My whole life, I’ve been prone to motion sickness. I can feel nauseated in airplanes, on boats, and in cars—anytime my senses are split about whether my body is moving, and in which direction.

Watching church online doesn’t make me feel sick. But Trevor Sutton and Brian Smith point out that participating in anything virtually—a Zoom meeting, a video game, an online worship service—splits our senses.

“Online worship ruptures our common sense: our eyes (sight) and ears (auditory) are in the sanctuary while our bodies (tactile) and our noses and mouths (chemical) are in our living rooms,” Sutton writes. “Some of your bodily senses are engaged by the place of worship while your other bodily senses are at home, petting the cat or eating pancakes. This creates discord among the senses.”

God created our senses to work together, which is why I can’t read in moving vehicles. And it’s also why our best, most focused, and most engaged worship happens when all our senses are in the same place.