What Is Worship?

I find that no matter where you go these days, it seems that Christians have equated that word “worship” with music.  Let me give you some examples of church lingo that demonstrate this:  worship center, worship service, praise and worship, worship team, worship leader, time of worship.  The reality is “music” and “worship” are not synonymous.  Let’s start by defining the term “worship.”

The English word “worship” comes from two old English roots, “worth” and “scipe”.  The first means “value”, the second means “to ascribe to”.  So the English word “worship” literally means to ascribe value to.  Worship is really all about loving God!  When we speak we might define the magnitude of our love by using a different word.  The progression might go something like this:  LIKE-->LOVE -->ADORE --> WORSHIP.  The first word shows the least amount of love and the last word shows the greatest amount of love. 

So what about in scripture? The Hebrew word shachah and the Greek word proskuneo account for more than 80% of the appearances of the word “worship” in most English versions of the Bible.  Both of these words mean “to bow down.” The Hebrew word shachah is used of bowing or prostrating oneself, often before a superior or before God. The Greek word proskuneo literally means to kiss the hand to (toward) someone in token of reverence, or to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence.  So the word that we read as “worship” means that we are to bow, surrender, honor, reverence, give allegiance to Christ!  This is much more than music!

There are many different forms of worship.  The Bible tells us that singing, dancing, prayer, meditating on scripture, giving of our finances, service to others, hearing the preaching of the Word, reading, studying, and reflecting on the Scriptures, baptism, communion, sharing the Good News, volunteering at your church, feeding those who are hungry, visiting those in prison, caring for the sick, widowed, or orphaned, and many other acts are all forms of worshiping the Lord.  The matter is not the specific outward manifestation, but the intent of the heart.  Is your intent to follow the admonition of Colossians 3:23 and do it for the “glory of God,” or some other reason? 

See, music is simply one modality of expressing our worship.  To equate “worship” and “music” would be like saying that “blue” is synonymous with “light”!  “Blue” is not the same as “light,” it is one frequency in the light spectrum.  You can have blue light, but the word “blue” doesn’t automatically equal the word “light” when used in a sentence.  “Hey honey, would you turn off the blue when you leave the room please?”  It doesn’t translate!  But for us in the Christian community, somehow we get it.  We say, “Hey, it’s time to worship.” And everyone knows that means “it’s time to sing.”  Why is that?     

So believers!  Let’s make it our goal to redefine the term “worship” in our conversations and practice.  In all you do this week, make it your aim to do it for His Glory and for His fame as an act of worshiping Christ!

Praising Him,

John

Christmas Hope

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

I've been reflecting today on memories of Christmas as it used to be.  All the years of waking up on Christmas morning excited about presents, and the trouble going to sleep on Christmas Eve... traveling to see my mom's parents on Christmas Eve and my dad's parents on Christmas Day... watching Rudolph and other Christmas favorites on TV... years where my greatest concerns were whether I'd get what I really wanted or not... all those things seem so distant now.  Reality is, few days are as carefree as they "used to be" at any point in life.

This Christmas is a brand new experience for my family.  The kids don't know it like my wife and I do, but Christmas will never be the same again.  With all but one of my grandparents having passed on to be with the Lord, my sisters and I spread 6 hours apart from each other, my parents separated, our family currently without a church home, and my current temp job ending in less than a month, Christmas seems to lack the luster it once had for me as a kid.  I can see why more people suffer from depression and struggle with suicide at Christmas time more than any other time of year.  But Christmas is not about the presents, or the food, or the traveling, or the television specials.  It's about hope.  And it seems to me that we all need a little of that around this time of year.

In the Biblical narrative about the birth of our savior, we see angels appearing first to shepherds to tell the news of Messiah's birth.  The interesting thing is that shepherds were considered to be dirty, untrustworthy, lying, thieving, unclean, dregs of society.  The only people considered lower than shepherds in that day were the leperous and diseased.  The messenger angel appeared, not to the king, not to the religious leaders, not to the wealthy and elite, but to those whom society had labeled least valuable or trustworthy.  The most important message of all was given to those whose testimony would be believed the least.  The King of all creation chose those no one else would have chosen.  There is Hope!!! 

Then, the most spectacular thing happened.  The sky suddenly filled with millions of angels, radiating the glory of God, singing the praises of their creator who lay in a dirty cattle trough, in a cave, in the little town of Bethlehem.  Their message?  The Almighty God has come to live in your midst.  And he will redeem, save, grant peace, and restore hope to those who place their faith in Him.  There is Hope!!!

Psalm 42:5 says, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God."  He tells himself, in spite of the depression and the circumstances, to HOPE IN GOD!  This Christmas, if you are in the midst of personal struggle and despair, I urge you to turn to your Creator, have faith that He will take care of you and your situation, and PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD!  Say "Thank You, Jesus, for Your gift of Hope to me!"  Blessings to you and your family this Christmas Season.

Praising Him,
John