There is a notion among many believers that we must all walk arm-in-arm, agreeing on all things together, while making our way to the kingdom. Church sign boards and Sunday morning bulletins often boast slogans such as “come, let us grow together” or “come let us worship together”. Proponents of line-dancing our way into the kingdom often cite a scripture in support of that notion:

Can two walk together unless they are agreed? (Amos 3:3 MKJV)

The way I’ve come to see it, two people walking together really only need to agree on which path to take, how fast to walk, when and how long to stop and rest. There is no need to agree with everything another person believes in order to walk together for a time. There can be agreement in simply taking time to marvel at the beauty of God’s creation while walking and talking together.

In retirement, I’ve been blessed to walk with a dear friend and brother whom I first met in my 20’s. Weekly we’ve made it our mission to try every Asian restaurant and burger joint in town. Of course the food is secondary to the living bread we’ve always shared with joyful hearts. There’s just something different about our relationship – an intentional brotherhood appointed by the Lord – to love and encourage one another as we endeavor to be the men God has called us to be. We don’t agree on all things yet because we both love and follow Christ, and value the relationship He has given us, our fellowship is always uplifting and leaves us refreshed and encouraged. Through our relationship the Father has shown us that the best any of us can ever do, is to be faithful to walk in the revelation we’ve been given. My friend has battled infirmity that would have ended me. I’ve known persecution he hasn’t experienced. Our paths are very different, yet here we are, at the feet of Christ, together, side by side.

So what is the truth about walking together? Jesus says:

Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who will go in through it. Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 MKJV)

A narrow gate and the path that leads to it, is not traveled by large groups of people walking side-by-side. A narrow path and gate can only be walked single-file which means no two travelers ever have the same exact view.

To illustrate the point, my wife and I spend mornings drinking coffee, reading and gazing out the window at the strait below. Many are the times one or the other of us spot a large ship entering or exiting the sound. There are several pine trees between us and the strait, which means sometimes a ship clearly visible to Karen at one end of the sofa, is blocked from my view on the other end of the sofa, just 4 feet away. The only way I can see what she sees, is to look from where she’s looking.

Affording no 2 people the same view, the narrow path also forces us to cast off everything that hinders our progress, including the relationships that prevent us from entering into the fullness of Christ.

Concerning the “broad path that leads to destruction”, could Jesus have been referring to the notion of group conformity as practiced in man’s Laodicean church? Had I yoked my spiritual growth to someone else, I would still be stuck in a man’s church, hounded for my tithe, under the thumb of a hireling, bound and gagged by the traditions of men so common in denominational Churchianity. Looking back, it’s clear my real spiritual growth began only after the Lord plucked me up from the weed-bed of conformity and set me on the solitary journey of the narrow path.

Joining the Lord outside the camp (Hebrews 13:13) most of these last 25 years, I’ve learned to be less concerned about differing viewpoints and to trust the Lord to lead His people from the wide path to the narrow path. Perhaps our differences are nothing more than an indicator of how far each of us has progressed toward His Kingdom. It may be that my present view will be my brother’s tomorrow view, or vice versa. That each of us are simply putting one foot in front of the other in pursuit of fullness in Christ, is all the narrow path requires of us.

Like Paul writes: “Brethren, I do not imagine that I have yet laid hold of it. But this one thing I do–forgetting everything which is past and stretching forward to what lies in front of me, with my eyes fixed on the goal I push on to secure the prize of God’s heavenward call in Christ Jesus. Therefore let all of us who are mature believers cherish these thoughts; and if in any respect you think differently, that also God will make clear to you. But whatever be the point that we have already reached, let us persevere in the same course. (Philippians 3:13-16 Weymouth)

That we both aim for the prize is the reason spending time with my spiritual brother is so fruitful; our eyes remain on Christ who is in the midst of our relationship. We haven’t tried to grow our fellowship in numbers like the churches of men do. We accept the word of Jesus who said “wherever 2 or 3 are being gathered together, there am I in the midst of them”. Two or three. Not two or more. Two or three. Together we can laugh, share, go deep, in ways that are not possible in larger groups for the simple reason that as numbers increase, intimacy decreases, progress slows, and accountability wanes.

Has the Father given you a spiritual brother or sister with whom you can walk in love? Outside of marriage, you won’t find more fruitful fellowship.