What is Worship?

[justaname]

Throughout much of Christendom worship has turned in to singing songs, sometimes recite psalms, maybe even lead reciting a creed. Worship leaders play acoustic guitars, sing Christian contemporary songs, throw a twist on an old hymn, and this is our weekly offering to the Lord.

I want MORE! What else can our congregations do to corporately worship our God?

 

[FHII]

Be a giver. Show God and his teaching is worth something to you

 

[justaname]

Be a giver. Show God and his teaching is worth something to you

I agree, and I am. I am speaking in the context of the weekly service though. What else can we do as a congregation to worship God corporately?

 

[HammerStone]

Big question.

This question bubbles up a lot lately. I think the somewhat vapid worship songs of today are bringing it to the forefront. I am not 100% convinced that just returning to slightly older hymns is even the best way to worship. To me, worship implies enjoyment of what one is worshiping, not so much as a personal preference but worshiping in a way that one feels relation to what one is worshiping. What gets me about some of the arguments about just returning to the old is that it still becomes a matter of preference in what we are singing. Some, I would argue, couch this in terms of doctrine or depth, but it's just as much preferring classical music to rock.

And I say this as someone who has an affinity for old hymns.

I think worship is about the whole spectrum. Sunday mornings should be a reminder of God's holiness full of prayer. This is celebrated (and recalled) in song, preaching and I would argue some form of liturgy. I don't think it unreasonable to look to the OT for a pattern, knowing that the ordinances and statutes have been fulfilled by Jesus. That said, to me the biggest isolating factor in all of this is that we practically limit our worship to Sunday mornings. To me, worship should flow into Sunday afternoon and then into the rest of the week.

 

[brakelite]

I see worship not so much as something we do, although that plays a part, but rather as something we are. Not a state of doing, but a state of being, and it is what we are that motivates what we do.There are secular people in the world who wouldn’t dream of breaking God’s commandments. While they might not keep them all, there are certainly some who would find utterly repugnant that they should cheat on their wife or husband, nor even consider looking upon any other to lust after them.
There are others who are meticulous in honesty, they would never lie , cheat on their taxes, nor steal form anyone.
There are others who are so content with their lives that covetousness may as well be a foreign language.
And there are still others who may do all of the above and also dote on their parents and love and care for them right up to the grave.
Yet none of this could be construed as worship. Obedience yes, but our righteousness is as filthy rags.
There are church-going people who sing hymns. Yet they then go home and beat their wives and watch pornography on television.
There are still others who ‘religiously’ attend church every week but live the rest of the week pursuing money, fame, and reputation at the expense of others. There are even some who attend church every week because it benefits them to have the contacts for sales and business. None of this could be considered in any sense worship.
Worship is a surrendered life. Worship is a recognition that God is alone worthy to rule and reign in the life. Worship is a state of being where one is completely submitted to the Holy Spirit. Where the Holy Spirit fills the person to the extent that one’s very nature is changed , sometimes radically. Worship is a state of being where one’s will becomes one with the will of God. A state of being where one hates the things God hates, and loves the things God loves. A state of being where one is conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, identical in character, identical in motives, identical in hope and faith and love. A state of being where self is completely swallowed up in Christ. Then, and only then, everything we do, even our secular labour, is infused with the love of God, both for Him and others. Everything we do is then an expression of the overflowing love of God and can be used of Him as a vehicle for the sharing of the gospel and for providing for the needs of others.

The concordance in both the Greek and Hebrew reveals the word worship means to prostrate oneself, to crouch down even face down upon the earth before God. That is the outward physical expression of the inner spiritual submission and surrender that is required …. when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. I find the modern so-called "Christian" rock concerts that are so much a part of so many churches worship services highly disrespectful.


So why do we worship God and not something, or someone else? Because of who He is. The Creator of heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them is worthy. He who created all things, became a man and died on behalf of mankind is Lord of Lords and deserves the fidelity and love of all His creation. Greater love hath no man than he who lays down his life for a friend. There is a greater love however, and that is the love that motivated Jesus to lay down His life even for His enemies. Laying down our lives for our Creator is the very least we can do.
Romans 12:1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

[HammerStone]

Brakelite, I think you were on to something about worship being a "surrendered life." I would merely add specifically to the God of the Bible for clarification outside of some Christian circles, because there are lots of folks who worship things that appear Christian or even just good. It's easy to neglect the greatest commandment in lieu of the second greatest commandment, but Jesus very clearly said we need both.

I'm not very "Piperist" as I jokingly call people who are hardcore into John Piper's style of teaching, but I think he was on to something in his understanding that God's perfection, beauty and most importantly holiness demands and deserves more than all of the worship we can muster. I think we all too easily fall into the trap of not having the heart right, either by going the way of the Pharisees or making Jesus my homeboy. God himself walked among humanity, thus he condescended to our level, so there must be some level of relationship that is really and very amazingly intimate, yet he also still remains the holy, holy, holy God portrayed in the OT, who by the way spoke the universe into existence.

I'm afraid I cannot paint an exact picture of worship for you, but I do know that worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) should involve both of those aspects of God. He is both friend and Lord. Church should demonstrate this both for the believer as a constant reminder, and for the outsider to understand that he or she is welcomed to repent and believe.

 

[OzSpen]

HammerStone,

When it comes to worship of God, I think that we are missing some aspects that are fundamental. Remember Satan's temptation of Jesus recorded in Luke 4:8? 'And Jesus answered him, “It is written,“‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve”'.

This is a citation from out of Deuteronomy 6:12-15,

12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth (ESV).

From these passages, I glean some dimensions that are involved in worship:

• You shall not forget the Lord;
• We must have a holy fear of the Lord our God;
• Serving and 'swearing' by His name alone is crucial.
• To worship God means to examine which other 'gods' we are going after and to repent of our idolatry;
• These 'gods' are among us.
• Know the God who is jealous. How does his jealousy influencing my 'first love'?
• True worship involves an understanding of the Lord God's anger against sin;
• This anger has the ability to destroy unforgiven sinful actions.

So, it seems to me that worship has more to do with meditating on the nature or the attributes of God and understanding who He is and not singing of 'Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness' or 'How great thou art'. Of course, such God glorifying hymns can be a capstone of our worship, but they don't replace our meditation on who God is and what he does with unrepentant people.

What opportunity is there given in your church and mine for worshipping in this way? There is no such worship opportunity in my church. It is centred around singing hymns in a staid Presbyterian atmosphere.

Oz

 

[Dan57]

Whorship is simply holding God in high esteem, in everything we do and say.. I don't think that just singing a hymn or two on Sunday morning quite cuts it, we must hold Him in reverence everyday.