Following Judah's Lion

Worship

Jn.4:23-24 - But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

“How did you like the church you visited?”
“It was great! I loved their worship service. Their praise and worship was awesome!”
Have you ever heard someone say something like that? Have you ever said something like that? Well let’s deconstruct that and see how man centered that phrase is and how worship has now become an entity unto itself. Here some church advertisements:
Anointed worship! Inspiring praise and worship! Awesome worship!
These are just some of the Madison Ave. type of advertisements concerning a church’s worship service. But before we can address the carnal nature of those caricatures about worship, we must appreciate the nature of worship itself.
Worship is an attitude of the heart, and quite probably the word attitude is severely insufficient. When a heart, redeemed in divine blood, beholds even in part the glory of its Redeemer God, it begins to worship. And that worship must be without compromise and distraction. That means that you cannot, as Rick Warren suggests, worship while you take out the garbage. You can praise God while working, but worship cannot be multitasked.
And what an immeasurable privilege it is to be allowed to worship a holy and august God. Would you want Charles Manson worshiping you? Well, without God’s grace that is exactly the word picture when we are allowed to worship the Risen Christ. That should bring into stark relief just how deep and consuming is the grace of our Redeemer God!
But worship is always a reflection of God and not of itself. We should not be enamored by worship, but by our God. That is why when we elevate the act of worship over the recipient of worship we do err. Most of the time when people say they loved the worship they are speaking of the music, the atmosphere, and probably the demonstrative aspect of the congregation.
But true and God honoring worship can take place in quiet moments, or during the communion service without music, or when singing a meaningful hymn. I love praise and worship music, and I have been known to dance in the aisle (rarely), and I have been brought to tears scores of times, but it must never be the music or the beat that elicits worship form our hearts. It must always be the revelation of our Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
The church has cheapened this thing called worship. We have made it our own franchise and even made it different brands. Many churches use their style of worship as their reference point when promoting their particular local assembly. But let me suggest something to you. Much of the Chinese church meets underground. And some walk as many as twenty miles to meet in the protection of a forest, and cannot use any instruments lest they be discovered.
Now these Chinese believers must worship God quietly, without instruments, without amplification, and yet they often fall to their knees weeping and with hands raised. I ask you, how authentic must that worship be? But how many songs does it take to prime the worship pump for the average western service? Do you see what has happened? We have made worship a thing and not a natural and supernatural expression of who God is.
Let us be very vigilant about our hearts which will aid us in true and spiritual worship. In the end, it is not about worship, for that is a looking glass. It is about the glory of the One True God, and the majesty of the Risen Christ!