Not As Advertised

In the movie Cheaper by the Dozen (directed by Shawn Levy, 20th Century Fox, 2003, 1:17:56–1:19:28), the mother of twelve children has written a book about her family and is on a national book tour to publicize it. At one point, the family is preparing to be interviewed by Oprah for a segment titled “One Big, Happy Family.” Yet, when the film crew arrives to set up, there is squabbling, yelling, and infighting. The crew ends up canceling, saying, “No, it’s the farthest thing from a happy family.” When the family was not as advertised, those on the outside wanted nothing to do with it. How often do we, the church, seem to juxtapose what we’re meant to be by how we treat one another? Who would want to be a part of that family?