Reflections on Worship
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
I woke up this morning thinking about worship. Not a bad way to wake up. Unfortunately my thoughts were largely on the un-Biblical way Christians are inclined to use the term. To be fair I can only speak from what could be broadly called a North American Evangelical framework. This may not be your experience. I hope it isn’t.
Simply stated we abuse the term worship. How often have you heard singing a few songs referred to as worship? How about the worship team, maybe a guitar or two, piano and a few singers. Occasionally the offering is brought under the umbrella of worship, and sometimes even the sermon.
From time to time I find myself drawn to more formal worship rituals as practiced by other Christian traditions. The symbolic wealth found in the divergent Christian traditions has its own appeal. But, is it worship?
Consider these verses.
Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Colossians 1:22-23 22 [Christ] has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…
To be blunt, worship is not a song. Worship is your life, a living 24/7 sacrifice…holy and blameless and above reproach.
I am not suggesting that we should not sing or have any sort of ritual. The Scriptures are loaded with exhortations and examples of thanksgiving, praise, and lament through song and prayer. The Apostle Paul instructed the use of music for teaching (Col. 3:16).
With the Psalmist we ought to cry out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). Then we will worship in “Spirit and in Truth” (Jn. 4:23).