In Spirit and in Truth
Jesus once took the time to explain what His Father wants from our worship.
The apostle, John, quoted Jesus words,
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)
I’m sure there are entire books and seminars devoted to the subject, but l just want to focus on those two words for minute: Spirit – Truth.
Worshiping in Spirit. I believe Jesus was emphasizing that any attempt to worship that is not from our hearts or not sincere, is not worship at all. Take singing for example. Singing songs with our voice but not our hearts, is not worship, no matter how beautifully we sing – And it is not pleasing to God when we pretend that it is. The Israelites got this message in no uncertain terms when God spoke through the prophet Amos:
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me!
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! (Amos 5:21-23)
So I guess that means it’s not OK to engage in worship half-heartedly. I’m not talking about how we express ourselves with our bodies (standing, sitting, clapping, hands raised… none of that), just the condition of our hearts. If our hearts are not engaged, God is not being worshiped.
Worshiping in Truth. Worshiping someone or something that is false or counterfeit is not pleasing to God either. Bottom line – He is the only One worthy of our worship. But beyond that, He has gone to great lengths to communicate Truth with us. Not only did He send His very Son, the Word of God, to speak ultimate truth to us, but He has been trying to communicate to (and with) us since He created us… through creation, prophets, judges, the Scriptures, and the Body of Christ.
When we ignore His truth, we jeopardize or limit our ability to worship to the fullest degree. Granted, none of know all truth yet, but part of sincere worship is being devoted to know God as much and as intimately as we can. When there is an area of willful disobedience, or even the choice to be “blissfully ignorant” of what God is trying to tell us, it betrays that we really don’t love Him as much as we want others to think – and our worship may be just a show after all.
My heart is to be with others who seek to know God closely and are passionate enough to worship Him boldly. I want to be that kind of worshiper, and I want to be around worshipers like that! – and I want LCC to be the kinds of church where those worshipers to feel right at home!
Dave Swanson
Worship Leader
Jesus once took the time to explain what His Father wants from our worship.
The apostle, John, quoted Jesus words,
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)
I’m sure there are entire books and seminars devoted to the subject, but l just want to focus on those two words for minute: Spirit – Truth.
Worshiping in Spirit. I believe Jesus was emphasizing that any attempt to worship that is not from our hearts or not sincere, is not worship at all. Take singing for example. Singing songs with our voice but not our hearts, is not worship, no matter how beautifully we sing – And it is not pleasing to God when we pretend that it is. The Israelites got this message in no uncertain terms when God spoke through the prophet Amos:
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me!
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! (Amos 5:21-23)
So I guess that means it’s not OK to engage in worship half-heartedly. I’m not talking about how we express ourselves with our bodies (standing, sitting, clapping, hands raised… none of that), just the condition of our hearts. If our hearts are not engaged, God is not being worshiped.
Worshiping in Truth. Worshiping someone or something that is false or counterfeit is not pleasing to God either. Bottom line – He is the only One worthy of our worship. But beyond that, He has gone to great lengths to communicate Truth with us. Not only did He send His very Son, the Word of God, to speak ultimate truth to us, but He has been trying to communicate to (and with) us since He created us… through creation, prophets, judges, the Scriptures, and the Body of Christ.
When we ignore His truth, we jeopardize or limit our ability to worship to the fullest degree. Granted, none of know all truth yet, but part of sincere worship is being devoted to know God as much and as intimately as we can. When there is an area of willful disobedience, or even the choice to be “blissfully ignorant” of what God is trying to tell us, it betrays that we really don’t love Him as much as we want others to think – and our worship may be just a show after all.
My heart is to be with others who seek to know God closely and are passionate enough to worship Him boldly. I want to be that kind of worshiper, and I want to be around worshipers like that! – and I want LCC to be the kinds of church where those worshipers to feel right at home!
Dave Swanson
Worship Leader