Do I Have To? A Worship Series (Part 1)
We’ve all asked ourselves that question, among others. “Do I have to sing THIS song? Is he really going to ask me to clap AGAIN? Lifting my hands? Out of the question. And no way will I bust a move on God’s great dance floor.” Yes, it’s comical, but I know these are thoughts I’ve had (especially the last one), and I’m a worship leader! When it comes to worship, there are points in all of our lives where I think each of us asks ourselves, “What’s the point? Do I really have to do this?” In short, the answer is yes. We are called, even commanded, to worship. But I feel like this topic is worth some extended discussion. So, I will be doing this blog series to really unpack why we do these things. Why do we worship, why do we sing, clap, lift our hands, dance. To begin, I want to give an overview of what worship actually is according to the Bible, so let’s dive in.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about this concept in preparation for leading worship at our church’s student Winter Camps. To many, worship is a very abstract idea that’s kind of difficult to grasp. We chalk it up to going to church and singing one fast song, two mid-tempo songs, and one heart-wrencher that’s sure to get that lady crying (you know who I’m talking about). In my opinion, I think our mainstream idea of what worship is doesn’t even come close to the full scope of biblical worship. Singing is definitely involved, but there is far more to it than that.
In Hebrew (Old Testament), the main word used for worship is ‘Shachah,’ which literally means ‘to prostrate oneself’. In Greek, there are three words used throughout the New Testament, the most prominent of which is ‘Proskuneo,’ which translates to ‘to kiss the hand in a token of reverence’ or ‘to pay homage by kneeling.’ Hmm… These seem a bit more involved than our typical idea of worship. So what does this mean for us today?
First and foremost, our worship must start with a deep and profound reverence for who God is.
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth! Psalm 96:7–9
Worship should not be a flippant activity in the lives of those who know God. We give Him the honor He deserves based on what we have learned about Him, and the best way to learn about Him is through His word. If you don’t know anything about God or His character, it is impossible to even begin to ascribe to Him all that is rightfully His.
This leads me to the second big idea about worship: worship flows from an all-satisfying delight in who God is. Realizing that our true delight should be in God is an easy concept to accept in our heads, but it’s something else entirely when we try to practically live in that truth. There are just so many things to delight in, so many things to grab our attention. There’s a C.S. Lewis quote that I believe captures this conflict quite well: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with [various pleasures] when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” We haven’t fine-tuned our desires to focus on the all-satisfying joy we can find in Jesus. This comes through spending time in the word and in prayer, developing a relationship with Him. Even that is an act of worship if approached with the intention of delight! All worship, whether or outward or inward, should flow from our reverence for and delight in God and His Son.
Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! Psalm 112:1
The last big picture idea about worship I have is this: to truly worship, you must willingly give yourself as a living sacrifice to Christ. No, I am NOT saying that you need to build an altar in your backyard and get your dad to offer you as a sacrifice (*cough* Abraham *cough*). What I am saying is that every moment we spend should be lived intentionally, always pointing towards the character and work of Jesus.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1
The moment I accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation, I turned over the title deed of my life to Him to do as He pleases. That is true worship. It’s a condition of the heart, an outpouring of what He has given us. If we revere Him and delight in Him, then our only response can be to give our lives to Him.
Now, the question still stands: “Do I have to [_____]?” You fill in the blank. You’ve seen that we are called to worship God, but does that REALLY apply to all the outward stuff? Read the rest of this series to find out!
P.S. If you’re looking for some good worship music, check out Elevation Worship’s new album “Here as in Heaven.” It is straight fire.
