Worship.  Ask any person of faith about their ideas on worshiping God, and you’re likely to get a rather passionate response.  Individuals claiming to be followers of Christ usually take their views of worship very seriously—and rightfully so.  The topic of worship is one of the most important topics the Christian must consider with regard to their life of faith.  But with that being the case, why are views concerning worship so different?  Why are there so many various views about what is right and wrong, allowable or not allowable in worship?  Is it because God has not been clear? Is it because God has left worship up to man to define?  Or is it because man has injected his own ideas, philosophies, and practices into God’s prescribed plan?

Many people today feel that “Worship is the right thing to do, but there’s no wrong way to do it.”  That philosophy sounds nice.  It even sounds like a proverbial saying, a wise insight into an important topic.  In truth however, such a mindset is dangerous and can be eternally devastating.  When compared with the Word of God, this philosophy falls well short of what God expects from His children.

When we look at worship within the Scriptures, we see that there has always been a right way to worship God, and also a wrong way to worship God.  Error in worship goes back to nearly the beginning of time.  In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel both offered sacrifices to God; both worshiped God, and yet only Abel’s worship was accepted.  Obviously, while Cain worshiped, he clearly did so in a wrong way.

In Leviticus 10 we find that Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, were consumed by fire while they were worshiping God.  Why such severe punishment?  Because they offered sacrifices using “strange fire” which God had not approved of.  The priests of Israel learned a sobering lesson that day: there was a wrong way to worship God, and to engage in non-prescribed worship carried heavy consequences.

During a conversation with a Samaritan woman, Jesus was asked whether the Samaritans or the Jews worshiped appropriately.  Jesus responded to the woman saying, “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).  Basically, Jesus was telling the woman that according to the Law as given by God, Old Testament worship was to be done in Jerusalem.  Thus, the worship of the Samaritans was wrong since they worshiped on their own mountain.  More importantly, Jesus then told the woman, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (John 4:32-24).  Jesus indicated a new dispensation was dawning; one in which the rules of worship would be changed.  There would, however, still be rules and guidelines to worship, thus the need to worship in truth would remain!

Worship.  It should be one of the most important activities we partake in every week.  It should encourage us, exhort us, and many times rebuke us.  It should refresh us and teach us.  Most of all, we should know that through our worship we have approached and praised our Creator, the most high and holy God of the universe.  Knowing this, we should never approach worship lightly or flippantly.  We should worship with all the reverence and respect we can muster.  We should never seek to make worship an object of our own devising.  With just the few examples mentioned in this brief article, we see that in every dispensation of time there has been a right and a wrong way to worship God.  God’s plan for worship does not need to be tweaked, altered, or improved upon.  He has let us know within His word how He desires to be worshiped.  Thus, let all of us who desire to worship Him dedicate our lives do doing so in spirit AND in truth!

Post by: Nate Bibens