A simple definition is supposed to be the best definition. If that is so, there is no better definition for Christian worship than loving the God made known through Jesus Christ.
Yes, there are many elements to worship — to pay homage, to revere, to praise, to be pious toward and to offer ceremonial observance. But there is no better description of worship than to love God.
Most Christians connect worship with praise and thanksgiving but that is not where worship begins. Worship begins with obedience. Jesus made this clear when He declared, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love” (John 15:10).
The writer of 1 John echoed that thought when he wrote, “This is love for God: to obey His commands” (1 John 5:3).
This New Testament teaching was not an unknown revelation to Jews and God-fearers of Jesus’ day. 1 Samuel 15 records God’s instructions for Saul as he headed into battle against the Amalekites. When Saul attempted to justify his disobedience to God’s direction, the prophet Samuel asked, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” Then Samuel declared the eternal truth, “To obey is better than sacrifices and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
Later the prophet Isaiah quoted God as saying, “I am sick of your sacrifices … your Sabbaths … your holy days” (Isa. 1:11 ff). In verse 16 it is as if God shouts at the nation of Israel, “Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right” (vv. 16–17).
Jeremiah continued the teaching that obedience is evidence of love for God in chapter 7 where God says He did not bring Israel out of Egypt because He desired sacrifices. Instead, God said, “Obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people” (v. 23).
That modern-day Christians equate worship with praise and thanksgiving demonstrates a shallowness of biblical understanding. Yes, praise and thanksgiving are worship acts but they are not the beginning of worship nor are they the total of worship.
Worship is impossible unless a relationship first exists between God and the worshipper. A relationship begins when one obediently trusts God, confesses personal sin and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Obedience to God is the beginning of worship. That is what Samuel told Saul, what God said to Israel through the prophet Isaiah and what Jesus said to the disciples.
Some scholars define worship into three parts. There is worship through speaking, worship through listening and worship through doing.
Worship of speaking is offering praise and thanksgiving. It is an expression of the heart. It is right and good. But praise and thanksgiving cannot be used to induce worship. (However, praise and thanksgiving, especially through music, can be used to induce an emotional experience.) For praise and thanksgiving to be worship, they must be expressions of “a heart that is rapt by the mercies of God” and obedient to His commands.
If all one did in worship was to speak, how would that be expressing obedience to God? Because He is worthy of all praise and thanksgiving, He is worthy to be heard. That is why worship involves listening. What is God saying to His people? Listening to God’s Word and its interpretation is worship. Waiting silently before God is worship.
How can one claim to love God when one never listens to what God is saying to him or her?
And there is the worship of doing. Obedience shows love for God. Obedience shows He is worthy not only of praise and thanksgiving, not only to be heard. God also is worthy to be followed. His voice changes believers day in and day out.
Worship that does not impact behavior is not worship at all.
It was the apostle Paul who wrote in Romans 12:1 that believers should “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship.” Living sacrifices — your spiritual act of worship. Submitting to God’s will is an act of worship. Loving God enough to follow Him is what is expected because “those who obey His commands live in Him and He in them” (1 John 3:24).
That truth caused one writer to observe that it is easy to confess Jesus in a hyped-up emotional service but it is another thing to confess Jesus to nonbelieving co-workers, family and friends.
At the recent Alabama Baptist State Evangelism Conference several speakers also tied worship as loving God together with obedience.
Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter asked if Christians love God enough to go to people who are hurting and if believers have enough compassion to help them (see story, page 5).
Robert Smith, professor of preaching at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham, pointed out that “grace is never alone. Grace is always accompanied by good works (see story, page 1).”
Perhaps most dramatically New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley left the audience speechless when he pointed out the results of modern-day Christians going after various trends and abandoning an emphasis of Christian discipleship (see story, page 1).
Evidently Southern Baptists have done a lot of worship that involves speaking but little worship that evidences listening and even less worship by doing.
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