What Is Worship?

You've probably heard sermons that say "worship is more than music" and go on to define worship as something more then "that thing we do when we all stand up and sing". Since this blog is focused on worship, I thought I would share my definition. Well, it's not exactly a definition, I don't claim to have some insight that no one else does... I'll share how I think about and approach worship. That's what this post is about. Will the title of the blog be explained? Maybe ;)...

If you did ask me to define worship, I would put it simply and say that worship is anything that looks like John 3:30, "He must become greater, I must become less." Anything that makes us less and God greater, that's worship. Anything. NO, worship is not just music.

Thinking about worship as a thing we do on Sundays or something that happens when we all sing together is a really huge misconception. You see, "worshiping God" is basically the name for HOW we should live our lives. Living a life of worship means following 1 Corinthians 10:31, "so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." As Christians, we are called to approach everything we do by saying, "how can I do this for the glory of God?"

Now, doing so is actually impossible. Doing it with all of our strength for literally everything, I mean. We are too imperfect for that (in Heaven we will finally be able to perfectly worship God). For now, the process of becoming more like Christ can be boiled down to one simple goal: worshiping God more.

This goal isn't actually simple, it's a very complex, multifaceted thing, but I think of it as simple because, if we worship God, than all the rest of a Godly life follow. Kindness, gentleness, self-control, evangelism, wisdom, excellence, and all of the other things we are called to do and practice flow from worship. If our lives are all about making God great, then of course we're going to tell people about him! If our lives are all about making God great, then of course we'll behave in ways that point others to him! If, whatever you're doing, it makes God great, than you may be inadvertently fulfilling one of his other commandments!

Actually, it becomes clear that not only are our good acts a result of worshiping God, but our sin is a result of not doing so! You are never going to set out to do something with the aim of making God great and, in doing so, sin. The universe just doesn't work like that. If we were to worship God in literally everything we do, we'd never sin (remember, that's impossible for this life). It really does become simple: do things for God's glory, and in doing so your sin will be combated. Jesus tells crowds in Matthew 6:33 to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [food, water, clothes] will be given to you as well". Living a life of worshiping God (i.e., "being a Christian") is a question of HOW, not WHAT.

It is the combination of these three verses that, from a bird's-eye point of view, encapsulate the Christian life. That's why I've put them in the sidebar on every page in this blog. I think that trying to "do this, and do that" or to "not do this, and not do that" is all wasting time, treating symptoms rather than the real problem. We don't have sin issues, we have worship issues. If we do everything to make God greater and ourselves less, everything, than all of the particulars will fall into place.

This is by no means all I have to say about worship. It's life, man! That's what this blog is about! "Finding Worship" refers to the constant effort made to find HOW to worship through everything I do. Sort of like, "finding the fun in it", I like to "find the worship in it": how can any given act, however mundane, be done for His glory? This is the question that, as much as God empowers me to, I ask about everything I do.

Don't think I'm some sort of worship master, by the way. I DON'T worship with everything I do. I do a LOT of things that are not for God's glory. I am convinced that it is impossible in our earthly flesh to worship perfectly- but I am even more convinced that God is dedicated to making us better at it!

That's what I pray for myself, and all of you, all the time. Lord, make us better worshipers.

Be glorified!

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither."
-C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"