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What's Worship?
by David Wells God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality). John 4:24 AMP I feel led to talk about worship today because as I reflect back on my life I can see so much confusion about what worship really is. In my youth as a church attending Presbyterian, we had what was called a Sunday morning worship service. It started at eleven o'clock sharp and ended promptly at noon. We sang three hymns at exactly the same place during the service: once at the beginning, once after the offering, and the last one after the sermon. It was very organized. But that's okay, God likes things organized. Then as an adult, Marlo and I joined a Pentecostal church and my perception of worship was turned upside down. After joining the Pentecostal movement, we started church at ten thirty on Sunday morning and sometimes ran well after twelve o'clock, but I got used to it pretty quick. The only thing was that the service was not called a worship service, only the morning service, as there were also Sunday and Wednesday night services. There was a portion of the service at the beginning of each service called praise and worship. Man it was awesome! There was a band with drums, a trumpet, a saxophone, and guitars, but much to my chagrin there was no guitar player with the 80's rock band big hair. Either way, it was quite a change from the organ, piano and hymnal from my Presbyterian days. We didn't even sing from a hymnal. We sang songs and the words were put up on a screen in front of the entire congregation, something my mother-in-law calls "karaoke in the tabernacle." Anyway, this worship segment usually lasted about thirty or forty minutes and really got the congregation energized. I was told it was a chance to enter into God's presence, but early on I didn't understand that. The emotion and enthusiasm were there week after week. Later, as I came to know God more over the years, I began to look back and wonder which church had it right. That whole concept of true worship brought me to today's verse. We are supposed to worship God in both spirit and reality. That means we worship Him through our prayers and our thoughts, but also in our every action. How we walk, talk, drive, work, and even parent is our worship. Our every breath is, or should be worship to Him. No, we don't have to be a bunch of wierdos and go around quoting Scripture to everyone we see every minute of the day. If we did, we'd all be seen as a bunch of freaks. What I am saying is that God should be glorified in everything we do, and not just something we do on Sunday. That's true worship. Worship has adoration and love at its roots. We worship God because we love and adore Him. We want to please Him. He is pleased when we sing to Him whether it is out of a hymnal or on the big screen. He is pleased when we listen to the Word being preached and receive it in our hearts. And He is also pleased when we let Him guide and direct us in every step of every day. Just remember: worship Him in spirit and reality. Our reality is church on Sunday morning, but it's also in our every action. How are you worshiping Him today? Neither a preacher nor a formally educated theologian, simply a committed Christian, seeking plain Truth in Scripture. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |