The Heart of Worship

Christians today must endure a barrage of offensives from the secular world. The Bible and truths it stands upon are condemned and regularly criticized; life as a “true-blooded” Christian is anything but simple. The saddest and most debilitating aspect of this, however, is that the struggle does not stop outside the church. No, sadly Christians bring the fight into the sanctuary. They deface a building symbolic of the unity under Christ with their petty arguments on how to “do church.” Everyone has an “opinion,” though it is clear each individual considers it more than that.

But what if we reconsidered what it means to “go to church”? Why does it need to be done a certain way? Quite simply, it does not need to be done in a particular manner. While some aspects are absolutely biblical and should be practiced in every church (these including the preaching of the Gospel, prayer, and so on), there are many things part of tradition considered “fact,” when these elements are nothing more than preferences certain people have become used to and comfortable practicing.

I have always been told that worship “is our mind’s attention and heart’s affection focused completely on God.” How powerful would it be to gather believers into a unified body – no, a unified organism – and worship God with that definition in mind? If a church service was conducted with the continual reminder in the hearts of believers to be focused on God and worship him, as it says in John 4:24, in “spirit and in truth,” Christians would learn to discern the difference between their preference and their need to conduct themselves biblically!

Do not get me wrong, I am completely aware that people have a particular type of song style or preaching style they might be more comfortable with while participating in worship. However, deviations from one’s particular liking should not give anyone reason to start a fight. A church of hymns and “old-school preaching” can have an equally God-honoring time of worship as an upbeat church might practice.

One day soon, all Christians will be gathered before God. We will all be together, bowing before his thrown, laying down our crowns before Him. Together we will join with the angels and praise God for all eternity; would we be petty enough to debate the style of song we use? Of course not, we will be too occupied with honoring God with our entire being!

What I am getting at is this: if we will be able to join with Christians together before the throne of God and worship Him in “spirit and in truth,” with our minds’ attention and hearts’ affection completely and utterly focused on and consumed by Him, what is there to gain from bickering over grievances like worship styles? Preferences make us unique and reflect the creativity of God, but they should bring us together in a glorious union of believers, not divide us and tarnish the name of Christ.

A Simple, Life-Changing Testimony

As a young child, I had always been exposed to “God” and “church.” Of course, this was because I was the child of a pastor; being in church around “Christians” was “the norm” for me. I learned quite a bit about a man named Jesus in my time there; Jesus, who they always said died for the wrong things I did, these so-called “sins” because he loved me even though I did things that hurt and upset him. I learned of how he loved me and what he did for me in dying and then coming back to life again so that I could be in a place called heaven with him forever, but it never entirely made sense to me.

However, one day around the age of four, I suddenly brought up the topic with my father. He was thrown off-guard about my sudden curiosity of how to be with Jesus. He explained to me that Jesus was God’s son, and that he came to earth and lived a perfect life and did nothing wrong. He told me that Jesus did all this so he could die on the cross to take the punishment I was supposed to get because of the bad things I had done, but Jesus did it so I could ask him to save me from my sins - the term for my wrongful actions, as he called them - because the only way I could ever go to heaven and live with God was by Jesus dying for me. I wanted to take this offer, so I proceeded to ask my father how I was supposed to do this. He explained that I needed to talk to Jesus, what he always called “praying,” and tell him that I had done those wrong things but that I believed that he did die on the cross for me and that I wanted him to save me so I could be in heaven. I did just that, and that was the start of a new beginning for me.

My life was then something of progress for Jesus’ sake. I wanted to learn more about him from the Bible, God’s perfect text that he gave to man so we can know more about him and what he does for us. I struggled with my convictions and eventually decided to recommit myself in what it means to be a person that trusts in Jesus and what he did for me. I have continued to read the Bible and talk to him (even though he doesn’t audibly respond). No one is saying it has been easy, but I am glad I reached a point where I could say I understood what it means when people say that Jesus died on a cross and rose again to pay the price for the punishment God reserved for me and my wrongdoings.

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