One of my favorite quotes comes from the C.S. Lewis book The Four Loves, an exploration of affection, friendship, eros, and charity.  In his section on friendship, he uses an illustration about his relationship with two of his closest friends, “Charles” and “Ronald” (J.R.R. Tolkien) to make a larger point about the importance of Christian fellowship to our knowledge of God.  This is how Lewis puts it:

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out.  By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.  Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke.  Far from having more of Ronald, having him ‘to myself’ now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald.  Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves.  Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend.  They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, ‘Here comes one who will augment our loves’… In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious ‘nearness by resemblance’ to Heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each has of God.  For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest.  That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ to one another (Isaiah 6:3).  The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we all have.

There are so many beautiful insights in this passage.  His words about knowing and enjoying someone more fully when we can see them from not only our own perspective and interactions but the perspective of and interaction with others is so true.  Think of the girl who loves her boyfriend and thinks she knows all about him until one day she sees him with all his guy friends, and comes back saying, “I never knew that side of you existed!”  Or what is revealed about a person when you watch them in the context of their family as opposed to by themselves at work or at church.  I know that I have friends who bring out my playful side and others who bring out my competitive side; some who engage my brain while others who engage my heart and soul.  Each person brings out different aspects of who we are, and the more we share our friends with others, the better we know them.

But what is even more incredible about this passage is the analogy he makes to our relationship with God.  I have my own perspective of God, which has been gained through my experience, by listening to those who have taught me, and by what God has revealed to me.  But there are other aspects of His character that, while I may know them to be true intellectually, others can communicate with much more depth and insight because of their experience.  For example, I know that God is my provider, that He tells me to seek first His kingdom and that He will provide for my needs (Matthew 6:33).  But I have never been down to my last penny, totally dependent on God to come through.  And so every time I hear someone share a testimony of being in that vulnerable place and experiencing God’s miraculous provision, it strengthens my faith and encourages me that “God is my provider” is more than just a theological statement. 

Lewis’ words reveal why it is so dangerous to reduce your faith to a relationship between you and God, or you and God and a couple of Bible teachers that you like, instead of engaging with many other believers on a heart level.  When we only have our perspective, or the perspective of one or two teachers, we limit our experience and knowledge of God.  How do you really know that God can miraculously heal unless you meet someone who has been healed by God?  How do you really know that God can save the very worst of sinners unless you know someone who fits that profile?  How do you really know that God can redeem a broken marriage unless you hear from someone who has experienced God do that very thing?  You can know all of those things on an intellectual level, but as the people of God testify to each other about the God they worship, our vision of Him expands and our faith grows tremendously.

This Sunday, I will be wrapping up my series on Biblical assurance and how you can know that you have eternal life, that what you call faith is genuine saving faith.  My plan is to preach a brief summary, and then to open it up for testimonies from the congregation of what God has been doing in their lives through this series.  While “open mic” time is always a bit risky, since you never know who will say what (or for how long they will say it…), I am almost always blessed and encouraged by what people have to say.  It is always a reminder to me that in addition to Biblical teaching, it is so valuable to hear the testimonies of others as to how God has been applying the spoken Word to their daily life.  So, I would encourage you that if God has been working in your life during this series, please come and share so that our faith might be strengthened and our vision of God expanded.  And if there has been nothing worth testifying about, come and listen and be blessed.

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