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SENSATE

Loving God with the Senses

Character Traits

  • Some Christians are moved by sensuous worship more than anything else.

  • By sensuous we're referring to the five senses of taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight.

  • When we reduce worship to intellectual assent, we are forced to worship God in crippled existence.

  • Ezekiel feels a wind, sees flashing lightning, hears the sound of wings, and is asked to eat a scroll that tastes sweet. After all this he sits down, stunned for 7 days. Ezekiel 1, 3

  • John is overwhelmed by loud trumpet voices, blazing eyes, and sounds of rushing waters as he writes to the 7 churches of Revelation.

  • Sometimes experiencing God comes with overwhelming stimulation.

  • This is a flashing glimpse of heaven.

  • Christianity without beauty becomes a disembodied religion of the mind.

  • Using our bodies to glorify God is a much better response than denying the role of the body in worship, and then turning around and using the body in areas that lead to sin.

What Are Our Pitfalls?

 

Worshiping Without Conviction or Content

Words by be sung with no more emotion than placing an order for a Big Mac. Also, while we're singing, the words we say don’t really matter. God knows it’s just a song, we think. Music can make us feign a commitment that just isn’t there, causing us to become callous, insincere believers.

Idolizing Beauty

Someone could leave a very beautiful liturgical service satisfied by the sensuous experience without having entered the true presence of God.

Worshiping Worship

Sensory stimulation is not the same thing as a true commitment of the will. Be cautious of using your senses to worship worship.

Suggestions for the Road

 

Sound

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name” Psalm 96. Use musical instruments — Psalms 147, 149, 150. Read the Scriptures out loud. We often have our hearts and thoughts challenged when we hear the Word of God.

Smell

No incense offering will wipe out a single sin. However, incense isn’t used to find favor with God, but to help us pray. It is a means, not an end.

Touch

Holding a paper clip while you pray could help you focus on a marriage that is falling apart; a rubber band could help you pray for a pliable heart. Carry a nail in your pocket on Good Friday to reaffirm your commitment.

 

Sight

Check out the religious art of Rembrandt and others. We may find that looking at someone or a picture of someone while we pray for them increases our ability to pray.

Taste

Taste some salt as you pray for your influence in a non-Christian environment. Jesus says He is the bread of life; remind yourself of this when you taste it.

Want to learn even more?

 

Explore all the different ways people can connect to God and discover the value of each and every path.