What Color is God? [Sensates] - Experiencing God on a Whole New Level

Sensates:  Those who experience through the use of their senses. 

What color is God?

Not what race...but rather what color?  If I were to give you one of those big boxes of Crayons what color would you select to describe God?  Would you choose a bright color like a yellow, gold, or white?   Or maybe you would go for a more peaceful color like blue?

That is probably a weird question for most of you, however for the sensate, this question is no problem.  For me, a dominant sensate, I would probably say blue or purple. 

I remember sitting in my entry level psychology class back during my Freshman year at Lubbock Christian University and watching a video a brain anomalies that "messed up" peoples' sensory activities (called "Synesthesia").  There were people who could see sound, smell letters, touch smells (I may have just made that one up), and all sorts of other crazy stuff.  As a musician I always thought that being able to see sound would be super cool.  To watch a symphony as a rainbow of colors poured out from the musicians instruments seemed like a supernatural experience.

 

That's kind of how I imagine worship as a sensate.  In my worship experience, God is splashing me with color, sound, beauty, and wonder and I get to experience it all.

If you grew up like I did, it was actually the removal of the senses that people equated with reverent and true worship.  Our churches were white walled, wood pewed, neutral carpeted centers for worship.  There was no art, no color, no sensory stimulation.

In an effort to keep people focused and attentive churches tried to removed sensory stimulation from worship.  However, that has left many people wilting away in our pews.  In our churches we have artists, musicians, sculptors, designers, and architects who would all gladly use their art to enhance the worship experience because for many of them they experience God through their art.

As I have mentioned before, as a sensate I have recognized that the space I worship in is incredibly important.  I prefer low lit, comfortable, artistic spaces of worship.  Those types of spaces make it easier for me to enter into a worshipful mode, not because of how cool the room looks or feels, but rather because it awakens a part of me that often goes undernourished in terms of worship.

For those of us who are sensates, the use of color can remind us of who God is.  Music and poetry can help us capture theology and doctrine far better than any sermon every would.  Art can help us better imagine the things God is doing in His Church.  Taking communion physically reminds us of Jesus' death and resurrection as the taste of the bread and wine linger on our tongues.

We desire to experience God, not just believe in God.

http://worldufophotosandnews.org

Throughout Scripture we see examples of people experiencing God in sensuous ways.  Ezekiel experienced a show put on by God that would make Journey look like The Wiggles.  There was a spinning wheel, lighting, thunder, and winged creatures.  Moses experienced God through a bush that was on fire, but not burning up.  And John was allowed a backstage look in the Book of Revelation where he experienced the fullness of God's glory filled with vibrant colors, loud and glorious sounds, strange creatures, and brilliant architecture.

These, and many more in the Bible, truly experienced God....and when you have an experience like that how can you not believe? 
 
Dr. Leonard Sweet wrote a book a few years back called The Gospel According to Starbucks relating to the church what we can learn from the Starbucks "experience."  In this work, he speaks about how Starbucks has cashed in on the coffee drinking experience.  It's not just about the coffee for them, but rather its all the things that go along with drinking the coffee:  the atmosphere, the smells, the furniture, the art, the music.

The Gospel According to Starbucks on Amazon.com

Dr. Sweet then goes on to talk about how life in Christ (and worship) should be EPIC, that is experiential, participatory, image-rich, and connective.  Just as St. Arbucks (as Dr. Sweet refers to it) hits all of our senses, so should be our experience of Christ.  However, by anesthetizing our worship it could be said that we are missing out on the deeper experiences of knowing God richly.

I am thankful for movements like the Emergent Church who have reintroduced the protestant world to sensuous worship.  I know not everybody likes candles, or lights, or images on the screen, or low lit rooms, but for many of us those are places where we can feel God working.  It's hard to explain the chills I get when the church sings a certain lyric or harmony in a song.  I can't tell you how many times I have felt the warmth of the Spirit's fire as I have stood with others to take communion.  But I can tell that in all of those experiences there was no doubt in my mind that God was present.   

I am so glad our churches are allowing more and more experiences for our artists, musicians, and designers to participate freely in worship.  They have so much to offer us.  And honestly, we could all benefit from a experiencing God in this way.

So let's stretch out of those comfort zones and start paying attention to those sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and textures in worship.  It could be that God is just waiting for you to experience His presence in a whole new way. 

Resources: 
Emerging Worship - Dan Kimball
The Gospel According to Starbucks - Leonard Sweet
Church Reimagined - Doug Pagitt
The Work of the People - Visual Liturgy
CreationSwap