Like-Minded

Paul writes in Phillipians,
'If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.'

Have you ever experienced fellowship with a close friend, and it's to the point where you're so like-minded that it's almost spooky the way you can finish eachother's sentences?   It's a bond, a closeness that is really just the living evidence of a deeper relationship.

Some of you, like me, would agree that you had a close sibling, a brother or a sister, or a childhood friend you once shared that kind of sentence-finishing bond with, but what about total strangers.

In the past few weeks I've seen this happen more than in my entire life.

From speaking to a missionary I've never met, to the days spent between Patchouko and I, walking the trails in Haiti, finishing one another's thoughts, to speaking with a chemist.  A chemist!  Someone who thinks on levels 6 or 7 floors up from my own.  Yet still, we can finish eachother's thoughts.   A heart surgeon, a contractor, a banker, a pastor, from a company's board of directors right down to a fellow laborer in the field....all in the past week, and yet we're all on the same page.

That's the beauty of being like-minded.  When you see the body of Christ exercising itself the way it was intended, you can literally see the inner workings of God's plan.  Paul had it nailed.  When we're working together the way we're supposed to, the natural fruit of encouragement, comfort, love, tenderness, compassion, unity and joy....sentence-finishing joy, will bubble up to the surface.

Patchouko and I will always come from two totally different worlds.  But walking up the mountains of Haiti with me, I'm not being led by a stranger, a guide, or a translator... I'm working, serving, walking side by side with my brother, with my close friend.   Our journey is yoked together, and our mission is solid.  We are both the adopted sons of the King of Kings, and I know God smiles.