Worship For Your Week - October
This blog exists to help fuel our worship - to help us see and savor God as the greatest treasure in all of existence! We'll be posting playlists of songs and a brief reflection on particular issues related to worship.
Defining Worship
When I say worship, what comes to mind? Maybe, for many of us, it is a particular outward spiritual activity. Maybe we think of someone going to a temple or singing a hymn, praying out loud or gathering together for a church service.
These things definitely relate to worship, but are they at the core of what worship is? I believe the Bible says not. Understanding worship as merely an outward spiritual activity is not going quite far enough...
See, the Bible says that worship is our identity - who we are - before it is ever an activity - what we do. We were all created as worshippers. Speaking of those rejecting God, Romans 1 says this: "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and they worshipped and served the created things rather than the Creator" (v. 25). In other words, at any given moment, we are either worshipping the Creator God or the created things of God.
The difference isn't in whether or not we worship - the difference is in the object or content of our worship.
Louie Giglio says this: "Worship is what you were made for. You are a worshipper. Everyday, all day long, everywhere you go, you worship. It's what you do. It's who you are. The simplest definition I can give is that worship is our response to what we value most. It's what we're all about on any given day. Because, worship is about saying, 'This person, this thing, this experience (this whatever) is what matters most to me... it's the thing I put first and value most in my life'" (Giglio, Wired: For a Life of Worship).
So worship is not merely singing songs or going to a religious service. It is not limited to when you read your Bible or pray in your room. Worship is not simply an outward spiritual activity. No, it is first an inward experience of the heart.
Again, worship is all about what your heart values and treasures most - what you love supremely. Which means that right here, right now - for me and for you - there is a war that wages for our worship.
Will we worship the created or the Creator? Will we ultimately pursue and love the things God made, or will we treasure the God who made us, seeing the Gospel of Jesus as the most beautiful and supremely valuable reality?
May we be those who, along with Paul, cry from our hearts: "Whatever I once thought was valuable, I now consider worthless in light of Christ. Yes, I consider everything as worthless when compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord!" (Philippians 3:7).
Be sure to check out this month's playlist on Spotify or YouTube.
