What is worship? That is: What is the nature of true, biblical worship?<\/p>\n
In response to the question, \u201cWhat is worship?\u201d many think primarily of singing. Indeed, Christians often ask each other, \u201cIs the worship in your church traditional or contemporary?\u201d The question, of course, refers to musical style. But biblically, worship is both much broader and much narrower than singing praise choruses together. Broader, in that worship includes much more than singing; narrower, in that it is perfectly possible to sing praise choruses for hours and never worship.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s probe this issue by examining a well-known passage that at first glance seems to have little to do with worship: Philippians 1:20-21. Paul is in prison, not knowing for certain what is ahead of him. But he maintains his focus on one central goal, writing:<\/p>\n
It is my eager expectation and hope . . . that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.<\/p>\n
Paul writes Philippians from prison. He has come close to death several times. Looking forward, he realizes he might live for several more years, or he might die soon. But neither possibility concerns him. Paul\u2019s concern, Paul\u2019s major desire, is that God be honored, or magnified.<\/p>\n
The Greek word translated \u201chonored\u201d here means to make large; we might say \u201cmake much of\u201d. Mary uses this same word in her song of rejoicing at the house of Elizabeth, saying, “My soul magnifies the Lord\u201d (Luke 1:46). The Greek translation of the Old Testament uses this same word often; a good example is Psalm 70:4: \u201cLet all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, \u2018Let God be magnified.\u2019\u201d Given the context of Philippians 1:20, I think it likely that Paul had Psalm 70 in mind as he wrote these words. He is rejoicing and being glad in God despite his circumstances; and he is asking that God would be magnified continually in his life and even in his death.<\/p>\n
Now, God created mankind to glorify Himself, as Isaiah 43:6b-7a tells us:<\/p>\n
Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.<\/p>\n
But to magnify, exalt, extol, or make much of the Lord is<\/em> to glorify Him. Thus Paul is fulfilling the purpose of creation even while in prison.<\/p>\n The implications for worship come out as we consider verse Philippians 2:21. Since this verse begins with the word “for”, it explains why verse 20 is true. Let’s consider how this explanation works for each of the two possibilities, life and death, in turn. Paul says, \u201cIt is my hope . . . that Christ will be honored in my body . . . by life . . . for to me to live is Christ.\u201d And Paul says, \u201cIt is my hope . . . that Christ will be honored in my body . . . by death . . . for to me . . . to die is gain.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you see what he is saying? Paul\u2019s death will honor or magnify Christ, because he knows that dying is gain \u2013 dying is \u201cfar better\u201d, as he says in verse 23. In his last seconds of life, Paul will be confident that he is being ushered into the very presence of Christ, to live with Him for all eternity, to see Him face to face, to know even as he is fully known; Paul knows that the Lord will give him the crown of righteousness. So he can go to his death honoring Christ by taking no account of the loss he is suffering. To be with Christ is better than to be alive; to have Christ for all eternity is better than to have all the possessions and accomplishments and fame the world has to offer. In this way, Paul honors Christ in his death.<\/p>\n What if he lives? Paul honors Christ in his life by saying, \u201cto live is Christ.\u201d He elaborates on this idea in chapter 3 verse 8:<\/p>\n Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.<\/p>\n Paul says nothing else matters to him other than knowing Christ Jesus. Remember, Paul was a man of considerable accomplishment and influence; he had been to the best schools, he was on a career track to be a leader of the Jews; indeed, he may have been on the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, at the time of his conversion. He likely was a man of some wealth also. But Paul threw all that away in order to follow Christ.<\/p>\n Furthermore, does Paul sit back and say, \u201cWeighing the two in the balance \u2013 knowing Christ versus all my worldly accomplishments and possessions \u2013 knowing Christ is a little better. I made the right decision\u201d? No! Paul says all that he once held dear is rubbish compared to knowing Christ. And \u201crubbish\u201d is a rather euphemistic translation of this crude Greek word, which was often used to refer to human excrement. There is no comparison. The value of Christ far surpasses the value of everything else. For Paul, to live is Christ. Thus, Paul honors or magnifies Christ in his life by living in such a way that all will see that Christ is worth far more to him than anything this world has to offer. Nothing else matters.<\/p>\n What does this have to do with worship? Everything! For worship in the New Testament does not refer to a regular religious event, but to the attitude of our hearts, and the continual outward expression of that attitude. Consider: When the Samaritan woman tries to divert Jesus from his pointed statement concerning her life by asking about the right place to worship, He emphasizes the internal attitude of worship by saying, \u201cTrue worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth\u201d (John 4:23). Paul tells us in view of God\u2019s mercies to \u201coffer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship\u201d (Romans 12:1). Our act of worship is thus a spiritual act \u2013 having the attitude that all of our time and all of our members belong to God, to be used for His glory. Thus when Paul writes, \u201cWhether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God\u201d (1 Corinthians 10:31), he is saying, \u201cMake all of your life worship! Value Christ above all, and display His value in all your outward actions \u2013 even seemingly trivial actions like eating and drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n So what is worship? Worship is acting and thinking and feeling in a way that reflects the glory of God. And the inner essence of worship is valuing Christ far above all earthly possessions and attainments. May we live in continual worship, and may God see fit to bring many more worshipers to Himself through us.<\/p>\n [This is a lightly edited excerpt from a longer document on worship written as we were laying the groundwork for planting this church. Here is the entire document<\/a>, which includes a section on why public worship is of great importance. John Piper’s exposition of Philippians 1:20-21<\/a> was helpful in preparation.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is worship? That is: What is the nature of true, biblical worship? In response to the question, \u201cWhat is worship?\u201d many think primarily of singing. 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