Worship In Spirit & Truth

By Elder Michael V. Johnson

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” ~John 4:23 (NIV) 

Jesus said that true worshipers will worship God in Spirit and Truth. It is imperative that we understand what that means. But before we talk about what it does mean, let's consider what it does not mean.

Worshiping in Spirit does not necessarily mean worship that is always "spirited", meaning enthusiastic or excited. I say that because your worship will be dependent upon your heart. At times the heart will be joyous and excited as was the case when Miriam and the women of Israel worshipped God following their deliverance from the Egyptian army (Ex. 15:20-21). At other times the heart may be sorrowful and subdued as surely must have been the case when David worshipped God following the death of his infant son (2 Sam. 12:19-20). Although the worship was different, the spirit in which it was done was the same. 

I believe that worshiping in spirit refers to worship that emanates from the spirit of man. Paul said in Romans 1:9, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son." Because God is Spirit! This is what the scripture tells us in (John. 4:24). The true worshipper will worship God with that part of himself that is made in the image of God, his spirit.

So true worship then is worship from the inside out. In reaction to dull, routine, lifeless, boring worship services, many who yearn for a more meaningful, gratifying religious experience, are crying out that they need more emotion, more feeling in their worship to God. But there is a real danger in trying to produce externally what must emanate from the heart. Our efforts to "improve" the worship are only efforts to regulate the worship, and most times have little or nothing to do with improving the hearts out of which true worship must come. The Spirit of God flows! The hypocrisy of traditional services can never take the place of genuine worship! Improving the worship is part of the whole job of turning people to God, getting them to partake of the divine nature right? But it’s not the "service" that needs changing; it's the people that must be changed.

 

You see, the Text makes us worship something far deeper than the human emotion or surrender of will; it is the response of God's Spirit in us, to that Spirit in Him, whereby we cry out "Abba” (Father), deep calling unto deep. Its object is not ingratiation, which is unnecessary, or propitiation, which has been made once for all, but it is the loving attempt to pay our unpayable debt of love, the expression of devoted hearts, "rendering as bullocks the offering of our lips" (Hosea 14:2). It is not a physical act or material offering, but an attitude of mind. Not the service of form in an outward sanctuary, like the presentation of slain animals in ancient times, but the service of love in a life, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1). Not material sacrifices, but spiritual, “Your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). Not the service behind an altar of glass or wood, but about the sanctuary of human life and need, “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27). Not shiny robes or the sounding music of drums and organs, but the worshiping glory of holy lives, in real fact, "Hallowing Thy name" (Matthew 6:9). The most opportune time for the Holy Spirit to enter the worship service is when the call of the saints are cried out unto God, because the first element of worship is adoration. Worshiping in Spirit and Truth tells God how much we love Him. 

Carpe Diem,

~Elder Michael V. Johnson