Recently I stumbled upon an interesting experiment undertaken in eight teaching hospitals here and there around the world. The experiment was simple and straightforward. It cost virtually nothing. And it saved thousands of lives.
Surgeons were asked to perform a simple checklist before every surgical procedure. Did they have the right patient on the gurney before them? (Check!) Did they have the right diagnosis? (Check!) Did they know where to cut or what to remove? (Yes!) And upon completion of surgery, did they have the same number of sponges that they started with? (Count ‘em up!) The study focused on six items, all involving basic operating theater procedures. You will find the study reported in the January issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Time-CNN reports that “when surgical teams heeded a simple checklist — as pilots do before takeoff — patient-mortality rates were cut nearly in half and complications fell by more than a third.” The checklist has been implemented already in Michigan, for example — and it is estimated that 1500 lives were saved last year and approximately $200 million dollars.
Here in Minnesota, it turns out, many hospitals observe the checklist, too — though I don’t think the practice is required in our state. Jan Tollefson, on staff in our Business Office, recently fell and broke her arm. The injury required the insertion of a plate and a few screws to mend the broken bone. When Jan returned to the office a few days ago I noticed that her injured arm was marked with a bold “Yes!”, written in permanent marker just above the elbow. A little lower there was another glaring checkmark inscribed in another color. (I am thinking that the unnatural bend just above her wrist must have helped the surgeon identify the limb, too.)
What if a similar checklist were implemented in our churches? The savings, I think, could be dramatic in that setting as well. We might approach our Sunday mornings as so many surgeons preparing for surgery or pilots preparing for takeoff. We would focus our hearts and minds. We would get clear about things. A little checklist, maybe, would make us less likely to become distracted — or to set about the wrong operations altogether. Are sinners present? (Check!) Is the Word of God at hand? (Yes!) Are we expecting an appearance of the Great Physician? (By his gracious promise!) Is the law of God sounded sometimes and then is the gospel applied? Imagine the possibilities.
In June, we gather again in our Home Offices for our annual missionary candidates’ Briefing Course. Briefing Course brings together a wonderful variety of candidates and inquirers at various stages in their lives and careers. They share one astonishing thing in common: the conviction that God has called them to participate in his mission in the world.
Here, too, a checklist might be helpful. Do we have the right persons before us in our prayers — the world’s poor, the needy, the lost? Are we clear that they urgently need the Savior? Do we suppose that we have the ability to meet their need, on our own steam? Are we learning to depend upon the grace and equipment of Jesus?
We find a little checklist in Mark 6:30-44 — appropriate, perhaps, for settings like Briefing Course. The disciples measure the task before them: a crowd of thousands, hungry and feinting away. The disciples count their meager resources: two small fish and five little loaves of bread. And then they place their resources in the hands of the Savior. And then a miracle ensues.
Check.
If we were to produce a “checklist” of preparation for Briefing Course, what item would you be sure to add? Leave a comment with your suggestion below and we’ll share your recommendations with candidates in June!