True Worship

Worship...what really is worship? Most people think of praise and worship as the act you do before the offering and the preaching at church. Webster's dictionary defines worship "as a form of religious practice with it's creed and ritual." If you know me at all you would safely assume that I absolutely despise that definition of worship. But lets face it...if we are honest that's what the majority of our world thinks about when they think of worship. I'd like to take a moment to talk about true worship. I think it's something that we need to understand, even those of us who say we are NOT religious. We can easily say we aren't religious but it seems to me that even us who almost laugh when faith in God is termed religion can unknowingly get caught up in creeds and rituals that we think are non religious...jumping up and down in praise to God...raising our hands, closing our eyes, singing our songs...none of these things are wrong. I in fact participate in all of them. However these things too can simply become form and function the if there is no true heart connection. So how do you know if there is a true heart connection? How do you know if you are a true worshiper?

To really understand what true worship is we have to understand where it originates. The word "worship" was used for the first time in the Bible in Genesis 22:5. This is when Abraham was on his way up to sacrifice his only son Issac at the command of God. Abraham states in the text "the lad and I will go yonder and worship and we will return to you." I believe that there are three main ingredients that we can take from the life of Abraham as it relates to his worship of God. First of all Abraham had no band, no singers, no lights, no smoke...so if we think true worship is when we get together in our churches and sing songs we are absolutely mistaken. That can be a part of our worship to God, but true worship begins long before we ever get to the house of the Lord. If we look back in Abraham's life which the Bible begins to account in Genesis Chapter 12,we see a track record develop of some key components to worship in Abraham's life. Genesis 12:1-3 God instructs Abraham to leave his country and go to a land he will be shown by God, with this instruction is also the promise from God to Abraham that he will make him a great nation and to bless all the families of the earth through him. What does Abraham do? He obeys...but before he ever obeyed he had to have believed that God would do what he said he would do or else he would have never made the conscious decision to obey God. So we see in Chapter 12 that Abraham begins to establish his relationship with God on faith and obedience. Also in chapter 12 was it not a sacrifice for Abraham (then named Abram) to leave all he had and go to a land that God would show him? Absolutely it was...this began Abraham's pattern of life lived out in relationship with God of faith, obedience, and sacrifice. But what would happen when Abraham would go through the pattern of faith, obedience, and sacrifice? God would always show up to Abraham and reveal more of himself to him. In Genesis 12:7 the Lord appeared to Abram and and told him of the land he would give him and his descendants. In Genesis 22 Abraham repeats the same pattern, we first see his obedience but his faith is displayed to us when he says "the lad and I will go yonder and worship and return to you." Wait Abraham knew that he was going to sacrifice his son to God, so how were they both going to return? I don't think he knew, he just had faith in God that his word to him about his descendants was true. At the end of the text an Angel of the Lord appears to Abraham and shows him the provision for the sacrifice, a ram caught in a thicket by it's horns. Thus repeating the same pattern: Faith, obedience, sacrifice, and encounter. I believe this pattern is absolutely the pattern of true worship, and it doesn't all happen on Sunday morning during the song service. It's got to be lived out in our daily lives!

In theology the "Law of first Mentions" states in essence when a writer gives first mention to a subject matter they intend for that definition to be followed throughout the course of the writing. Therefore if the writer of the bible (God) is laying this foundation of worship for us we must consider it a foundation of true worship.

In John 4:23 Jesus tells us that the Father is seeking those who worship him in spirit and in truth. If I'm supposed to worship God in spirit and truth i felt like it was a good idea to really know what that meant. When I studied out the text in it's original Greek language I found that the word used originally for true was alethinos which means: that which not only has name and semblance but the real nature corresponding to the name. We have too much name and semblance in our churches today. It's time we begin to have the real nature of that which we believe in! The word that is used for spirit in this writing is pnyuma. Pnyuma's meaning refers to the spirit and the soul interchangeably which is: the power with which a human feels thinks and decides. I had always thought that this verse meant that I should be worshipping God in other tongues (or in the holy spirit) and I believe that we all should because Paul said "I will pray in the spirit I will pray with the understanding, I will sing in the spirit I will sing with the understanding" But that is not at all what Jesus was saying God is seeking as we understand once we study this text out.

Based on what we know about the meaning of the words of John 4:23 in the original Greek language and what we know about worship and it's biblical foundations from looking at the life of Abraham I beleive you could accurately restate the text this way: God is looking for those who will live out true worship (not just sing in church) by giving up their feelings, thoughts, and decisions. Forcing them through a lifestyle of faith, obedience, and sacrifice into the divine nature of Christ. Therefore thinking, feeling, and making decisions the same way Christ would feel, think, and make decisions. Is it just me or is that more costly than just singing or even singing in tongues? The Holy Spirit living inside of us should produce a lot more in our lives than merely tongues. Tongues is good but we as the body of Christ have to get to a place where we are living out true worship or else, like the Greek word alethinos describes; we are merely name and semblance, and our worship is merely form and function...or you could call it religion...and that would absolutely be a shame. However even if this restatement of John 4:23 may seem difficult it's also absolutely empowering because it tells us not only how to be a true worshiper, but I beleive it gives us the line upon line precept upon precept appraoch to fulfilling our ultimate desitny which is to be conformed to the image of Chrsit Jesus (Romans 8:29). I exhort the reader of this writing to live out a life style of true worship...everyday, by making the decision to walk in faith, obedience, and sacrifice, which will position you for new encounters with your Heavenly Father...producing in your life more faith, obedience, and sacrifice. Keep going...don't give up! Live your life in a lifestyle of true worship...it's not cheap and it's not always easy, but encounters with the Almighty God makes it all worth it! This cycle of faith, obedience, sacrifice, and encounter is a cycle we can absolutely repeat, I beleive, without worrying about it becoming just another routine. Why...because it takes us out of our comfort zone every time, and true encounters with God are never going to produce in us a religious spirit. Let's worship our brains out when we come to God in praise and worship in the house of the Lord, but lets also remember that True Worship begins long before we ever get there. Only a life lived out in faith, obedience, and sacrifice for God allows you to be counted as a true worshiper!!


Produce Fruit!

Chad