Today’s Illustration: Domino’s: Life or Death

It Really Was The Good Old Days!
We live in a fast-paced world that is far different from the world we lived in during our youth. For me, those days were marked by walking to school, riding our bikes in the neighborhood, playing after-school wallball, and spending lazy summer days splashing through creeks. Our parents had no idea where we were, and everything was good as long as we were home by 5 for dinner. We knew the names of our neighbors, and everyone watched out for each other’s kids.

That has all changed. Perhaps Domino’s 30-minute delivery guarantee best illustrates that fast-paced change. In 1960, a start-up pizza business owned by Thomas Monagham decided to provide a home delivery option. His two unemployed factory workers delivered his pizzas using the store’s VW Beetle. His pizza sales skyrocketed, and he had more delivery drivers than pizza makers.

Monagham’s business model evolved rapidly. He introduced pizza boxes that folded faster, installed gas ovens in the cars, and transitioned to a store of pick-up and delivery only. This allowed him to make and bake a pizza in just seven minutes and guarantee delivery within thirty minutes or the pizza was free. Despite occasional failures, by 1987, they were meeting their guarantee 95% of the time. The number of stores went from 300 to two thousand.

Monaghan said Domino’s focused on delivery “as if it was life or death.” That became a reality. In 1989, Jesse Colson, a Domino delivery man, hit a utility pole at a high speed, and it was fatal. However, that tragedy did not change Domino’s motto or 30-minute guarantee.

Finally, after 200 lawsuits and a 1993 accident that injured Jean Kinder, which cost Domino’s 750,000 in damages and 78 million in punitive damages, Domino’s ended its guarantee. One juror said of Domino’s, “They don’t care about public safety. They care only about the almighty dollar.” Monagham said that he heard the message “loud and clear.” 1

There are significant issues that are “a matter of life or death,” but getting a pizza in thirty minutes or less is clearly not one of them.

One issue that is a matter or life or death is “Who is Jesus.”

The famous author, C.S. Lewis, stated . . . .

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. . . . Jesus Christ was either a liar, a. lunatic, or He was who He said He was. You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

If Jesus is who he said he is, and did what he said he did on Calvary, then He was the Messiah, and His death did pay for our sins. Then, knowing Jesus as your personal Saviour is a matter of life and death. Then, you must not get this wrong because our eternity hangs on it. Then, it is a matter of life and death!