You have gotten up early, you got dressed, you drove the distance, even if it was snowing, and you walked into the building. You were either ushered to a seat or found your own. The musicians are on the stage and than the worship leader asks you to stand for worship. This is probably what 80 percent of Christians today think worship is. To worship for most who attend church means singing, whether that is classic hymns or more modern contemporary tunes. But is that really what worship is or can it be something else? What does it mean to worship? Who are we worshipping? Is there a rule or command that tells us how? Does it matter if it’s public or private? Is there a scripture about worship?

Today, I’m going to attempt to tackle those questions and define worship according to the Bible. I also will be pointing out that it is my belief that probably 80-90 percent of so-called worship songs are not actually worshipping God at all. This doesn’t mean there is something wrong with singing them or listening to them, but maybe they shouldn’t be called worship in your church on Sunday. If you’re going to call something praise music even, should it not actually praise God? Please pay attention to the songs being sung in your church and listen to the words to know what you are actually singing. Again, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not against many of these songs as I enjoy listening to and playing on my ukulele at home, many contemporary Christian songs. There are of course some of these songs that you should question if you should be listening to or signing them. Words are important. Some people argue that you should know the singers and writers of the songs to know from where it came, who are they, are they true believers or not. While I agree sometimes this is a factor, you will probably know this if you listen to the words being sung. This does not make these songs evil or the people who produce them. We should pray for everyone to learn the truth of God’s word and for them to come to a right relationship with him through his son Jesus.

What scripture says:

Paul begins Romans chapter 12 this way, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” So here we see one example of worship in the New Covenant. What does this mean? It is my opinion this means we live in obedience to God and surrender to him. We must present ourselves humbly before the sovereign God and live a life that pleases him. When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father after his resurrection he sent the Spirit to dwell in us. The spirit should live in all believers and he is responsible for convicting us and guiding us to live in obedience to God. How do we show God we love him? We show him by our actions and our actions according to Paul here is a form of worship. These actions include reading God’s word to know him and live by faith.

One author looks at Ezra chapter 3 for what worship looks like. They put it this way, “It says that even before the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, the people began offering burnt offerings to the Lord. No temple. No finished altar. Yet still, they worshipped. Before the celebration came the sacrifice. Before the fulfillment, the faithfulness. That’s what true worship looks like. It’s obedience in the waiting. It’s choosing to honor God not after the breakthrough, but before it. True worship costs us something; it’s not polished or pretty, but it’s pure. Because it doesn’t depend on our circumstances; it responds to who God is.” (From the website, Biblical Christian Worldview) I couldn’t have said it any better. Worship isn’t about singing. Go ahead and sing to your heart’s content, but that is not how the Bible describes worship. No doubt it’s how your church describes it. But have you listened to the words sung in your church? Are they really worshipping God? In my experience most don’t. There are a lot of self-centered songs being song, or songs about feelings but these are not songs about worship or praise.

Meanings of words

The Merriam Webster definition of ‘worship’ includes, “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion”. Anything can be worshipped. People worship celebrities, political figures, in-animate objects such as their cars, and many other things. Dictionary.com defines ‘praise’ as, “the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation”. These 2 words are often used together but they have slightly different meanings. We worship out of great respect for who God is and we want to show our worship by honoring him. We praise God for what he has done. Still, I encourage you to listen to the words in the songs sung at your church. You may well question if either of these things are being conveyed in them. In my own experience during “worship” time I can tell you that many songs do neither. True worship is not in song, it’s inside you, your deep respect and regard for the Father and likewise, Christ, and you praise him because he is merciful, gracious and deserving of glory, honor and love. You don’t need to sing to do this, this should be part of your daily life as Paul described. So should worship be done in public or private? It should be both because it is in how you live.

The songs we sing

Here are a few problems with songs often sung in church and when you listen see if they fit into these categories.

• It’s all about my feelings or emotions – how many times do you sing me or I?
• It’s about what I can do or am going to do for Jesus instead of what he did for us
• It’s about blessings and not praising – I’m blessed vs Bless the name of Jesus
• It’s not biblically accurate – this one means you need to know scripture. There’s nothing wrong with singing scripture but it needs to be theologically accurate and not twisted
• Is it “patriotic”? If it is, leave it out. I’m looking at you, “America the beautiful”
• Is it envoking the holy spirit or Jesus? I call this mysticism and it doesn’t belong and it is not worship. Example : “holy spirit you are welcome here, come flood this place and fill the atmosphere”. There is zero point to that phrase and it is unbiblical. The spirit indwells believers and there’s no need to invite him to fill any space or atmosphere. He is not a magical force filling your sanctuary.
• Does the song ever mention the God you are claiming to worship? You might be surprised that most DO NOT. There are a mountain of songs that use the words, you, or your but if an unbeliever heard them they would have no idea this was about God or Christ as it could literally be about a romantic partner. If you’re singing a worship song to praise God, why don’t you address him?

Conclusion

This is only some of what you should consider when signing songs and calling them worship or praise for that matter. If it’s about you, it is neither of those things. If it is meant to stir an emotional response in you, than you are not worshipping God, you are thinking about yourself. This is not say that music can’t in some ways bring us to our knees in reverence to God for who he is and what he has done, but self centered songs don’t belong in our playlists, in my opinion. So, if you don’t sing in church, it’s okay. If you sing some but not all the songs because you don’t like the message being conveyed, it’s okay. Use discernment and know that not singing in church doesn’t mean you don’t, aren’t or can’t worship God anywhere. I sing some, not all and I play my ukulele at home to whatever songs I want at home in private but more important I want to worship God in my actions, my daily living, to glorify and honor him in my daily speech and actions. I want to know him and know the truth so I study the Word. I want to praise him for who he is and what he has done to reconcile me to him though the blood if Jesus and this can be done by telling him in prayer. Worship is not music. Worship is actions.

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

I’ll repeat myself to make it clear, music is not worship, action is worship. That doesn’t mean we can not appreciate the music we hear when they thoughtfully sing to the God we read about in scripture; the powerful, gracious, merciful, just, and loving God whom we should worship with our whole selves every day in our actions. Living in faithful obedience to him is worship. I know it’s not a popular opinion by many Christians, but I stand by what I said in a previous post, the Bible is not about us, it’s about God. How do you apply the Bible to your life? You worship the God the Bible is revealing to you. How? You live in faithful obedience to him and you continually be transformed knowing your salvation is secure because of Jesus. What is obedience to God? Read the Bible, it tells you. Read it knowing it is about God, not about you. Every passage of every chapter and every book is about God.

Just for fun I’m leaving this video here for you to enjoy.

Scripture used taken from the Christian Standard Bible translation. https://read.csbible.com/