The Lost And Lint-Covered Mate

My son Matthew wears Vibram FiveFingers on his feet. He likes them so much that he actually has two pairs. With Five's, you need special toe socks that are only sold at certain sports stores. However, the cheapest toe socks Matthew could find were $20 a pair. Matthew bought two pairs. If he bought any more, I would have probably hit him over the head to put some sense into it.

I know this is not going to come as a surprise, but less than a week later, Matthew lost one of his socks. He was quite upset. "Mom, that's a ten dollar sock!"

When the sock didn't turn up over the following week, I decided to go look for it. (I mean, really, can you picture a man looking for his sock, no matter what price he paid for it? )

Well, the good news is I did find his sock. It was covered in lint behind the dryer.

The laundry basket is on a shelf above the dryer, so I guess Matthew must have missed. It's a good thing Matthew is a runner, not a basketball player.

The moral of this story is: a sock is useless without its mate. I find this true of married couples, particularly in ministry. When a pastor, evangelist, or missionary is married and does not acknowledge or appreciate the importance of his/her partner, that partner is like the lint-covered sock: lost and forgotten. Eventually, this will lead to failure in the ministry.

God tells us in His Word that when a man and woman marry, the two become one.

"This explains why a man leaves his father and mother

and is joined to his wife,

and the two are united into one.

Since they are no longer two but one,
let no one split apart what God has joined together."

Mark 10:7-9 (NLT)

A married pastor should always sit with his/her wife/husband in church, and they should always work together in their ministry as a team.