One Voice, Many Words

By Brittney Westin

We are desperate for God. We are dependent on each other. We are determined to go. If that sounds familiar, you’ve likely attended Redeemer Bible Church or have spent some time perusing our website. Indeed, it is the vision statement of our church. One we attempt to live out in our individual lives and our life as a church family. We also attempt to display this vision through our writing, which we did faithfully for several years through our website’s blog. For one reason or another, the blog was shelved for a season but, as you may have guessed, it’s back!

But, why a blog? Well, it’s one way, among many, to form a needed bridge of connectedness among God’s people. It’s needed because we’re made for it; we are made for fellowship. We understand this right from the start of creation in two ways: First God says, “Let Us make man in Our image” (Gen. 1:26). God was and has always been in fellowship with both the Son and the Spirit. If we are made in His image, then we are likewise made for fellowship and connectedness. Then after God made man, He said it was not good for him to be alone. Because of this, He made, among other things, a helper for man (Gen.2:18, 21-22). We can see, then, that from the very fabric of our being, we were created with a desire for companionship and partnership with others.

Paul understands this capacity and desire when he rightly describes the church in Ephesus by saying that they are “rooted and grounded in love” (Eph. 3:17). With these words, we are given the image of a tree which we know only stands upright because of its root system. As God’s people, we are the tree whose roots are to be deep in the truth of God’s word so that we can fully and effectively love others (Ps. 1:2-3).

Carry that truth into the 21st century and it feels like something I once heard from a wise professor, Sunday School teacher, and former boss (same man, three different roles at three different times in my life). He said that the two most important things in life are God and people because they are the only things that last. He’s right. Everything else eventually fades away. So, we’d be wise to spend our time seeking to know and love God and doing the same with people—sinking our roots into the soil of God’s word to produce the fruit of love toward others.

How blessed we are to live in an age with the ability to produce this kind of loving fruit in so many creative ways that also express our individual uniqueness!  We have tangible one-to-one ways to connect with others and grow in our knowledge and love for God (you’ll read a few upcoming blogs about that), but we also exist in a time of increasing media production across multiple platforms that makes it possible to connect in different ways: social media, podcasts, and videos come to us with overwhelming choice. And so does the written word. It’s a medium that has existed in every generation and, indeed, has been God’s chosen vehicle for centuries. I was struck by something John Piper once wrote about, well, writing: “God chose to send His living Word into the world for 30 years, and his written Word into the world for 2,000+ years.” And so we, as God’s church, want to continue producing loving fruit through our writing, for our church body and anyone else who comes across our website.

C.S. Lewis said, “We read to know we are not alone.” Here, on this blog, you will discover that you are not alone. You will read about loneliness, suffering, faithfulness, joy, creating, and loss. You will be given the perspectives of biblical scholars, business professionals, young moms, ministry workers, scientists, elderly saints, and missionaries. In their stories, you will find fellowship and unity. Through their voices, you will discover a connection to the body of Christ. Together, we will write to bridge the gap between strangers and friends, between loneliness and togetherness, between being unknown and known. Join us.