I’ve always found the tale of Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman about worship to be an interesting one. She asks Him a very specific question and He gives a few very specific answers. But what intrigues me more at the moment is the type of question she asked.
John 4:19-20 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
This question, which wasn’t even really a question but rather a statement, to me is inherently formalistic. By formalistic I mean the way in which religion and legalism is ritualistic and repetitively practiced by groups of people.
Her question starts very broad regarding the physical location of worship. Should it be done on the mountain or should it be done in Jerusalem? Now Jesus immediately cuts to the bone in His answer, seeing right through a statement that was meant to provide justification of her way of worship, should He have chosen her way as the right way. But what if He didn’t? What if He indulged her and said Jerusalem or the mountain?
I believe she would have followed up with a second question, narrowing the formalistic focus:
Should we worship on Sundays or Saturdays?
Should we worship in the morning or in the evening?
Should we raise one hand or two?
Should we sing 2 fast songs and 1 slow one or 1 fast and 2 slow?
Should we use an organ only or a full on band with lights and smoke machines?
There are many questions we can ask about how we prefer to worship, our method of worship if you will. Now many will already be thinking that there is no method, there is only worship in spirit and truth. Yes, that is true, but then why has Christian worship been boxed in to be 3-4 songs sung for 30-45mins on a Sunday morning?
If you say the method is not important, why is it done in exactly the same way in every church, every denomination, every city of every country and nation around the world? I have been to thousands of different churches in my life. Every single one sings songs together as their corporate worship time.
Personally I feel the typical corporate Sunday worship time is a very awkward moment for many people, especially ‘visitors’. Firstly we are all semi-manipulated by peer pressure to sing along, visitors included.
Secondly we start feeling very alienated because we are just standing there while some are flopping and flaying around.
“Am I not doing it right?’ is the first question that pops into mind.
Thirdly, some scan the room trying to see what the quickest way out of the building would be. Seriously, I have seen way too many ‘visitors’ make a run for it during worship because it was just too much for them handle. This alone is probably the biggest reason why I never had any desire to ‘bring my friends’ to a ‘service’ to encounter God.
Forcing people to take part in a sing-a-long while half the crowd is speaking in tongues and the other half is rolling on the floor is enough to send anybody running. It’s also not how to spread the gospel effectively. Maybe that’s why Paul said to not do those things when unbelievers visit our meetings… (1 Cor 14:23)
If only scripture was as important to the corporate church as the traditional way they have always been doing things for years…
In the Bible, people would always be running to Jesus. They would flock and crowd and press to be in His Presence. But when we attempt to ‘call down and host the presence corporately’ during our worship sessions, people run away. That tells me there is something not quite right. Any method of worship that scares away unbelievers is a bit suspect in my mind.
Many might say, ‘I can’t help how they react to our worship. I will worship God unashamedly!’ Nonsense! Of course you can help it. If you are inviting visitors to introduce them to the gospel, why are you choosing to do things that could potentially and purposefully alienate them, freak them out and make them not want to ever come back? That seems rather counterproductive.
On the other hand, I have friends who went to go worship in the middle of a new age festival. They set up their equipment and just started singing in the street. People flocked to them and many got saved that day. This might sound like the exact opposite of what I am saying but there is a slight difference. They allowed the Spirit to direct.
Is there room for the Spirit if we just inherently do the same thing over and over and over? Are we truly being led by the Spirit to worship in the exact same way every week in every church around the world? I somehow doubt it. I am asking these questions of myself and my own worship as much as I am asking it to the church.
Are we truly being led to worship in Spirit and truth, or are we just falling into formalism and hoping the Spirit will approve? Or have we so identified singing with worship that even though we know it’s not just about singing we can’t help but to always revert back to just singing?
I know there is a more excellent way to worship, one that doesn’t alienate and that doesn’t get stuck in formalism. One that truly glorifies Jesus and would want people to flock to Him.
Amos 5:21-24 “I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. 22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. 24 But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Justice and Righteousness. Actually serving and helping people is what God desires. That is true worship. And not just singing about it, actually doing something. The Message translation of this scripture really nails it for me.
“I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
To be continued… PS. Please share your views about how you define worship in the comments section below!
Cornel
