Worship: What is It Really?

When you hear the word worship what comes to your mind? For many Christians, worship is synonymous with singing praise songs and voicing out praises to God. Hence the term “worship service” for Sunday meetings which are often neatly divided into two parts: worship and the sermon. But while wars have been fought in the past about what type of music is acceptable in church services, it is apparent that there is far more to worship than this common notion in organized religion.

You worship what you do not know… But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. – John 4:22-24

Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. Image courtesy of Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing via FreeBibleimages.org / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Years back I have often been intrigued about the passage above – Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. This was an unusual exchange because Jews and Samaritans seldom interacted due to the animosity between them. Religious and ethnic differences fueled this animosity. An especially hot flashpoint was their place of worship. While Jews believed that Jerusalem was the legitimate location for worshipping God, Samaritans disagreed and believed that Mount Gerizim was the right place.

In actuality, both the practices of the Samaritans and Jews at the time did not follow the Torah to the letter. For one, the Ark of the Covenant, an integral element in the yearly sacrifice on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), was missing. But when the Samaritan woman brought up the question of where to worship, Jesus did not answer her query but turned instead to address a more important issue. His answer revealed that worship is not limited to a location, that it is not just an event or a ritual but a matter of the heart and a way of relating to the Father.

Image courtesy of Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing via FreeBibleimages.org / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

The word worship is derived from the phrase “worth ship.” To worship something or someone is to ascribe the highest value to it and to act accordingly. So, when a person loves his car so much to the point of spending a lot of time working on and investing so much money on it, we say he worships his car. In the same way when we say we worship God it means we prize Him above everyone and everything and put Him first and foremost in our hearts.

Religious culture throughout much of history has associated worship with events and rituals often with a mediatory agent or “holy” person leading a “sacred” ritual in a “holy” place or building. Debates have raged throughout history about the right way to worship or what music style or genre to use in services but these miss Jesus’ point completely, as the Samaritan woman did. While such rituals might give an aura of worship and holiness, God is really looking at the hearts of men. And He is not fooled as His words to the corrupt religious elite of his day, echoing the prophet Isiaiah, show: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15: 8-9)

The Pharisees, one of the religious elites during the time of Christ. Photo courtesy of the Lumo Project (www.LumoProject.com) via FreeBibleimages.org.

Worshipping God is not limited to external actions or religious rituals but goes beyond these and involves a deep, personal connection with Him. The essence of worship is therefore internal, not external. It involves our whole being – our heart, mind, soul and spirit.

Paul lends further clarity to this in Romans 12: 1 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. This verse implies that worship involves our whole life. We are to live our lives in such a way as to honor and please God. Paul essentially repeats this exhortation in 1 Corinthians 10:31 – Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Yes, we can sing, wave our hands and voice praises to God during our gatherings but worship, true worship, goes beyond these actions. It must come from our hearts and it should permeate whatever we do. Paul says the simplest of our actions such as eating and drinking should glorify God.

We can build on that exhortation. I strongly believe that our daily tasks can and should be expressions of worship. So, when working do we do it to serve and honor God and not just to earn a living? Do we practice integrity in our jobs even when if it costs us, knowing that the ultimate object of our work is God Himself and that He is our real taskmaster behind the scenes? Even our hobbies can serve as expressions of worship. Nina and I have a new-found love for gardening. For us it is an expression of worship, noting that this was the first task of Adam and Eve when God placed them in the garden of Eden. I am also fond of landscape and nature photography. Through this hobby I hope to share with people God’s beauty, power and creative genius.

In our opinion, man tending the Garden of Eden before the Fall was an act of worship. Image courtesy of John Paul Stanley / YoPlace.com via FreeBibleimages.org / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

I believe that the notion of worship as confined to religious services and rituals is the offshoot of dichotomizing life – segmenting it into sacred and secular parts. It came about because man in his fallen state craved independence from God, yet longed to relate to Him. Ritualistic religion was an ingenious solution that seemingly made these 2 contrasting goals possible. With token religious observances man thought he could satisfy God (the sacred part) so that He could leave him alone to live his life as he saw fit (the secular side).

But God, through Jesus Christ and his work on the cross, has now made it possible for us to be reconciled to Him. God can now permeate our whole life, not just be confined to Sundays or any other special day. All of life is now sacred. And our worship need not be restricted to singing praise songs on Sunday services but can and should permeate the rest of our lives as well.