The Ten Foot Rule

The Ten foot Rule

There I was with my family walking down an aisle at Sams. This is a weekly family outing for my family and I. We have also found through these family outings that if you go on a Saturday that is the day they give out the free samples in almost every aisle in the food section. Anyway, there we are walking when all of a sudden this book jumps into my cart. OK it had a little help from me. This book that I am referring to is called “The Wal-Mart Decade” by Robert Slater. It is a book about Sam Walton the creator of Wal-Mart, and about the leadership team of Wal-Mart then and now. Through this book comes my discovery of the 10’ rule.

To begin on the ten foot rule allow me to explain what it is. In the Wal-Mart stores it is recorded that they follow a ten-foot rule, which says that if there is a person 10 feet from you, you are to stop and ask if there is anything you may do for them?  This is all part of the culture that Sam Walton wanted to establish in the stores. By asking this question it has played a big part in how some feel about shopping. It has provided many with a good memory of shopping. And part of this ten-foot rule is to make sure that the sales people are not all in the back of the store but on the floor with the people.

Before I go any further let me let you know that I don’t want to compare the church to a business, but I would like for us to entertain the thought of this successful idea of serving the people. If you are like me, sometimes I can get so caught up in doing church, that I lose site of what is really important. It is the people, the kids, and the families.  It is not a task, skill, or a program.

I wonder if the disciples in Matthew 19:13 had forgotten the 10 foot rule? It say’s, “Then the little children were brought to Him that He might put His hand on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them…” (NKJ). How many times have we been harsh or impatient with what we might consider interruptions into our agenda of what we think needs to be done?

In closing, may I challenge all of us to apply the heart of the 10-foot rule? That is, to be interested in others and what they need. The world is dying to know that not only we care, but also the Creator we talk about cares for them.