|
In John 4:24, Jesus told the woman at the well, "God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth." There is no stronger command given in the Word of God than "must." If we are to be true worshippers, we must worship God in spirit and truth. To find out how to worship in truth we need only to go to the "truth" for instruction.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines worship as "reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also: an act of expressing such reverence." It defines reverence as "honor or respect felt or shown: especially: profound adoring awed respect." The showing of such an extreme act of love for God is addressed in Deuteronomy 6:5. Moses gave Israel the command from God, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." We must worship as we love. The only acceptable way to worship God according to the truth is with every ounce of our being.
Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." True worship begins with a complete abandonment of the world and serving God 24 hours a day, seven days a week. How we live is how we worship. I'm not talking about whether we clap our hands or shout or dance. Our personalities have more to do with that. I am talking about how we commune with God from the time we leave service on Sunday until we meet again the next service. We cannot worship in spirit and truth if we do not walk with God all week. Holiness is a prerequisite for worshipping in truth.
We can show up Sunday and have all the execution points of our worship service finely tuned. We can perform as "American Idols." If we have not, however, spent time in the Word, in private worship, and in prayer, we will not be able to worship in spirit and truth. This not only applies to the worship leaders, but the worshippers as well. To worship in spirit is to worship under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You cannot have an anointing without having a relationship with God. In order to lead a good worship service, I have to spend as much time in fellowship with God as I do in preparation of the mechanics. Fellowshipping with God is worshipping in spirit.
Preparing in the Word is preparing in truth. Worshipping according to truth also means staying within the parameters ordained and established by the Word. In Leviticus 10:1-2 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, gave an unauthorized offering of "profane" fire. It cost them their lives. In Acts 5 we read how Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and it led to their deaths.
Philippians 2:1-2 reads, "Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." When we worship in spirit and truth, we must worship in holiness and unity. When our worship causes us to divide to the point where we can't all worship together, but can only worship according to our tastes, we have ceased to worship. I would submit that division over musical style or worship style is just as unbiblical as division created by denominations. I can find no place in the Word where we are instructed to copy the world as closely as we can so we can be seeker friendly. I fear a segment of the church has drifted into a spiritual "worship wilderness." When churches begin to struggle and divide over the songs sung in the worship service based on whether they are traditional, southern, contemporary, or rock and roll, we are spiritually out of bounds. Perhaps we are even experiencing a little mystery Babylon!
As a worship minister I endeavor to have a blended service and accommodate the different styles and tastes of music of the people in our congregation. However, I plan a service based on what I feel God wants me to do after prayer, Bible study, personal worship, and input from my Pastor. My efforts are to have the music portion of the service complement the message given by God's messenger. I also only sing music which is "truth." A lot of songs tug at the heart strings but are not suitable for a worship service. False doctrine and lyrics that aren't supported by Scripture are not acceptable. The minute our taste in music affects our ability to worship, we have lost sight of what worship is all about.
|
