i was not made for this world

I’m troubled lately by what seems to be a widely accepted and very wrong understanding of worship.

I can’t tell you how many times I myself have said in the past, or heard someone else say, “I just can’t worship to this,” or quite opposite, “I loved the worship this morning.”

I think we’re severely off the mark.

First, let’s look at what “worship” means. I love the way Bob Kaughlin words it:

“Christian worship is the response of God’s redeemed people to His self-revelation that exalts God’s glory in Christ in our minds, affections, and wills, in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

This definition puts a new perspective on how often we misuse the word. Worship is not a selfish, human-dependent action, nor is it ever intended to please ourselves:

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” [Acts 17:24/25]

Let’s make some conclusions:

Worship is not merely a song. It is not merely a message. It is not merely an offering. Worship is not just some segment of a service intended to fit neatly crafted in an hour structure on a Sunday morning. How could we even suggest that the worship didn’t stir us today, or that the style of worship wasn’t really hitting home this morning? Since when was worship to God confined to a style?

Worship has no purpose in fulfilling the selfish desire to have things our way. It is not a means to satisfy our materialistic appetite.

Another definition by Kaughlin:

“Biblical worship is God’s covenant people recognizing, reveling in, and responding rightly to the glory of God in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

We recognize God as King, and the only name worthy of being worshipped – therefore we respond with worship, adoration, thanksgiving, and celebration with all we are because of who he is and what he has done.

One of the ways we worship him is through music. You cannot question the role of music as a form of worship (looking specifically at the New Testament):

Acts 16:24-25, Romans 15:8-9, I Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:18-20, Colossians 3:16 (personal favorite of mine), Hebrews 2:12, Hebrews 13:15, James 5:13.

Music is a biblical form of worship, both instrumental and vocally speaking, and thus is acceptable. Worship through music is not wrong – in fact it’s quite the opposite: it’s necessary.

Does worship only occur through music? Absolutely not. We worship through our community, thanksgiving, gifting, passions, convictions, prayer, teaching, serving, singing, creating, obeying, loving, praising, etc.

We have to rethink our definition of worship. We worship with our lives, not just in our one hour of one day, fifty-ish times a year services. God does not need anything from us. We should desire to worship him every single day because we have tasted and seen how glorious he really is.

Worship is our meek response to the God of the universe.

And what a great and worthy God he is.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

(for more elaboration from far better a wordsmith, check out Bob Kaughlin’s Defining Worship (in 5 parts))