As a Matter of Fact
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
At times Christianity can be confusing. When you start to read the Bible, there can be names of people and places you have never heard before. There will be words that have little to no meaning outside of the world of faith. And even more confusing, there are words that you do know, but when they are carried over to Christianity they have an even greater depth of meaning than you ever realized before. Knowing that navigating concepts within Christianity can at times be overwhelming, Word on the Street is tackling some common questions that are not only integral for the new believer, but also for the seasoned Christian and anyone who is skeptical about the Christian faith. They are truths that you never graduate from. In this issue, we are going to discuss worship.
WE ARE ALL WORSHIPERS
When you hear the word worship, what pops into your mind? To some, it’s strolling into church on Sunday to sing a few songs. To others, they picture an ancient painting of people bowing to a statue or dancing in a circle to please a deity. But worship is quite simply what we do with our affections, and it manifests itself in who or what we ultimately bow to. Simply put, we are worshipers always worshiping something or someone. It is an innate, fundamental part of how God created us. However, not everyone worships the true God. Only those who really know Him can truly worship Him because their affections are now fundamentally rewired to love and serve Him.
TAKING THE FILTERS OFF
Who calls the shots in your life? What is your top priority? What do you give your heart, mind, desires, and pursuits to? What do you think most about? What is your greatest treasure (Matt 13:44)? That is what you worship. In everyday context, common worship traps might be college, careers, family, and even yourself. Now, is it bad to get a college degree, have a family, or land a really nice job? No. But they can be wrongly worshiped when our affection dead ends on the thing itself, rather than fuel our affections towards God as we thank Him for them (Romans 1:25).
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
Christians are called to work hard and be good students, but putting other priorities before God is what the Bible calls “worshiping the world” (Colossians 3:5-6). Without intervention from a holy God, we are stuck in this state. But when we meet Him, everything changes. Our former objects of worship look so dull next to Him! The life-giving relationship He forms with us transforms our minds that were formally consumed by created things rather than the Creator (Romans 12:2).
But when we meet Him, everything changes. Our former objects of worship look so dull next to Him!
American author John Piper said, “The inner essence of worship is the response of the heart to the knowledge of the mind when the mind is rightly understanding God and the heart is rightly valuing God. We worship God authentically when we know Him truly and treasure Him duly.”1 Hebrews 13:15-16 records that this true worship of God shows up in two ways. One is what our mouth says: acts of praise and repentance. The other is what our body does: acts of love that reveal the Father to the world.
How is your heart today? Do you like God lately? You cannot worship a God you don’t know, don’t have any interest in, don’t agree with, or merely tolerate. Now, if you’re a Christian, you will not worship God perfectly. Frankly, there will be moments where you will barely remember Him. But if you are truly a child of God, you will always be drawn back to Him. The gospel not only stirs us to worship, but it’s the reason why we get to in the first place. Jesus died for our sins that we may know the Father—the Creator of the stars!