Spiritual Temperaments: The Sensual Type

From the Series—The Heart of Worship
April 12, 2002

Sensual Spirituality

Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? The words “sensual” and “spiritual” are assumed opposites, but the word “sensual” needs to be redeemed. The truth is that God created us with five senses. And each one is a gift from Him. Leonardo Da Vinci said, “The five senses are ministers of the soul.” Our five senses are five ways of experiencing and expressing worship! When you study Scripture, especially the Old Testament, you discover that Biblical worship is multi-sensory. Postmodern believers need to resurrect ancient rituals. One way to resurrect ancient rituals is to rediscover ancient worship.

Aesthetics

The Tabernacle was Israel’s “temple on wheels.” During the wilderness wandering, the Israelites didn’t leave home without out. Every time they set up camp they set up the Tabernacle. It was the locus of Old Testament worship.

Study the Tabernacle and you can’t help but conclude that aesthetics are important. In Exodus 25-40, God plays the role of interior designer. Pick a chapter, any chapter, and you’ll see God choosing color schemes, revealing a secret and sacred formula for incense, and specifying exactly what raw materials to use. You could argue that none of those things constitutes worship and you’d be right. But if God devotes that much time and energy to colors and scents and fabrics, then maybe aesthetics are important. Aesthetics have nothing to do and everything to do with worship.

Aestheticism and Asceticism are on opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum. Asceticism is sensory deprivation. Ascetics live a lifestyle of simplicity and austerity. At the outset of his ministry, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting. Fasting is an ascetic discipline--temporary deprivation of the sense of taste. There is a time and place for sensory deprivation. The irony, however, is that sensory deprivation actually sensitizes the sensibilities. During a fast everything smells better and after a fast everything tastes better. In a sense, asceticism fosters aestheticism.

Just as there is a time and place for asceticism, there is a time and place for aestheticism--sensory stimulation. Webster defines aesthetics as, “an appreciation for what is pleasurable to the senses.” The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery says, “The chapters that describe the materials that went into the building of the tabernacle are an artist’s delight--a riot of color, texture and design.” God spares no expense when it comes to the color scheme. We take color for granted because technology allows us to create colors synthetically. But purple and blue and scarlet were colors of royalty because they required rare and expensive dyes.

Color Therapy

Countless studies have shown that color affects “the psychology of a room.” There are “positive” and “negative” colors. Some colors are “cold” while others are “warm.” The scientific explanation is rather simple. Different colors emit different types of radiation. They have different vibrations and frequencies. Scientifically speaking, it’s accurate to say that different colors have different energies. And it’s not like that’s news to God. God is light. He created us with the capacity to distinguish between 7.5 million colors! Color therapy may have “discovered” the healing properties of color, but God designed them that way.

Footnote. The primary means of transmission used in color therapy is stained glass. I don’t if the architects of medieval cathedrals realized it or not, but they doubled as color therapists. The stained glass not only told stories to largely illiterate congregations, but they also bathed the congregation in color.

What does all that have to do with the way we worship? If God gives microscopic attention to aesthetic details, then maybe we need to be intentional about designing out our “tabernacles"--saced spaces where we worship God.
We need a touch of “Martha Stewart.” In Haggai 1:4, the Lord asks, “Is it time for you to be living in your paneled houses while this house [the Temple] remains in ruins?” We need to be intentional about designing “tabernacles” where we can worship God. Whether you’re a sensual and non-sensual type, aesthetics are important.

The Sense of Smell

The Eastern Orthodox Church never worships without incense. I don’t think that’s “right” or “wrong.” Gary Thomas says, “One woman may discover that incense helps her pray, while another woman thinks using incense is just plain weird. The two can ‘agree to disagree’ without making a theological issue out of a doctrinally neutral worship preference.”

Incense is not a “prescribed” form of worship. In other words, it’s not mandated. But it is modeled. Exodus 30:7-8 required that Aaron burn incense all the time. In Exodus 30:34, God gives Moses a secret and sacred recipe. “Take fragrant spices--gum resin, onycha, and galbanum--and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of the Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.”

We hardly ever think of a “smell” as something sacred or spiritual, but incense was a vital part of Old Testament worship. Lewis Thomas says smell contains “all the great mysteries.” Let me explain why incense makes good “sense”, literally.

The human nose can detect one-millionth of one milligram of garlic floating in the air. That’s the equivalent of tasting a one drop of vinegar in a swimming pool. According to biologists, smell is our most acute sense. Our sense of smell has the power to trigger emotions and memories. That’s not just good science. That’s good theology. Proverbs 27:9 says, “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart.” Studies have found that our minds are physiologically altered by the presence of incense. Different scents have different effects. Peppermint and rosemary are energizers. Lavender and frankincense are relaxants. Aromatherapy is used to treat everything from anxiety and insomnia to weight loss and pain management.

Many Japanese corporations are pumping fragrances through air conditioning systems to increase productivity. One study of typists found that lavender decreased errors by 21%, jasmine reduced errors by 33%, and lemon resulted in a 54% reduction in errors. The bottom line is that different smells can alter moods and trigger emotions.

Our sense of smell can also trigger memories. Most of us have experienced a “fragrance-evoked memory.” They are powerful transporters that take us back to a different time and a different place. Every time I smell lilacs I’m transported back to my grandma’s backyard. It’s an automatic trigger.

What does that have to do with worship? Because we can’t “smell Scripture” we underestimate the affect of incense on Old Testament worshippers. They were greeted by the same scent everytime they went to worship. The incense evoked emotions and memories. It was an olfactory reminder that they were entering the presence of God. It helped transport them into “worship mode.”

By the way, popcorn--"NCC’s incense"--is one of the most memorable smells because it conveys 23 odor compounds!

All of that is to say this. If your spiritual temperament is sensual you need to find smells and sights and sounds that stimulate worship. Why not light a candle during worship? According to Leviticus 24:2, candles burned continually in tabernacle. It’s a biblical and sensual way to worship. We underestimate the sensual ascepts of Scripture. The early believers anointed with oil, layed hands on one another, and greeted each other with a holy kiss! Those things stimulate the sense of touch.

The Sense of Sight

Most of us pray with our eyes closed. That’s a good thing if it shuts out visual distractions. But the practice is actually linked to medieval monks who were ascetics. They would close their eyes for days or weeks to practice sensory deprivation. Again, that can be a good thing. But it’s not like God stops listening when we open our eyes! Maybe we need to see our sense of sight as an ally instead of an enemy.

In his book, Creative Spirituality, Robert Wunthrow interviews artists and documents different ways they worship. A sculptor named Gregg Wyatt does “artistic devotions.” Instead of just reading the book of Job, Gregg Wyatt meditates on William Blake’s illustrations of the book of Job. That may sound “subjective.” Doesn’t looking at pictures leave room for misinterpretation? Sure it does. But so does reading. Why do we have hundreds of denominations? Because people interpret passages differently. I’m not suggesting that pictures replace words. The Bible is the inspired word of God. But for most of church history, most followers of Christ have been illiterate. Stained glass was the medieval way of communicating the gospel through pictures. Wyatt says, “Art is not simply a pretty picture or something to glance at as you go by, but to be meditated upon. It is like a library of great truth.” Pictures can open up new levels of understand because they allow us to visualize truth.

That’s what Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son did for priest and prolific author, Henri Nouwen. He had probably read the story of the prodigal son hundreds of times, but the painting made his want to “laugh and cry at the same time.” He said it imprinted his soul. Maybe a picture is worth a thousand words.

A word of warning. We need to be careful not to over-spiritualize sensual worship or create spiritual superstitions. The phrase “hocus pocus” comes from the Latin phrase hoc est corpus meum or “this is my body"--the phrase that was repeating during communion. That sacred ritual of communion was reduced to an empty incantation. It’s important to understand that aesthetics are a means, not an end. The most important verse in Exodus 25-40 is 40:34. When they had finished all the work and the aesthetics were just right, it says, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.” Aesthetics are nothing without the presence of God. Aesthetics are the means. Presence is the end.

Sensual Stewardship

Leonardo Da Vinci said the average person “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, and inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance.” Sensuality is a stewardship issue. God created us with five senses. Each sense is a unique gift from God. Like everything else in life, we are called to be good stewards of our senses!

One final thought. I have a “theological theory” that the reason we need a “glorified body” in heaven is because our human senses can’t handle heaven. What does I Corinthians 2:9 say? “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what God has prepared for us.” It’s beyond our senses! Heaven is going to be extra-sensory. The sounds and sights and smells will literally be “out of this world.”

Imagine hearing the angels sing for the first time. The sound will sweep us off our feet. One of the first things on the agenda is the marriage supper of the lamb. The smells and tastes will rapture us! Revelation 21 is the most colorful chapter in Scripture. It describes the twelve gem stones that adorn the walls of New Jerusalem. They cover the entire color spectrum. Leland Ryken says, “It is difficult to know with certainty which jewels the ancient words refer to and hence to know their colors. Nevertheless, imagine the visual delight of ruby reds, and emerald greens, amethyst purples, and pearly whites.”

Even if you’re not a sensual type, the aesthetics of Heaven are going to overwhelm your senses. And that will “pale” in comparison to the presence of God. I Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, then we shall see Him face to face.”