Written by Bob Kauflin
WHY DEFINE WORSHIP?
Why spend time defining worship? Is it really that big a deal? Isn’t it more important that we simply do it?
It’s hard for us to know whether or not we’re doing something if we’re not sure what that "something" is. If I define "eating" as simply looking at food, you wouldn’t enjoy coming over to my house to "eat." If "breathing" is something I only do when I get with a group of people on Sunday mornings, then how do I describe what I do the rest of the time?
I heard theologian David Peterson say that defining words is important because not only do we use words, but words use us. That’s true, even if we’re unaware of it. Once we assign meaning to a word, it both reflects and shapes our world view. That’s why conversations about evangelicalism, the emerging church, or even Christianity can be confusing. We have to agree on what those words actually MEAN.
"Worship" is anther one of those words. When someone refers to worship, they can be talking about any number of things: a time of singing, a meeting, a style of music, a certain type of religious liturgy, a mystical experience, something in contrast to "praise," or a type of Christian band. Do any of these comments sound familiar?
"By the third song, I was really worshipping." [Who or what were you worshipping before the third song?]
"Worship gets me to the place where I don’t have to think about anything." [Worshipping God actually requires thinking very clearly about the Word, works, and worthiness of God.]
"Will there be worship at the meeting?" [Definitely. The question is of who or what.]
"With only 20 minutes, we really didn’t have time to worship." [As though we "warm up" to worship God, rather than seek to honor him with our every thought and action.]
"Fred is doing the worship this morning." [Hopefully, everyone else will join in.]
"I really love your worship." [This is a comment I sometimes get after leading God’s praise in song. I usually respond by saying, "I hope you worshipped too!"]
"Susie’s a real worshipper!" [This probably means that Susie is physically expressive when she sings songs of praise to God. Whether that means she’s a worshipper of God or not requires a little more information.]
Please don’t misunderstand these comments. I’m not encouraging anyone to become the "word police." There are few things more obnoxious than someone who misses your main point because they’re adjusting your use of a certain word (and my friends have told me more than once I’m that obnoxious person). However, thinking and speaking of worship more broadly and biblically will both clarify some of our discussions and, more importantly, contribute to consistently passionate and God-honoring actions in all of life.
DEFINING WORSHIP
Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) once said "Every definition is dangerous." That may explain why when we try to define a word simply and precisely we often end up missing significant aspects of the word we’re defining. Attempts at explaining worship as "love," or "intimacy," or "relationship" say something true, but end up leaving out more than they contribute to our understanding of worship.
In spite of Erasmus’ warning, over the years I’ve come across numerous definitions of "worship" that have caused me think about worship more biblically.
Harold Best, in his book, Music Through the Eyes of Faith, defines worship in the broadest sense as "acknowledging that someone or something else is greater - worth more - and by consequence, to be obeyed, feared, and adored…Worship is the sign that in giving myself completely to someone or something, I want to be mastered by it. (pg. 143)
We want to be mastered the objects of our worship. And indeed we are. We worship whatever rules our time, energy, thoughts, longings, and choices. "Those who make them [idols] become like them; so do all who trust in them." (Psalm 115:8, ESV)
A definition of worship that I appreciate for its simplicity and clarity is by Warren Wiersbe, who writes: "Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are - mind, emotions, will, body - to what God is and says and does." (Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship, p. 26)
I’ve used that definition, or something similar, when I want to accent that worship can’t be half-hearted, and is all about God’s character, words, and acts.
David Peterson, in his wonderful book, Engaging with God, unpacks what at first blush is a more sterile, but nevertheless insightful, definition: "Worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible." (Engaging with God, pg. 20)
Peterson’s definition highlights God’s initiative, authority, and enabling power in our worship. Dr. Dan Block, who until recently was a Professor of Old Testament at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, defines true worship as "reverential human acts of submission and homage before the divine Sovereign, in response to his gracious revelation of himself, and in accordance with his will." (from Dr. Block’s For the Glory of God. course notes)
This is the first definition that specifically mentions what many of the biblical words for worship imply - submission and homage.
Well, this post is already longer than I anticipated. But, here’s one more from William Temple’s (1881-1944) Readings in St. John’s Gospel.
"Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His Beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose - and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin".
Amen.
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