THE ARROGANCE OF OUR SENSES

 Colossians 1:16 (NIV)

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

               We have been blessed with what are referred to as our five senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing. It is through these five senses that we encounter our world on a daily basis. From the time we are born, we explore and learn about the world through them. They are amazing tools that we really take for granted most of the time. They are always running in the background, so to speak. Yet, they are constantly gathering information about our world that is stored in our brain and shapes the way we interact with our world.

               The hard sciences are based on the use of our five senses. They interpret our world through what is tangible and encounterable. As a biology major in college, I was enthralled with getting into the lab and seeing for myself the things we talked about in class. Doing the experiments was the highlight of every class for me. There is so much we can learn about our world through the avenue of science. Using our five senses, we can make so many amazing discoveries.

               But there is a problem. Not everything in our world is tangible. Not everything in our world can be taken into the lab and explored. There are things that are intangible, yet very real. In this case our five senses tend to work against us. We can fall into the trap of tangibility. If I can not see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, or hear it, then it must not be real. Only that which is tangible is really real.

               The social sciences have struggled with this. They deal with many of the intangibles of our world. They try to understand human nature and make sense of things that are not easily tested in a lab. They have defined some of the intangibles, such as feelings, motives, and ideas. These things create tangible actions and consequences in our world. But even the social sciences stop short of really exploring the intangible world around us. They limit their study, for the most part, to the boundaries of human interactions.

               When we enter into the realm of theology, we open up a can of worms that seems to be in conflict with the tangible world in which we live. Theology tells us that there is an intangible world that coexists along side of our tangible world. This intangible world interacts with and influences our tangible world, but in ways that are hard to discern. If we limit ourselves to the tangible world, every action has to be explained in some tangible way. When we open the door to the intangible, things get more complicated.

               In the ancient word, and some non-western societies today, the spiritual world was readily accepted as a reality. They believed in demons and angels, spiritual powers and influences, that influenced the world in which they lived. Today, many people see this as superstition and fantasy. The only real world is the one we live is; there is nothing beyond our tangible world.

               As believers in Christ, we are caught in the middle of this debate. We fully recognize the tangible world in which we live and how our five senses inform our understanding of the world. At the same time, we accept that there is also an intangible, spiritual world that is just as real and has the power to influence our tangible world in ways that we cannot fully comprehend. The Bible refers to these entities as angels, demons, principalities, and powers. They are a part of the created order. Colossians 1: 16 tells us that Christ is the one who created these beings for his purposes. They are all under his authority, even those who are in rebellion against him. Just as there are opposing forces of good and evil in our tangible world, there are opposing forces of good and evil in the intangible world. Human beings, created in the image of God and commissioned to be His representatives on earth, are the ultimate battleground in which these opposing forces contend. The actions of the spiritual world have direct effects upon the physical world. What we see as a clash of philosophy or culture is actually the product of the clash in the spiritual realm.

               Paul challenges us, in Ephesians 6:12, to accept the reality of these intangible forces that produce tangible consequences in our world. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The powers of darkness and the powers of light are in a constant struggle to win the hearts and minds of humanity. The powers of darkness want to pull us away from God and Christ. The powers of light are drawing us toward God and Christ. Every struggle we face in life comes down to this. Will this struggle sour me toward God or encourage me to seek Him more fully?

               Here is where the arrogance of our five senses comes in. If we limit our understanding of life to our five senses, then we must limit the solutions to our problems to the tangible world. There is no resource, outside of human ingenuity, that can help us deal with life. But if we are willing to acknowledge the reality of the intangible world, it opens up the possibility for us to tap into a source of power, found in Christ, that can overcome any of our tangible issues. Acknowledging the intangible actually empowers us to deal with the tangible in better ways. This takes humility; the humility to acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers, nor can we discover them. It is the humility to allow God to step into our life and take control.

               Bottomline, the tangible world is temporary and transient. Everything in this world will eventually pass away. In fact, that is the very thing that humanity is most afraid of. We put enormous effort in preserving and sustaining this life, because it is all that we have. The intangible world, on the other hand, is eternal. It is not transient and it will not pass away. If we are willing to connect these two worlds, through our faith in the one who created them both, then we can truly experience life.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.