12 lessons from 12 angry men

12 angry man is about a 12-man jury that has the responsibility of deciding whether or not a young boy is guilty of murdering his father. If they decide that he is guilty, he will not have opportunity to appeal that decision.

During a recent ladies' Night with the King (vigil), we watched the 1957 edition of this film. The film is old - it's even in black and white and yet rich in content.

We discussed and prayed about what we learned from it.

Here are 12 of the things we learned from it (and not in any order):

1. Be prepared - you never know when you will be called upon to do something you have never done and that responsibility could be a matter of life or death for someone.
2. Dare to be different - sometimes it is so easy to want to be like everyone else. As a Christian, we must realize that the fact that everyone around is is thinking or behaving the same way does not make it right.
3. Think before you decide - there are times when we must slow down our decision making process just to properly consider things before we make decisions that could impact other people's lives.
4. Know why you believe what you believe - "just because" is not a good enough reason for believing or doing something. We should know the reason behind our beliefs and be able to articulate it when asked.
5. Do not judge people based on their past - we must always remember that people's past are past. If/when they turn over a new leaf, we should give them the benefit of the doubt rather than casting the shadow of their past over them.
6. Be compassionate - we should be sensitive to others and imagine walking in their shoes. It will spring a well of kindness within you towards others.
7. Avoid prejudice - like Juror 8 (Henry Fonda) said, "prejudice always obscures the truth."
8. Be careful of your words -  if you speak only mean and hard words, you may choke when you have to eat them. Put differently "Always keep your words soft & sweet in case you have to eat them!" (Author unknown).
9. Be kind to everyone - you do not need to know someone personally to be kind or considerate.
10. Take personal responsibility - when working in a group/team do not diffuse the responsibility. If you take personal responsibility you'll do a more thorough job on that task/assignment. Do the right thing even if it's the group that will be held accountable for the decision/outcome - do not hide behind a group cover to do the wrong thing or let the wrong thing be done.
11. Be open-minded - learning opportunities abound around us. Being open-minded gives you the "permission" to learn from others - you learn either what to do or what not to do. The point is you can learn from anyone and any situation so be open to learning. Only the dead are incapable of learning.
12. Stand in the gap - someone likened Juror 8 to Jesus Who is always interceding for us despite what everyone else sees or says we have done. Likewise, we should all take the ministry of intercession seriously...pray without ceasing for all men in all seasons. God is always looking for someone to stand in the gap - are you available?

You may find more nuggets if/when you watch it. Just note that there are several covers and remakes of this film - so make sure you get the right version...

but remember, you can learn from any other version too.