Dancing to Doctrine: Looking At Versus Looking Along
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.”—John 1:6-8
In 1945, C.S. Lewis wrote an essay about perception entitled, “Meditation in a Toolshed,” the essay from which this blog derives its name. Lewis wrote,
“I was standing today in the dark toolshed. The sun was shining outside and through the crack at the top of the door there came a sunbeam. From where I stood that beam of light, with the specks of dust floating in it, was the most striking thing in the place. Everything else was almost pitch-black. I was seeing the beam, not seeing things by it. Then I moved, so that the beam fell on my eyes. Instantly the whole previous picture vanished. I saw no toolshed, and (above all) no beam. Instead I saw, framed in the irregular cranny at the top of the door, green leaves moving on the branches of a tree outside and beyond that, 90 odd million miles away, the sun. Looking along the beam, and looking at the beam are very different experiences.”—C.S. Lewis, “Meditations in a Toolshed,” God in the Dock, p. 212.
Lewis contended that looking along the beam and looking at the beam were two different ways of perception—looking at and looking along. Looking at involves seeing something from the outside, while looking along means seeing from the inside. Lewis cites the example of a young man in love,
“But this is only a very simple example of the difference between looking at and looking along. A young man meets a girl. The whole world looks different when he sees her. Her voice reminds him of something he has been trying to remember all his life, and ten minutes casual chat with her is more precious than all the favours that all other women in the world could grant. lie is [sic], as they say, ‘in love’. Now comes a scientist and describes this young man's experience from the outside. For him it is all an affair of the young man's genes and a recognised biological stimulus. That is the difference between looking along the sexual impulse and looking at it”—C.S. Lewis, “Meditations in a Toolshed,” God in the Dock, p. 212.
Lewis maintains that both perspectives are essential to understanding anything in life. However, for most Christians, the idea of “looking along” Christ completely trumps the idea of “looking at” Christ. We maintain that no one who is “looking at” Christ can understand Him or our relationship with Him, and while such a view may be true in some aspects, it is woefully deficient in others. We cannot let subjective experience be the sole determiner of our perspective. We must be able to both look at and look along in reference to Christ’s salvation and our Christian walk. Which is where doctrine comes in. Doctrine gives shape to our understanding of the beam (Christ’s salvation) and our place in it. It enables us to see the contours of the beam from the outside while allowing us to step into the beam to see the reality made clear by it.
Imagine a Muslim man comes to you and asks you about Isa (the Islamic name for Jesus). You respond that He is your Lord and Savior and you commune with Him daily. The Muslim says that he believes in Isa as well, but maintains that He was a prophet and not the Son of God. What do you say? For many of us, we don’t know what to say. We believe that He is God, but we don’t know why. This is where doctrine comes in. Doctrine helps us know how to experience Christ personally, while at the same time, looking to the Word of God so that we may explain Him accurately. If I were to just talk to my Muslim friend about my personal relationship it would have no lasting affect on him. He needs to understand why Jesus is God and not just a prophet as Islam maintains. Doctrine helps us to understand that He is God and how we might commune with Him.
Are we allowing ourselves to be shaped by the Word of God or by our own understanding? Are we placing ourselves under the preaching of God’s Word? Are we studying the Bible so that we might accurately understand and apply its truth to our lives? I pray that we may be able to both look at and along Christ to glorify God and draw others to Him. Amen.
In 1945, C.S. Lewis wrote an essay about perception entitled, “Meditation in a Toolshed,” the essay from which this blog derives its name. Lewis wrote,
“I was standing today in the dark toolshed. The sun was shining outside and through the crack at the top of the door there came a sunbeam. From where I stood that beam of light, with the specks of dust floating in it, was the most striking thing in the place. Everything else was almost pitch-black. I was seeing the beam, not seeing things by it. Then I moved, so that the beam fell on my eyes. Instantly the whole previous picture vanished. I saw no toolshed, and (above all) no beam. Instead I saw, framed in the irregular cranny at the top of the door, green leaves moving on the branches of a tree outside and beyond that, 90 odd million miles away, the sun. Looking along the beam, and looking at the beam are very different experiences.”—C.S. Lewis, “Meditations in a Toolshed,” God in the Dock, p. 212.
Lewis contended that looking along the beam and looking at the beam were two different ways of perception—looking at and looking along. Looking at involves seeing something from the outside, while looking along means seeing from the inside. Lewis cites the example of a young man in love,
“But this is only a very simple example of the difference between looking at and looking along. A young man meets a girl. The whole world looks different when he sees her. Her voice reminds him of something he has been trying to remember all his life, and ten minutes casual chat with her is more precious than all the favours that all other women in the world could grant. lie is [sic], as they say, ‘in love’. Now comes a scientist and describes this young man's experience from the outside. For him it is all an affair of the young man's genes and a recognised biological stimulus. That is the difference between looking along the sexual impulse and looking at it”—C.S. Lewis, “Meditations in a Toolshed,” God in the Dock, p. 212.
Lewis maintains that both perspectives are essential to understanding anything in life. However, for most Christians, the idea of “looking along” Christ completely trumps the idea of “looking at” Christ. We maintain that no one who is “looking at” Christ can understand Him or our relationship with Him, and while such a view may be true in some aspects, it is woefully deficient in others. We cannot let subjective experience be the sole determiner of our perspective. We must be able to both look at and look along in reference to Christ’s salvation and our Christian walk. Which is where doctrine comes in. Doctrine gives shape to our understanding of the beam (Christ’s salvation) and our place in it. It enables us to see the contours of the beam from the outside while allowing us to step into the beam to see the reality made clear by it.
Imagine a Muslim man comes to you and asks you about Isa (the Islamic name for Jesus). You respond that He is your Lord and Savior and you commune with Him daily. The Muslim says that he believes in Isa as well, but maintains that He was a prophet and not the Son of God. What do you say? For many of us, we don’t know what to say. We believe that He is God, but we don’t know why. This is where doctrine comes in. Doctrine helps us know how to experience Christ personally, while at the same time, looking to the Word of God so that we may explain Him accurately. If I were to just talk to my Muslim friend about my personal relationship it would have no lasting affect on him. He needs to understand why Jesus is God and not just a prophet as Islam maintains. Doctrine helps us to understand that He is God and how we might commune with Him.
Are we allowing ourselves to be shaped by the Word of God or by our own understanding? Are we placing ourselves under the preaching of God’s Word? Are we studying the Bible so that we might accurately understand and apply its truth to our lives? I pray that we may be able to both look at and along Christ to glorify God and draw others to Him. Amen.
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