Question:  Hi Greg,

        We are discussing “worship” in our small groups at home.  I see worship as “showing your love for God”.  You might do this through singing, praying or clapping hands.  How would you describe worship and where in the Bible may I find information on how we must worship?  Your answers are always informative and to the point.

        Regards,

        Richard

Answer:  Dear Richard,

        Worship is a big topic— one that has become, in terms of the definition given to the word, much more popular in the past few decades.

        Worship is the acceptance of who we are in relation to God— he is God and we are not.  Worship is the humility that God gives us to see ourselves as exactly who we are— in need and dependent upon God rather than independent and without any need of him.

        Worship is an outward act that humans voluntarily engage in that is intended to accept our position of need while at the same time glorifying and praising God for his unbelievable, unconditional love of us— the unlovable.  He loves us not because we deserve his love— he loves us even though we are most undeserving.  The only reason we can even begin to fathom all of this is not because of our spiritual prowess or acuity, but because God gives us the ability to come to know his.  He gives us a relationship with him by his grace.  Nothing is because of us— everything is because of him.  Consequently, when we call to mind all that God is, and who we are, there is really no human response but to worship.

        Worship is not confined to any specific cultural response.  Worship is not simply the external act that our bodies are involved in.  Singing, prayer, joy, meditation, clapping, dancing, etc., are only outward ways that we express what God is doing in our hearts.  The outward display can be divisive if we believe we must conform to a particular action, style, mode of music, expression or gesture.  Worship can then become legalism and idolatry, and it becomes a vain exercise that is all about us, not about God. 

        For further reading we recommend “How Shall We Worship?” by Marva J. Dawn, published by Tyndale House— available through most Christian bookstores.

        In Christ,

        Greg Albrecht