Being a Worship Pastor I have seen all of the latest worship fads. I have seen what “cutting edge” worship has to offer, and as a follower of Christ and someone who tries and fails but keeps on trying to be a student of the Word of God I am fearful for the church. We have started trending away from truth in our worship. What we are seeing in the modern day church is that we allow our feelings and emotions to dictate the worship and praise we bring before the King. If the songs and music doesn’t give us chills we question if the Spirit of God was actually present. If we are not brought to tears or uncontrollable laughter then we wonder if we were even in the presence of God. So much in worship now days hinges on a “feeling” we get. How many times do we enter into worship thinking about the fact that worship is a command and by worshipping we are glorifying God with our obedience. How many times do we truly think about the truth behind the words we utter in worship, or how many times do we even ask ourselves if what we are singing is Biblically accurate? The church has grown lazy and emotional in worship. We check out our brains in the lobby so we don’t question the words we sing, and we gage whether we truly ”met God” by the way the atmosphere makes us feel at that particular moment. The problem with this is that it is not lasting. The feeling is gone the moment we hit the doors on our way to lunch, and we don’t even want to think about the possibility that the experience that just gave us chills and made us feel so good about ourselves could be riddled with Biblical inaccuracies. So what is the remedy? If our approach to worship is wrong then there must be a right approach. There must be a way that we might worship God in the way He desires, a way that brings Him joy and glory, a way that makes Him the center of it all.
In John 4 we read the story of Jesus meeting with the woman at the well. In this story Jesus is literally sharing the Gospel. He is offering salvation to this woman who is living in sin. It is in this conversation that Jesus introduces the perfect balance in worship. You see before Jesus came to earth worship was defined more as an action and was usually connected to a particular place. This is actually seen in John 4. Jesus has just called this Samaritan woman out for her sin and she replies, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” You see when it came to worship this woman, like most in that culture, put more focus on where worship took place. We also read throughout the Gospels how much focus the pharisees put on the traditions or actions associated with worship. When Jesus came to earth His teachings on worship were new. They were different. No one viewed worship in the way that Jesus taught. You see, Jesus taught that worship wasn’t an action, and it certainly wasn’t localized to a specific place. Christ taught that worship was an attitude of the heart. Going back to His conversation in John 4 with the Samaritan woman Jesus answers her version of worship by saying this, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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.” This was revolutionary!!!! Jesus was teaching that worship had more to do with the heart then where or how worship was conducted. He taught that worship was a lifestyle lived out in a way that brought glory to God. He used two important words when describing how God’s people should worship, “spirit” and “truth”. What does this mean? So let’s take a look at each word.
First, lets look at the word “spirit”. Calvin says in his commentary of verse 23, “…..he takes a higher principle, that the true worship of Him consists in the spirit; for hence it follows that in all places He may be properly worshiped. “ This is a “delocalizing”, if you will, of worship. Jesus is teaching that true worship does not have to strictly be connected to a particular place. Paul actually addresses this in his letter to the church in Rome. Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” This is Scripture teaching worship as a lifestyle, an attitude of the heart.
The second word Jesus uses is “truth”. This is where I believe the modern day church has gotten lazy and irresponsible. The definition of truth is as follows, that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. I find this definition, as it pertains to truth in worship, very interesting because I am finding that there is very little reality in the modern day church. Men who call themselves “shepherds” are building empires on empty promises that are used to deceive God’s sheep. To compound an already bad situation the church is full of blind sheep who consume whatever is taught them from the pulpit without any intention of studying for themselves. This combination has created a spiritually pansified church that instead of being a threat to the evil of our day we have become a laughingstock to the world and a feeding field for the enemy of God. We are commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15 to rightly handle the word of truth. Why is this so important? Because just one chapter over in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we are told that “all Scripture is breathed out by God…”. When we do not prioritize Biblical truth in worship we mishandle the very words inspired and breathed out by God.
Please understand that I passionately love the Body of Christ. My heart breaks as I speak of these things, and to see how different this modern day church looks from the early church in Acts. I believe the American church has somewhat turned into the church at Ephesus written about in Revelation. We have left our first love. Its not over though. We still have breath in our lungs, and the promise will do great things if we are obedient to Him. Church, may we be awakened to the truth that was written in that beautiful song a few years back. “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, It’s all about You God”.