One of the most widespread desires of a Christian is to worship God. According to a study by The Barna Group, 92 percent of all adults who attend church said it is very important to worship God.
But what does it mean to worship God? Does the verb “worship” mean to engage in a certain activity? Does it mean to participate in a religious service? Does the word “worship” mean to personally encounter the living God? The dictionary affirms all three definitions.
Webster’s dictionary defines worship as an act of expressing reverence (engaging in a certain activity), a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual (participating in a religious service) and reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power (meeting God).
The Greek word most commonly translated as “worship” in the New Testament (proskuneo) means “to fall down before” or “to bow down before.” Most Bible teachers associate this with the attitude of one engaging in worship. It points to personal humility.
In English, the word “worship” has its roots in the idea of “worthship,” pointing out one worthy of receiving special honor. For the Christian, it means worship is God-centered, not centered on the individual. But neither of these insights helps one understand what worship really is.
The lack of a precise definition has caused people to define worship in different ways.
Some define worship as a feeling of guilt. If the pastor “stepped on toes” during the sermon, then “worship” took place. If the pastor’s words did not produce the uncomfortableness of guilt, then the sermon was not good and worship did not occur.
Unfortunately individuals who readily admit having their toes stepped on often evidence little desire to alter their behavior. There is no confession, no repentance, no changed life. All that occurs is an admission of guilt and that is labeled “worship.”
Some define worship as evangelism. To be sure, evangelism is the intended outcome of most Baptist church services. The public invitation to accept Jesus Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior is an important part of Baptist life. When people make public decisions for Christ, most Baptists believe they have really “worshiped.”
But noted New Testament scholar David S. Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., has written that one of the problems in Baptist life is that we have equated evangelism with worship for too long.
Dockery argues only believers can truly worship. Christian author Warren Wiersbe agrees. He begins his definition of worship with the stipulation that “worship is the believer’s response … .” Nonbelievers may be touched by God’s Holy Spirit during a service but nonbelievers cannot worship, Wiersbe said. Worship is focusing on the One who called people into His family, and only believers can do that. From the experience of worship spring the motivation to share one’s faith and obedience to the Great Commission. But evangelism is not worship. It is the result of worship.
Some define worship as the sermon. Historically worship has centered around two events, the sacraments of the Church (baptism and the Lord’s Supper for Baptists) and the Bible. Since the Reformation, which brought the commitment to the Bible as the ultimate authority for Christian faith and practice, the sermon has been an important part of worship. It also has been an important part of Christian education as reflected by the fact that today most Baptist sermons are Bible studies.
But worship is more than transferring the preacher’s notes to the congregation.
Wiersbe said, “There is much more to preaching than passing along religious information. It must reveal, not mere facts about God but, the Person of God Himself. When preaching is an act of worship, the outline is to the text what a prism is to a shaft of sunlight: It breaks it up so that its beauty and wonder are clearly seen.”
Christian education is not the goal of the sermon. Worship is.
Some define worship as ritual. During a visit to England, my wife, Pat, and I were privileged to participate in a vesper service at King’s College of the University of Cambridge. There was something moving to participate in a ritual of prayer and song that had not been changed in more than 800 years.
Baptist churches in Alabama do not have that long of a history, but some have deeply rooted traditions or rituals. Doing the same thing every service and going through the same ritual every Christian holiday are part of the fabric of the congregation. Change that and the resulting experience would not be like going to church, some fear. It would not be worship. Worship is doing the right things at the right times and in the right ways — doing things as they have always been done.
Some define worship as music. Some churches call their musicians “worship leaders” as if what the pastor does is not worship. Some musicians encourage this dichotomy by distinguishing between “worship” — their part in the service — and “preaching” — the pastor’s part.
Some musicians seem to believe that if the church choir performed the anthem flawlessly, then worship took place. Others seem to believe that if the folk-music-type Christian choruses resulted in hand-clapping and arm waving, then people “really worshiped.”
One approach equates the quality of a musical offering with worship. The other equates the emotional reaction of participants with worship. Both may be acts of worship, but neither is necessarily an act of worship.
Remember worship is God-centered. It comes from a believer. It deepens as one comes to know God better. Worship leads toward obedience to God’s commands. Worship is “pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of His holy perfection,” one writer said.
To finish Wiersbe’s definition, “Worship is the believer’s response of all that he is — mind, emotion, will and body — to all that God is and says and does.”
Worship is important because in worship, the believer meets God and God meets the believer. That may be the best definition of worship.
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