Recently, I was kidnapped.  I know it sounds weird, but here’s what happened.  Last week was my birthday.  Four guys that I often hang out with showed up at my office on Tuesday morning.  They asked me to come with them somewhere.  I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I figured we were going out for breakfast for my birthday.  I was really surprised when we got on the interstate heading north. An hour later when we drove through Charleston I was thinking. “What in the world is going on”?  An hour after that we left West Virginia and entered Kentucky.  At this point I realized that the work I had planned for the day would not get done.  I didn’t mind too much because we were having so much fun.  When we crossed the line into Ohio I was thinking that they were being very cautious about where they were going to hide my body.  It turned out that we were spending the evening watching my beloved Cubs beat the Reds in Cincinnati, and playing Rook (the best card game ever invented) until 2:00 in the morning.  When we got back about 30 hours after we left, I had experienced one of the best birthdays ever.

What made the trip great was much more than the destination.  While I love the Cubs (and that they actually won) the best part of the trip was the fact that I shared it with these guys that I love so much.  On the surface you wouldn’t think that we have much in common.  Stephen and Martin are guys in my youth ministry. Dave is a college student who graduated a few years ago that I continue to get together with weekly.  Steve is a guy about ten years younger than me who teaches history and helps me with certain youth activities.  That description barely scratches the surface of what they really mean to me.  We share a common bond in Christ.  We talk about deep things and stupid things.  We share ministry experiences together.  We sharpen each other.  Our ages span 30 years.  Yet because of Jesus we can impact one another’s life.

When the New Testament church heard the word “fellowship” (koinonia) they thought of shared experiences that knit their hearts together.  It was the kind of thing that went way beyond just being with someone, or talking to them at a church dinner.  Koinonia occurs when believers experience the Christian life together.  Thanks guys for the gift of time and fellowship that you gave me.