Worship

Is worship what happens when The David Crowder Band and Chris Tomlin get together in a stadium full of college students? Is worship what happens on Sunday when we sing together... when we pass the offering plate... when the pastor preaches... when we skip church to pray in our boat at the lake? Worship is clearly a huge part of our Christian vocabulary - so much so that we can lose its meaning in our familiarity with it. So, what does the Bible say about worship?

While there are a handful of Greek and Hebrew words commonly translated as worship in our English translations the overwhelming majority of these references come from the Hebrew, shachah, and the Greek, proskuneo. These words almost synonomously mean "to bow down," or "to prostrate oneself." One lexicon explains the idea as, "to express in attitude or gesture one’s complete dependence on or submission to a high authority figure." Thus, the meaning appears to be very broad in terms of form, but very narrow in terms of substance. The important thing is the attitude of the heart. For clarity it is helpful to look at this meaning in contrast with another Greek word often translated as worship in the New Testament. Sebomai is used only 10 times. The word refers to expressing worship through acts of ceremony. Jesus used sebomai in Matthew 15:9 and Mark 7:7 where he said the Pharisees worship him in vain "teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." In other words, "lacking the humility of true worship their ceremonies mean nothing." Or, "true worship strips us of our legalistic pride in thinking that these ceremonial acts impress God." Worship is not about the event, especially when the life style is not in agreement with what is said in the worship act.

So what does Biblical worship look like? It looks like a penitent heart humbly expressing to God a desperate need for Him. This can and should be communicated through silence, prayer, song, reflection, study, preaching, giving, serving, and every thought or action we give ourselves to in a particular day. It can and should be done corporately but that event only means anything if it is done first privately on a consistent basis. Sunday morning worship only works if the worshipers have been worshiping Monday through Saturday. If not it is sebomai, not proskuneo. Sunday should be the overflow, not the goal. Sunday should be an expression to God of our corporate need for him and submission to him, not an experience we wish to get something out of.

Obviously, this has direct implications for church music. But, that will have to wait for the next post.