Food for Thought –

Concerning Worship

     After Jesus' baptism, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1, New American Standard) One of the temptations recorded for us presented Jesus with the opportunity to be given all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. (Matthew 4:8,9) All Jesus had to do was to fall down and worship the devil. Jesus refused, stating, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. (Matthew 4:10) Jesus had no confusion about whom the object of our worship is to be. God is the object of our worship, the focus of our worship, and the audience of our worship.

     The world has had many gods over the years. Mankind seems to have a yearning to worship someone or something. When the Israelites were camped around Mt. Sinai, they gave their gold jewelry to Aaron, Moses' brother, who fashioned it into a calf which they worshipped. (Exodus 32:1-4) Moses had already given the people the Ten Commandments, of which the place of idols and other gods was clearly stated. (Exodus 20:1-6) God alone was to be worshipped, because He alone is the only true God. Later in their history, Isaiah speaks of those who took wood, shaped it with a tool, and bowed down to it in worship. (Isaiah 44:14-17) People are continually finding someone or something else to worship besides God Almighty.

     Because God is the object of our worship, everything we do in worship must be focused on Him, and authorized by Him. Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu forgot that in worship God is the focus - what He says is what really matters. As priests to God Almighty, they were to offer incense to Him as part of their worship under the Old Covenant. The Bible tells us that they offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. (Leviticus 10:1) The account continues with their deaths - fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them! (Leviticus 10:2) Their sin was in not paying attention to what God had said about the source of fire for offering incense! Apparently in their thinking "fire is fire." From God's perspective, they offered fire which had not been commanded. When God is the focus of our worship, what He has said about worship really does matter.

     Jesus once said, God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24) Spirit in this context refers to our spirit - our worship must spring from our heart. It cannot be an empty ritual that we perform over and over. To worship in truth is to worship according to the truth God has given us about worship. Jesus again said, Thy word is truth. (Jn 17:17) The apostle Paul wrote, All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16,17) True worship springs out of the heart and contains those activities which God has explicitly called for from His people, the church.

     In today's society, we find worship being offered in many different ways. There are quiet somber worship services, and there are wildly exciting worship services. There are traditional services and contemporary services. This variety has come about because people have tended to become the audience rather than God. "Worship must be pleasing to me, or I will go somewhere else where it does please me."  When I have become the audience in worship, it doesn't matter to me what God has said about how He is to be worshipped.

     Who is the audience when you meet to worship? How is it decided how the worship is to be presented and what is to be presented? If it is not established by the Scriptures, it is not in truth no matter how spirited it may be, and no matter how "spiritual" it may seem to me. God is the audience.