Worship ain’t just what we think it is.

You see it’s not about songs with a certain beat or a lot of names you’ve crammed from the bible; well it goes way deeper than that. It’s an expression of something that even the brightest minds cannot fathom. It finds its roots in a unique love relationship that can only exist between a man and God. Although it may be expressed in different ways such as music (Psalm 98, Psalm 69:30), way of life (Job 1:8), offering (1 Kings 3:3-4), poetry as well as prayers but none of these expresses the entity of this ambiguous term. Hence, to get a better understanding it will be wise to refer back into its roots, its source.

In the beginning of time, God started out a venture He would later call ‘creation’. In this vein He made a lot of things both plants and animals of every kind and in His perfection, everything turned out just right but God sought for something more, an attachment to his creation, a connection that would bring about the relationship He craved for; A relationship that would last till forever.
The problem here was the fact that none of His creation so far matched perfectly to this longing. Later on, He got a bright idea and it was so wonderful that He spoke it out loud and to ensure perfection He called out for help towards this perfect creation, Man. Man was perfect and God knew it. God also knew that if He was going to have the relationship He craved for he had to give him something and that was CHOICE cos love always has a choice. Then God gave man a perfect nature and in this perfect nature man and God began a relationship of love and fellowship. Right there in the garden of Eden WORSHIP was conceived!
So you see, worship finds its roots in love, therefore to actually worship you must first discover love and not just the flaky stuff we experience nowadays but the genuine one only Christ can bring you to.
Now we have established that fact, let’s get to know its characteristics kinda like a term paper! John 4:23 establishes the fundamental principles in worship which is WORSHIP CAN ONLY BE DONE IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. With that already established, we can now break down this seemingly popular verse of the bible to further access the lessons within.

FIRST PRINCIPLE: WORSHIP must be done in SPIRIT
Many people would look at this statement and wonder why but if you paused long enough to take a look at verse 24 the first four words explains why. If worship originates from love as earlier stated and love is in itself God, therefore worship bears the traits of God. In other words if God is a Spirit then worship must and can only be done in that same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:11). Therefore, worship can only be done in the Spirit not out of the Spirit or by the Spirit but IN THE SPIRIT. (Romans 8:9). To be put differently one can never benefit from whatever is playing on the radio except the person activates his device’s antenna and tunes in to the particular station’s radio frequency. Similarly, no matter how intelligent you are, you cannot write an exam in a language you don’t understand and pass!
Now note that to be “in the Spirit” is not much of a big deal. It’s to be IN LOVE WITH GOD. You see, after God created the perfect man, he sinned and something else came into being that God could not stand even the appearance of it and that is THE FLESH (Romans 8:8). But God never stopped loving man because He knew there was still hope, a possible way for man to come back home. In that bid, He came down to man’s domain, earth, and died, paying the ultimate price of blood and life for the mistakes of man so as to give us a chance at His true love again.
So now when we give our lives to Christ we are being transformed from who we are (FLESH) to the original copy of who God made us (SPIRIT). In this state, the Spirit of God possesses us making us have the characteristics of Christ who is God. (1 Corinthians 2:11-12, vv. 16, Ephesians 2:2-10) So therefore whatever we do, we do no more in the flesh but in the Spirit. (John 3:6) Only worship done in this state can be correctly referred to as worship and anyone who experiences this can be referred to as a worshipper (Philippians 3:3).

SECOND PRINCIPLE: WORSHIP must be done in TRUTH
Worship can never be fake, false or unsure; if it must be done, it must be done in truth! In my own opinion I’ve come to believe that the phrase “true love” is actually grammatically wrong! I guess the crime committed would be called tautology. The reason I say this is based on the incapacity of love to be false. Love in its perfect form is always true! Every other thing or feeling may look like love but if it aint love it aint love and so is our God. So true to its source, this principle also stands for worship.
At the beginning of this piece I pointed out that love always has a choice and when choice is lost, categorically I believe it’s no longer love but something way more sinister probably in the lines of oppression or obsession etc. When you do something for someone you love you do it well not for any beneficial reason or gain but just for love’s sake. This is in fact the beauty of love! This is most exemplified in God’s expression of love towards man. (John 15:13, 1 John 4:9). So we can safely reach the conclusion that when love is forced or pre-conceived for sake of selfish gain it loses its taste and is in fact false. This also applies for worship hence the statement “Worship must be done in Truth”. The point is whenever worship is not done willingly; even if you’re saved it will be rejected by God. This is shown in the rejection of Cain’s sacrifice because from the quality of Cain’s gift we can reach the conclusion that either he was forced into the act of giving that offering or he was just plain nonchalant about the whole thing. This is typical of most so-called “worshippers” who defile altars and render unworthy worship because they are not willing to give God true worship. May I point out that God is NOT starving of worship at all! He has employed the amazing capacities of innumerable angels (Hebrews 2:22) and elders and heavenly creatures of all sorts (Revelation 4) primarily concerned with worshipping our most high God! Just in case you’re getting too important, remember what Jesus said about raising stones to replace you like anytime! (Luke 19:40).

To worship in truth is to worship willingly and from your heart. You see, God doesn’t really pay attention to your skill, your vocabulary or your worth. He heeds your state of heart more. I guess that’s why the psalmist, who was referred to as a man after God’s heart said it this way:
Psalms 34:18:
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalms 51:17:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Worship must be done in honesty, sincerity, humility, IN TRUTH!
Worship done in pretense, eye service is worthless. Also worship done outside the precepts of the Word of God is not worship! A friend once told me “THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUTH, EVERY OTHER THING ARE BUT FACTS” (Colossians 2:8-9). Also worship done in truth is worship done in the fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:7)
Before I conclude here’s a word for someone who might want to ask “Why must I worship?” Here’s an answer for you, friend: because our God dwells in worship- Ephesians 2:22 and most importantly it’s the whole purpose for which we were created and now saved. Yes! For that love, relationship, expression, worship.

-Ezeonyeka Godswill
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