How Big is Your Worship?

How big is your worship? When you worship the creator of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, does such worship appear big or small in your estimation?

I’ve written before that “worship is a lifestyle which one reveres and honors God. It is an ongoing act which should never cease. However, there are times when one puts a special emphasis on worship (bowing down on one’s face and such). There are also times when groups of people put a special emphasis on collective worship (i.e., worship services).”

This remains true. Worship is a broad concept encompassing the whole of the Christian life. It involves our devotion to God as our creator and our allegiance to his plans for both the world and for our personal lives.

As I’ve also written, “Too often, Christians think worship is simply and only going into a room once a week to sing songs, pray, and hear a sermon.”

We too often fall into the trap of pale reductionism when it comes to worship, mistaking the part for the whole. It’s akin to walking into the Sistine Chapel and focusing one’s attention completely on the Creation of Man while ignoring the magnificence of all that Michelangelo has created.

But even if we reduce worship to one building, one room, once a week, we still find that the act of worshipping God is multi-formed and multi-tasked.

We worship God with singing (Psalm 68:4), with bowing down (Psalm 95:6), with pipes and trumpets (Psalm 150:3, 4), with stringed instruments (Psalm 81:2; 150:3, 4), with dancing (Psalm 149:3; 150:4), with drums (Exodus 15:20; 1 Samuel 18:6; Psalm 81:2; Isaiah 30:32).

We can also worship God with our service. The word latreuō (λατρεύω) is found throughout the New Testament and is translated as either worship or service (Philippians 3:3; Luke 2:37; 2 Timothy 1:3; Acts 24:14; Revelation 7:15; 22:3). It is related to latreia (λατρεία) which is the service of God connected with the sacred religious services (Romans 9:4; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 9:1, 6).

All this is what Scripture teaches, but too often we allow our traditions and personal preferences to limit our worship experience and, even worse, to dictate how we expect others to praise their creator.

We can’t all play musical instruments to worship God. Why then are we all expected to sing? Are we all required to bow down as an act of Sunday worship? Are we all required to dance? Why do we consider worship the sum total of sitting down to listen to a sermon but not the act of serving God?

Again, it’s like a tour guide escorting a group of people into the Sistine Chapel and demanding that they everyone focus their attention exclusively on the Creation of Man or else they will be accused of not appreciating art.

When one expects others to adhere to a particular method of worship and to conform to a particular pattern, then that is legalism.

When one mistakes the part for the whole, then we limit our potential to experience authentic worship of God and hinder others from a greater experience.

Then again, if our conception of worship is small, then maybe it is because our conception of God is small. How big is your God?