What is Worship
The Sunday School lesson this past week was a powerful one. At our church, we have two Sunday School classes - one for the men and boys, and the other for the women and girls. The men and boys are studying the book "Boyhood and Beyond", by Bob Schultz. It is a wonderful book, with all kinds of topics geared to helping boys become men from a biblical standpoint.This lesson was on worship. It describes a young man by the name of Paul, and what his Sunday morning was like. He was slow getting up, complained about his sister spending too long in the bathroom, and was unhappy with his oatmeal because it wasn't hot enough. He grumbled about the shirt he had to wear, and complained in the car about having to sit in the back seat. When he arrived at church, however, things changed:
Quote:
| Slamming the car door, Paul ran to the church steps. His pout turned into a smile. He cheerfully greeted his friends and walked with them to the Sunday school classroom. Today was Paul's turn to lead worship in the youth church. He really liked singing and was good at it. In front of his friends, he sang energetically. Between songs, he challened the group to "worship with your whole heart." |
As soon as he got home, however, he was back to his complaining about things. He didn't like the lunch his mom had fixed, and he let her know. He spent the afternoon isolated in his room playing computer games, until it was time for the evening service, when he looked forward eagerly to the worship time.
The author then goes on to compare Paul with the Israelites. During the time of Isaiah, it appears the Israelites spent much energy on the outward appearance of their services. They did all the things that God commanded, yet he was unhappy with them. How come? Because their attitudes and actions did not carry over to their everyday life. Rather, they, like Paul, put energy into the "show" when they met together, and lived the rest of their lives without concern for how God wanted them to live.
This is something that I fear is becoming more prevalent in our churches today. Many churches have "Worship Teams" that lead the singing in the services. There is nothing wrong with this, in itself (although I have an issue with the term "Worship Team", that I may address in a later article). However, often what is conveyed is that the Worship occurs during that specific part of the service. Or, perhaps it is that we come to church in order to worship. Either way, we generally miss the point - worship is not something that happens - rather, it is our entire attitude towards life. We should be worshipping when we eat our breakfast, when we take a shower, when we drive to work or school, and while we are at work. We should be worshipping when we are cleaning the house, or when we are grocery shopping. We should even be worshipping when we are doing our taxes!
We need to recognize that this attitude applies no matter who we are. Every one of us is good at putting on the mask when we walk into the church building. I am guilty of this far more than many people - I can get up Sunday morning, and because I'm tired, I get grumpy with my family. I can explode over something little, and then when I get to church, I drop the mask into place, and can even preach a message about how we are to love one another.
It doesn't matter if you are the preacher, or the song leader, or the Sunday School teacher, or someone who doesn't have a specific role on a given Sunday morning. All of us can put on our Sunday Masks, and look good while at church, and act like young Paul acted when not at church.
Another quote from the lesson:
Quote:
| Men can fool one another when they only interact in religious meetings. It is in business, at home, and in recreation where a man's worship is shown for what it is. God is never fooled. He knows who is worshipping Him and who isn't. |
Lord, help us to worship you all the time, in spirit and in truth.
Posted On Apr 5, 2006 at 6:30 AM
On Jun 2, 2006 Brian's wife wrote: I did read this earlier, but I had a thought:
"we generally miss the point - worship is not something that happens - rather, it is our entire attitude towards life. We should be worshipping when we eat our breakfast, .... when we are doing our taxes!"
I read that human beings are "hard-wired" to worship, in which case the question becomes not "do we worship?" but "whom do we worship?" The context of this was referring to children, that leaving them in a vaccuum of spiritual teaching will not prevent them from being spiritual beings.
But I wonder if that applies here as well. When I grumble and complain because I have troubles, I have been inconvenienced, I didn't get my own way, I am certainly not worshipping God. All these "I"s point straight to the altar of self. When we are not worshipping God, we are worshipping something else. That's a scary thought!
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Brian's BlogMost articles on this blog describe what is known as "Kingdom Theology" - they deal with the doctrine of the Millennial Kingdom.If you are just finding this Blog, I would suggest that you start with the first article, rather than picking up in the middle. Enjoy your reading! ABOUT ME Current PostsA scriptural scavenger huntWhat do we want to be remembered for? How do we measure our churches? The Parable of the Sower What is Worship 
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