The Power of Sight in Modern Culture
There is no mistaking it – society is all about image.
From social media to marketing, modern society prioritises what we see over what we truly experience. In fact, there is an overemphasis on appealing to sight more than all other senses. Arguably more than any other generation before us, we are more inclined to be ‘visual learners’. Our use of and fascination with visual media pervades all of culture, affecting all its facets including our communication, education, and entertainment. It affects our social interactions, the way we design and build, our experience of other parts of the world, our reception of daily new stories and so on. It can even affect the way we cross the road (walking and being on the phone at the same time)! It has affected our Christian worship too.
Italian writer and journalist Italo Calvino once lamented about the deluging current of images that bombard us daily. Calvino called it “an unending rainfall of images”.[1] Granted he was writing before social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest existed – his comment is still relevant. So is the observation of King Solomon, who wrote in the Old Testament of the Bible:
the eye is not satisfied with seeing
Architectural writer and thinker Juhani Pallasmaa describes “the prioritisation of the eye”[2] as an increasingly concerning obstacle. This predominance of the visual dilutes our thinking and our way of experiencing the world. We think in such reductive terms nowadays. So much so that we deceive ourselves by clumsily defining our interactions online as ‘engagement’. By definition, to engage with something is to “participate or become involved in”[3] it. The wonderfully complex participatory dialogue between the rest of our bodies and the world has become almost secondary and irrelevant. Pallasmaa stresses that our eyes are “technologically expanded and strengthened.”[4] Yet the embodied experience ought to be immersive. He goes further to state that “we behold, touch, listen and measure the world with our entire bodily constitution and existence.”[5] Within a similar context, the New Testament of the Bible even rhetorically states that:
If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
The visual cannot be separated from the body; it is just one aspect of it. Philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s view was that the combination of intellectual, rational, and sensory experiences of living in our bodies is not split into individual realms or possible to compartmentalise. It is impossible to separate the visual from the body and impossible to separate the mind from the body too. He called the attempt to divide such entities an “artificial abstraction.”[6] He acknowledged that sight is connected to our experience of the world through our entire body. It is important to clarify this, as our embodied experience does involve sight as well. Ideally worship should also engage more than just our eyes; it should involve our hearts, voices, and the rest of our bodies. As well as our entire marvellous bodily constitution, the LORD indeed made our eyes:
He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
Faith Beyond What We See
This perception of the world – this insatiable need to see and visualise everything – impacts our relationship with God. The basis of our religion is faith, not sight, as is noted in the second epistle to the Corinthians:
(for we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Sadly, Christians are less concerned about the total embodied experience that God has blessed us with. The world is complex, and our bodies respond to our surroundings in a myriad of ways. However we have become image-obsessed. Philosopher Michel de Certeau used strong words, calling it “a cancerous growth of vision.”[7] Images are wonderful, necessary and have their place – this is undeniable. However, with the modern proliferation of digital media, the impact and influence of the image is everywhere and there is more emphasis on capturing the ‘perfect’ image than on the subject of the image itself. Style, lighting, composition amongst other things are all aspects that should have the ‘perfect’ equilibrium for an image to be deemed marketable and well received today.
So it seems that our modern take on worship is now increasingly reductive. We are Christ’s body, an embodiment of His bride, being sanctified, awaiting glory and consummation in eternity. Our calling is precious and beyond us!
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
The Role of Imagery in Worship
Modern worship practices to the LORD, influenced by digital culture, risk becoming more about performance than participation. Unfortunately, this tends towards carnality and the profane. While ‘online worship’ provides access to those unable to gather physically, it cannot replace the full, embodied experience of communal worship. The images communicated by ‘online worship’, ‘internet church’ or similar vehicles represent a fragmented singular moment that is captured, yet it does not reflect the spiritual experience of orderly and corporal assembly to the LORD. The Apostle Paul exhorted the Hebrews to meet and assemble as a congregation:
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Our faith should not rely on visual perception, as it does in wider society. Otherwise we will always strive for visual signs of God’s move in our lives, rather than trust by faith that He is working in our lives. He is the immortal, invisible and only wise God. Our access to Him is by faith, believing that He is real, exists and is able to help us in time of need:
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Local congregations of believers are important and should not be disregarded in favour of visual representations of them. Such images, generally fashioned to “shock, critique, amaze or entertain”,[8] are not the sole or principal aim of worship. We tend to experience worship in imagery as theory, whereas in practice and through motion, our embodied spirits have a much deeper spiritual experience. Images are theoretical, poeticised, and symbolic. They are synoptic of the entire experience – they are limited in their ability to tell the whole story. They cannot allow for much action, participation, or even engagement other than visual registrations, imaginations, and computations of the mind.
We have a blessing when we meet in person – the LORD’s presence! The Lord Jesus Christ says:
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Rediscovering Worship By Faith
Online versions of worship are limited in their phenomenological value. There is much to be experienced in our worship through the totality of our being, as regenerated living souls and embodied spirits to the LORD. We come to God with our lives – in our struggles, our pains, and our weaknesses – and He meets with us. This is an amazing privilege and we should view worship as such.
True worship is not just about what we see; it is about how we live, love, and serve in God’s presence, by His Holy Spirit. Let us not settle for a worship experience that is dictated by screens and aesthetics, but rather pursue a faith that is lived out, tangibly felt, and shared in the presence of God and His people.
Meditate
Pray
Heavenly Father, thank You for eyes to see. Thank You for making us to be wonderful creatures with so many facets. May we worship You as a body in spirit and truth, not relying on what we can see, but on who You are by faith. You are faithful, immortal and invisible. You are the only wise God. May our worship be unto You alone, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Reflect
Our roles in the body of Christ are in unity, just as the members of the physical body work together.
[1] Italo Calvino, Six Memos for the Next Millennium, (New York: Vintage Books, 1988) p. 57.; cited in Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, (West Sussex: Wiley, 2012), p. 24.
[2] Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, p. 27.
[3] ‘Engage’, in The Oxford English Dictionary [online], <https://www.oed.com/>; [accessed 07 February 2025].
[4] Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, p. 24.
[5] Juhani Pallasmaa, The Embodied Image: Imagination and Imagery in Architecture, (West Sussex: Wiley, 2011), p 125.
[6] Jonathan Hale, Thinkers for Architects 13: Merleau-Ponty for Architects, (Oxon: Routledge, 2016), p. 9.
[7] Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, p. 25.
[8] Pallasmaa, The Embodied Image, p. 123.
Phenomenal Worship 
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