Defining Worship (Part 1)

What is worship?

Let that question linger a bit. No really. A looooooong bit. It’s a biggie.

Thought about it? Have an answer? Throw it out.

Posing this question has two problems:
1.) It is based on an assumption.
2.) It is the wrong question.

First let’s look at these two problems, then let’s redefine the topic.

As a “worship” leader I have confronted this question at a multitude of times and in a plethora of arenas. Based on my last blog for RCC, “Language Matters”, I made the case that we do the boundless term, “worship”, an extreme disservice in the context of contemporary Christian artistic expression. When a boundless word becomes a label to define a specific action, it is wrapped in chains. Worship is no more than a song like I am no more than a husband. While being a husband carries a lot of meaning and weight in my life, it does not define my entire being. I consist of many other attributes, character traits, and titles that make up all of who I am.  In the same way, music is a form of artistic expression, a tool used by Christians to worship and glorify God. However, it does not sum up the entirety that is “worship”. Worship, in a conventional sense, is not so much a noun or adjective - (i.e. - “Sunday Morning Worship”, “Worship Music”) as it is a verb - (i.e. “I worship God through...”). The assumption behind the question is using "worship" as a noun.

Second problem is that it is the wrong question to pose. Based on problem one, we can better understand problem two. If worship is not a noun or an adjective, then we can’t define it as such. So instead of “What is worship?”, why not “What does it mean to worship?” or better yet, “what do I worship?” - personally answering this question might lead you to answering the first.

Let’s take a look at scripture to get an idea of what it means to worship and be a worshipper.

The clearest glimpse we get on worship is in John 4 where Jesus is speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well. Remember at this time, the Jews worshipped only in Jerusalem while Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizem - known as the mount of blessing where the blessings of God were read from its slopes. Jews worshipped in Jerusalem because to them, that was where God was. Samaritans worshiped on the mountain because that’s where they believed God was. Notice that both worshiped where they thought God’s presence to be.

The woman pins Jesus to a question - “where should we worship?” Locked in Jesus’ answer is the key to our answer. Jesus response was less about where, and more about how. He says, “A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know; for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth.” Notice it says “In the Spirit and in truth” NOT “In the Spirit and in THE truth” -  subtle but semantically important difference.

Jesus answers a question about where we should worship by talking about how we should worship. Awesome. I love it. I wish I would’ve answered questions in HS like this. Jesus basically says that a time is coming and has now come where the “where” DOES NOT MATTER so much as the “how”. He says “for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks” - those who worship in the Spirit and in truth.

Let’s expound this.

So what does he mean by “...in the Spirit”? He means in the Holy Spirit - the vehicle through which our communication to God is possible - available after Jesus’ death when the veil was torn in the temple in Jerusalem. When we open our lives to the reality of the omnipresence of God’s spirit - we tap into a connection like none other and worship is possible in any place at any time.
And what about the “...in truth” part? This is about the sincerity of heart - the honest posture of our heart’s affections and admiration. The Father doesn’t want a half-hearted, dried up, smoldering passion for His glory - He wants a furnace of sincere affection lighting the world on fire.

Wow.

Do you worship like that?

and I don’t just mean on Sunday mornings when the band’s playing.

I mean, like every day, every minute, every second that you breathe.

Are you connected to His Spirit? Is your heart’s posture positioning you to burn with genuine affection for His glory?

-Dan Smith-