Worship in Spirit and Truth – We Have to Have Both

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

—John 4:23 (NIV)

A pastor friend and mentor of mine once said that worship without spirit is dead orthodoxy, and worship without truth is shallow emotionalism. You have to have both. Because ultimately, what the Father seeks is really none of the things we tend to get hung up about. He’s not seeking personalities, or programs, or song sets. He’s seeking worshipers. That’s me and that’s you.

Several years ago I was granted a sabbatical leave from the church I was serving. I spent an entire summer visiting a different congregation each Sunday. The plan was that during this time, I would compose a short work for our choir and orchestra based on “the Church,” and that I would bring home ideas, concepts, and practices that might be incorporated into our worship life.

Some of the congregations my family and I visited were local. Others were worked into trips I had already planned around the country. A few of these gatherings were highly energetic and demonstrative. Some were more measured and reserved.

At each church, I interviewed those responsible for worship planning – and their approaches spanned the spectrum! Some were praying just moments before the worship service began, seeking God’s direction for what He would have occur in the next hour or so. Others were following liturgies that are hundreds of years old.

I certainly witnessed a broad range of physical expression in worship. Some crossed themselves, and some lit candles. Some lifted their hands, and some even danced! It occurred to me that each of these actions was a different manifestation of an inward response to a similar prompting. In other words, the truth was spoken (or sung), and the spirit reacted.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the encounter Jesus had with a woman in Mark 14. This account has altered and informed my own view of worship for many years now. You’ll recall that Jesus was eating a meal with some friends when an unnamed woman (John’s account identifies her as Mary) entered the room, broke open a container of expensive perfume, and anointed Jesus with it. Monetarily, it was worth a year’s wages! Imagine for a moment your annual income gone in about 20 seconds. Some who were standing by criticized her for “wasting” what could have been sold to help the poor.

Jesus counters this mistaken notion. He said, in effect, “Leave her alone! She’s done a proper thing, and her act of devotion will be remembered forever.” And here we are in the twenty-first century talking about her. From this story, three principles come to mind that have shaped my own thoughts and planning of corporate worship:

• Worship is expensive – This woman offered what the Bible says was
  worth a year’s wages. We need to acknowledge that for us, too, worship
  will be costly. It costs time, energy, preparation, effort, and emotion. Yes,
  it’s expensive – and worth it.
• Worship is expressive – This dear woman could have waited until after the
  meal when everyone was gone and cornered Jesus alone to display her
  devotion. Instead, she acted without regard to others’ reactions or judgment.
  We, too, need to worship freely, not according to public opinion or popular
  mandates, but according to His excellent greatness.
• Worship is exalting – Exalting Jesus, that is. We’re in danger these days of
  worshiping a style or a format – or even worship itself. Our goal is not to
  spotlight our specialness but to lift up the Lamb.

Recognizing Jesus for who He is – that’s truth.

Responding to Him with all we are – that’s spirit.

Just like the woman at the well learned from her experience with Jesus, worship isn’t about location, atmosphere, accompaniment, or architecture. It’s not even about style. It is, however, about spirit and truth. It is about a passionate offering of ourselves to the God who reveals Himself to us in His Son. And it’s all about the God we seek desperately to know.

Spirit and Truth – we have to have both.