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Worship Worthy of the Name
Worship is seeing what God is worth and giving him what he's worth.
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Scripture readings, exhortations, and sermons show people what God is worth. The offering, prayers of repentance and thanksgiving, and times of confession allow people to respond to God. In order for us to worship, our mind, will, and emotions have to be moved. They're all organically connected. Merely learning a truth about God is intellectual education, not worship. For example, I can know intellectually that God is good but still be worried silly about something that's coming up this week. If the morning's sermon is on the sovereignty and goodness of God, I haven't worshiped unless that truth descends from my mind and touches my emotions and my will. I worship, then, when I realize I've been trusting in my own abilities, not the sovereignty and goodness of God. When I pull my affections off the other things I've been trusting in—which is why I'm anxious—and put them on God, I will be touched emotionally. I may cry; I may not. It depends on what kind of personality I have. But the truth will affect my emotions. My will is also affected when I decide to change the way I handle that threat next week. Worship is grasping a truth about God and then letting that truth strike you in the center of your being. It thrills you, comforts you. That's when the truth has moved from left to right brain—from mind to heart. On the spot, it will change the way you feel. The whole brain, the whole person, is affected. Mistaken EmotionsNot everything we feel Sunday morning can be labeled true worship. Several emotions can be mistakenly associated with true worship. Nostalgia. Some people are moved to tears by listening to "The Old Rugged Cross" and others by "The Wind Beneath My Wings." But those feelings are not necessarily worship. They could also be merely a sentimental connection; the song reminds people of a warm memory. This is one reason why people will say, "I can't worship if I don't sit in my pew," or "I can't worship because you rearranged the furniture," or "I can't worship if I don't know the hymns." That's nostalgia, a fond sentiment that people often need because everything else in life is changing. But that feeling isn't worship, and there is no resulting impact on their whole lives. Conscience clearing. Some people feel guilty because they haven't gone to church for a while, or they haven't been praying, or whatever. So because they're in church, singing a hymn and putting something in the offering plate, they feel better. Their consciences are clear. Perhaps that feeling is better than the sentimental feeling, but it's still not worship. Aesthetic experiences. Other people may have only an aesthetic experience, which is still not worship. Even people hostile to the gospel can weep while listening to Handel's Messiah. C. S. Lewis said that his imagination was baptized when he was still an atheist because of excellent Christian art. |             |
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