Worship in Spirit & Truth

Spirituality is a popular word today in our world. It embraces the idea that it is good to explore all the possibilities and take the good from all religions. Spirituality is such an accepted idea in our culture because it is so vague and requires nothing of you. When you say you embrace Jesus Christ as your savior and believe he is the only savior, you will offend many people today. Jesus’ words are offensive, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Those words are too narrow-minded and dismiss the possibility of affirming all religions and all saviors. The Bible is a polarizing book today because it leaves no room for any other savior. Listen to the prophet Isaiah: “Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?

You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Jesus says the kind of worship that God is looking for today is a people who worship God in spirit and truth: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23).

That simply means that our concept of God is informed from the Bible. The God we worship is the one described for us in the pages of scripture—the same God Joseph, Daniel, and the Apostle Paul worshiped. When we know him as our creator, our heavenly father, we will worship him will all of our spirit. We will put everything into our praise and worship.

When our concept of God (not the biblical concept) becomes our focus, there is no true worship. But also, there is no biblical morality. We all know that marriage and family are in trouble in this country. The primary reason is that people have grown up without an understanding of who God is. When we see who God is and what he requires and subscribe to these things in the very depth of our being, we will take his plan for relationships seriously. Not out of drudgery or fear but out of our love and awe of God.

In many churches, the sad truth is that worship is centered on “me” and my experience instead of God. This view produces a God who can be bribed or becomes a sort of Santa Claus rewarding us when we ask. Gone is the awe and reverence of which he is worthy.

Worship is not a mindless activity, and it doesn’t depend on our circumstances. When we love him, know him and worship him, we will experience the only true spirituality. If you believe that Jesus is your savior and deserves to be worshiped with all your heart, be prepared to offend people. I, for one, prefer to serve God and not the culture around that tries to dictate who God is and how he is to be worshiped. “Is there any God beside me” No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”