The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
- 1 John 1:2-3
 
The purpose of proclamation is connection: connection with each other and, ultimately, with God. Fellowship. 
 
John writes about a fellowship that has existed eternally, the fellowship between the Father and the Son. That deep relationship exists independently from before the beginning of our cosmos. That fellowship drives the divine design of all we see. When Jesus Christ appeared to us, we got a glimpse of that fellowship.
 
And that fellowship with God can’t be cut apart from fellowship with each other. We have to be connected with each other if we’re connected with God. There’s no option for one without the other. This means that forgiveness, community, and multi-ethnic reconciliation become powerfully linked to our walking through life in the company of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
 
John knows that this won’t be easy. He talks about his proclamation but also talks about his testimony. To testify isn’t just to tell what you’ve seen, heard, and touched. For John to testify also meant to suffer. He had seen his friends arrested, beaten, and executed because of their testimony. He had experienced displacement, lived as a refugee and prisoner, and would one day be exiled because of his testimony.
 
But, for him, it was worth it. Fellowship was worth it. Connection with each other and with God was worth it.
 
What do you see as your primary barriers to fellowship with God and with other people? What do you see as your primary barriers to your testifying about God to others? Ask the Lord to help you address those barriers today.