What is worship?
Ed Jones, Pastor
Worship is a tricky word. Whenever we hear it, we think of Sunday morning services with four to six hymns, communion, a sermon, and closing prayer. Funny thing is that our most significant worship occurs between Monday and Friday. That’s because everything we think, say or do is a result of some type of worship. Pastor Paul Tripp says that worship is our identity before it is ever our activity.
Everyone worships. The only choice we get is who or what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god…to worship…is that pretty much everything else you worship will deceive you. If you worship money and things, if those things are where you tap real meaning in life, you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths. On one level, we all know this stuff already.
And paraphrasing John Chapter 4, Jesus says, “Unless you’re worshipping me, unless I’m the center of your life, unless you’re trying to get your spiritual thirst quenched through me and not through these other things, then whatever you worship will abandon you in the end. I love you. I will never abandon you. Follow me.”
From past experience as a counselor, I’ve learned that people will voluntarily tell you the most important thing(s) in their lives if you just engage them in dialogue and let them do most of the talking. For instance, the man who talks mostly of his job or profession gets his sense of identity and fulfillment from his work. We all know someone like that. He worships his work, and when he leaves the office, he’s driving away from the place where he finds his meaning, his purpose, his excitement, his joy – no wonder he’s irritable and demanding when he gets home.
If you think I may be overstating the situation, take the mental test that follows; if you’re unsure of the answer, your spouse or best friend can help.
1. Most of my time is spent __________.
2. If I could shift the use of my time, I would spend more time __________.
3. Other than food, necessary clothing and shelter, most of my money is spent on __________.
4. If I could shift the use of my money, I would use/give it to __________.
5. I often show the greatest amount of anger, impatience, or discontentment over __________.
6. In conversation, I tend to spend the majority of my time talking about __________.
These questions are a starting point. They scratch at the surface of our object(s) of worship and give insight into just who we are and what we live for.
Ed Jones pastors Fellowship at the Ranch Church at Robson Ranch. This nondenominational church meets at the Robson Clubhouse on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. Visit Fellowship’s website: www.fellowshipattheranchchurch.com for information.