been?Not your experience with other people or churches in your past but with this one? I have seen many friendships broken, churches split and people hurt due to not asking this simple question. Is it a pattern?
By the way, Lowes said as far as they knew that this experience had never happened before.Ever.And to make up for our trouble they gave us a huge Whirlpool upgrade at no extra cost. What a blessing.