Lessons from a Desperate Housewife.

I have a confession to make....
I watched "Desperate Housewives" for the first (and possibly last) time last night. It wasn't intentional, but my little TV has no cable and programming was slim-pickings on Sunday night. As with any hour-drama, there are a billion subplots occuring at the same time. One such storyline involved Teri Hatcher and her very pretty TV husband. Teri's teenage daughter was interested in attending a party, which later became a cause of contention. Teri's new husband did not want her to go to this party, and to keep a united front with her hubby, Teri insisted that her daughter refrain from attending the hoopla. Well, in an effort to remain the "cool mom," she later went behind her husband's back and permitted her daughter (in secret) to go to the party. As you can imagine, things got uglier from there.

The original intention here was to keep a united front, however, one half of the front was not fully committed. Because of this, the entire decision was negated in the eyes of that teenage girl. As I was reading this morning in Ephesians, I was reminded of the importance of unity within the church.

"We will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does it's own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." -Eph 4:15-16

When I make a poor decision, not only is that a reflection on me, but it hinders the purpose of the church. It shows that I'm not committed. It shows that it's not worth the sacrifice. It shows that hypocrisy runs in the veins of the church. And it's not that I claim to be perfect- I am most certainly not. I ask myself: AM I contributing to the united front of Christ's message, or am I hindering it? When people look inside the figurative "windows" of the church, what do they see?

Do they see bickering amongst one another? Usually what people hear about us (the church) is that we are fighting amongst ourselves.
Are they arguing about what style of music we should worship with?
Are they griping about the way the message is presented?
Are they complaining about how much they have to surrender?

Or do they see imperfect people trying to mold their character into that of Christ? If someone stumbles, the church is the place to be picked up and set back on track towards the Lord.

IS UNITY a big deal to God? YOU BET! It's not something that just sounds nice- for Christians to have a heart toward oneness- but it's very vital in God's economy, and it is the KEY INGREDIENT in us magnifying Him with the loudest possible voice. I'm confident that God LOVES it when His kids praise Him harmoniously.