GOD DOESN’T NEED YOUR WORSHIP!

Thursday 13 March

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:21,23 (NKJV)

Did you know that Satan was never the choir director or worship leader in heaven? This is something that many have been told growing up in the Sunday school but it is simply not true. How do we know this? One undeniable fact.

Creation is a function of time and everything else besides God lives in time, space and matter. This means that man, angels and the entire universe was created in time. Remember Satan was originally Lucifer who was an angel. So where was God before time, space and matter began? Not in heaven if that’s what you were thinking.

Now we have established the fact that Satan was not in heaven with God performing his musical duties we can get back to our subject matter. God is the self sustaining, self existent One. He never breathes in. He is always breathing out. This tells us that He is never in need of anything, including our worship. It’s important to note that worship is part of praise.

The main way many believers worship God is through the medium of song. Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t use music as a form of praise and worship. There have been growing misconceptions about the purpose for which it is written. Many believe that it is for God. I don’t believe that this is the case. To God? Yes. for God? No.

So what has singing hymns and songs all been about? The simple answer is teaching theology. It has never been about emotionalism or outward acts of appreciation although these can be valid expressions and part of the process. Jesus Himself sang a hymn with His disciples before the conclusion of the Lord’s supper.

The challenge we have in the modern church of today is that songs are more about being artistically creative than teaching sound Word. Most songwriters and worship leaders lean more towards entertainment than ministry. To minister means essentially ‘to give’. The question then becomes; what are we giving?

As our opening passage declares we are to ‘worship the Father in Spirit and in truth’. But what does that worship look like? ‘Proskyneo’ in Greek means to kiss the hand like a dog licking its master’s hand as a token of reverence. To lay prostrate with your head down as a sign of respect for someone’s rank or position. This shows us that worship is more to do with reverence and obedience than singing three praise and three worship songs.

So we worship in spirit or ‘pneuma’ Greek which implies in the Spirit. The best way to worship in the Spirit is to worship in tongues. Truth is ‘aletheia’ and it means in reality. So we worship the Father in the Spirit and in reality. We can only do this when we receive the indwelling of the Spirit at the point of salvation.

Verse 24 reiterates this fact ‘God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’

Our worship of Him will be in direct relation to our knowledge of Him. If we only have one hammer in the toolbox so to speak, it limits our understanding of how we can worship Him in other ways or with other tools to keep the analogy going.

Jesus alone who is God made manifest is worthy of all our worship, praise, adoration, adulation and much more. It is us who needs to express it fully and use songs and hymns to teach correct doctrine. We are the ones in need of praising and worshipping Him. He appreciates it but remember this, He doesn’t need it!

APPLICATION

Be mindful of the Christian songs that you sing and be intentional about what you are being taught through the lyrical content.