“I worship Jesus.”
Holy crap, that sentence still makes me cringe with the Heebie Jebus. I can still remember when I first heard someone say that. I was around 16 and all I could think was that the word worship was one of the strangest words that I had ever heard a “normal” person say in a conversation. To be honest…it seemed like a bad word.
Worshiping satan came to mind.
And so did cult members.
Oh, and strange Jesus camps where kids get brainwashed.
It was just kind of…weird, to hear another kid my age say, “I worship Jesus.”
I didn’t talk to that kid anymore. He freaked me out. We Christians have a way of freaking people out on a regular basis. We’re good at it. I’m not so sure God wants us to be good at it…but we are.
But it doesn’t have to be weird.
Here’s the thing…
Our church has a worship team. It’s comprised of some incredible musicians and it’s led by my good friend Jon. I cannot express how proud of them I am. They’ve been working their fingers to the bone to help us as a church body to connect with our God. Their job is to usher, we the people, into the presence of a worship set that’s already been going on for ages.
Tonight: Our team of worshipers are recording their very first LIVE WORSHIP CD. It’s going to be incredible. It’s also going to be available for sale to the masses…which means what we’ve been doing at little old Vineyard Westside is going to go out further into the atmosphere.
More info on the CD availability to come.
But, here’s the question:
27 Comments
Worship is a lifestyle that I need to engage in more often.
Worship is surrendering everything I have and everything I am to Jesus, at that very moment. It’s acknowledging that I am nothing without Him and that I need Him every day. It is singing with reckless abandon to my Jesus who loves me. It’s raising my hands to the heavens and giving praise to my Lord. That is worship for me.
Worship is the communication of love, awe, and thanks to God. Communication of those same things to a person, is love. God is love.
Nella
Worship to me is straight up being in the presence of our God whether it is corporate worship or personal private worship. Whether we are singing out loud praises to Him with others or worshiping with our lives and hearts throughout the week…it is an important element in our relationship with Christ. Great post.
Btw…your little gal and boy remind me so much of my own little family. My daughter Madi is 3 and my boy Sean is 4 months. God is good.
Worship to me is focus. Focusing all of my energy, my mind, my heart on Him. Why?? So the earth and every crazy thing in it grows dim in comparison.
Worship for me is the full-on acknowlegement of God’s supremacy. Whether hands-to heaven with voice raised or on my knees in supplication, worship is about God being so big and me being so very small.
I wonder if that is part of what makes “worship” such a difficult word sometimes. (i totally agree that it can carry some scary conitations) As humans we are proud and in our society we are taught the virtue of strength; perhaps it can be unsettling when we openly talk of our fragility and weakness.
When I hear the word worship I have the feeling of very deep love and great respect for The Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Expressing my adoration for The Trinity during fellowship & any service with God’s children.
Reverence and honor.
The word “worship” doesn’t bug me. But the term “our God” does. I guess it makes me feel as if we’re saying, “ours, not yours,” as if we own Him, and that makes me uncomfortable. God is God.
To me, worship is what we do every minute of the day,in our daily prayer, committing our heart, head and soul to God, following His law the best we can.
It’s funny to really think about it. I grew up going to church immersed in Christian life. WORSHIP was what we did before the sermon. It’s what was way better when we went to Forest Home camp for Summer or Winter camp…. The band was always rock’n.
But worship now means something different. It’s what can make me cry. It’s what I do to show God that I love Him. It’s what knocks people to their knees. It’s what I can’t wait to do someday with brothers and sisters from every tribe and nation at the Feet of Jesus.
I was raised without religion so I’m going to be totally honest here, worship to me follows in the same suit as blind faith. I don’t like it’s connotations but I realize that’s putting more into that word than is really there. Worship equal zealot in my book. Yes, I do realize that word does not mean that but I’ve met too many blind faith zealot worshipers to equate it to anything else. I guess you could probably say I’m one of those people who, if you met, you’d probably try and reach out to. The good news is I wouldn’t run screaming. I’m too old and out of shape to out run you.
In “The Practice of the Presence of God” Brother Lawrence who lived in the 1600s stated that worshipping God was in the cleaning of pots and pans because God had given him grace to work. We love God and worship Him through the work He gives us to do.
ADORATION
DEVOTION
SURRENDER
The love song of my heart to the Lord of my life.
When I truly love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, my life poured out as an act of worship is the natural result.
Provocative question. Thanks for the challenge, again.
My first response was to contemplate how the term worship is used in secular life as well as in a sacred context (as most have responded here). How worship can be a spectrum encompassing innocence to experience. Wicca to black arts. The Divine to Earthly Delights. Worship can be about power–the giving and receiving, or a constant returning, a renewing. Worship can be unrequited, blind, empty, and dangerous. Or sustaining. Worship for one generation or culture may not be the same for another. Yes, worship is a strange, loaded word with an interesting etymology as well as multiple modern usages.
Thanks to all who have responded; I found your interpretations and explanations very engaging.
To me, worship is a strange word as well. I think of being a servant to Christ- I pray to Him, I try my best to BE my best and I try to be open to impressions and prompting that will lead me to be the person I greatly desire to be.
I think who we serve is apparent in our thoughts and it what we do with our time when no one is watching. I am excited about this praise music! I am a convert to the LDS church where the music is all organ
and I must admit, I miss the bass, the drums, and the beat… a lot…
Worship is expressing my love and gratitude to my savior, Jesus. I sometimes do it in prayer, song, Bible study, quiet reflection, or even just sitting quietly outside and enjoying the world He has created!
Wow, what wonderful thoughts you all have. I have never thought of worship as a negative, but I can see that it can be. GB — I LOVE the book “Practicing the Presence of God”, I try to read it every year. I would recommend it for anyone who is looking for a closer walk with God.
To me, worship is a connection with God via thought, song, prayer, reading, work, working out, tithes & offerings, and all of my life. Not as a ritual or routine, but with the heart. It is a means to spend time with Him as my Lord, and me as His beloved child. It is a daily thing, and I hope by the time I step off this planet, I can say that I am in this place of worship every day. Right now, I am not, but I’m not giving up, and thankfully, He hasn’t given up on me either. *whew*
It don’t get better than that…. Thanks, God. You rock. :}
Might sound crazy… but to me…
Worship is…. Longing
according to the Free online Dictionary it is…
desire, hope, wish, burning, urge, ambition, hunger, yen (informal), hungering, aspiration, ache, craving, yearning, coveting, itch, thirst, hankering He felt a longing for the familiar.
I know.. it sounds crazy…
Worship is something other people do so that they can feel justified when they judge, condemn, etc., other people who are just as much God’s as they are. It’s an ego booster, so you really have to wonder who it is they are really worshipping: God or themselves…
To me, worship is very personal, quiet and peaceful. God knows exatly what is in my heart…no matter how quiet I am or how shy I might be around others.
I have just recently begun to take the word ‘worship’ out of the prison of church land…I now understand that to simply live is worship. It isn’t about getting worked up in the Spirit or raising my hands, or going to some special place to do it…These are activities that I do with my community of faith in a concentrated manner of focus on God. These things are good. These things are fun, I love these things. But they are only one aspect - a formal aspect of ‘worship’. And the best worship IMHO cannot be planned or forced, it is not a ’should’, it is not something that if we don’t work it into our schedule we are somehow shorting God…The best worship I think happens when we don’t even realize it…In laughing with friends. In eating a good meal. In looking at a sunrise and smiling. In loving another person with all that we have. Jesus talks alot about nature…He says to watch the lilies of the field, the birds in the sky. They don’t get worked up or worried, they don’t stop and do anything special that is labeled ‘worship’…They do what they were made to do…LIVE. And in that, God takes pleasure…In that they point to the awesomeness of their Creator. Jesus also said that if his people didn’t speak for Him, that the rocks would cry out…The rocks. Think about that…What do rocks do? They exist. Just where God placed them. And their very existence as rocks speak about the majesty of God. Jesus came to restore to us this simplicity. The relationship between God and His Creation that people destroyed when they decided they wanted to be able to manufacture their own value through the works of their hands. All along the only thing God wanted from us was to LIVE. And in doing so, come to know Him because He made us. We’ve turned it into so much other noise that His still, small voice sometimes gets drowned out….So….Let’s get Undignified in our enjoyment of LIFE. In doing so, God’s greatness will be seen.
Praising my God and Savior every day, hour, minute, second of my life.
Sometimes it is sitting at my piano and singing when the Lovin’ Husband isn’t home. I get goose bumps.
Sometimes it is walking down the backroad that I live on and praying - or working in my garden.
Sometimes it is watching the kids at church learn something.
Worship is something that I crave. To glorify God and be just me while doing it is worship to me.
At this moment, it is being a mom to 3 boys, modeling and teaching them about the love of Jesus and finding time all throughout the day to praise Him in the little things. Our God is so good.
I think these are all great answers but in the most general sense I think everyone worships whether they know it or not. It’s what you put above everything else. Money, prestige, that coveted office with the window, approval, sex, ect. I think billions of people are active in worship of some kind or another and have no idea that’s what it is. They are filling an innate need without knowing it. I think millions of people who claim to worship God have at least two masters. It’s cynical but that’s my take on it.
I guess what you’re really getting at is that worship has different forms for different people. I consider myself a Christian because that’s how I was raised. I love God and pray and have a sincere feeling that God is always with me, guiding me, and I am always thankful for that. I believe that he is the driving force in my life, even though I’m always trying to control my own life. I firmly believe that God doesn’t mind me having a beer a few times a week, or even drinking too much sometimes. God doesn’t mind that I live with my boyfriend because God knows we’ll be married and will live together for the rest of our lives anyway. I spent years trying to be the Christian I thought I was supposed to be, but always wondered why I never fit into the mold. I have since traveled- with very little money, and that turned out to be the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve met people who are different from me in every way, but are still wonderful, giving and praise their God in their way. I now understand that worship doesn’t have to be a conformed idea and that loving God, giving thanks for the wonderful things in life and remembering that it’s all because of God’s grace that I’m able to do these things is the most important thing to remember. In short, loving others is how I worship God.
Worship to me is every moment of every day. I worship Him in all that I do. I worship Him by being a good Mom to my kids and teaching them who Jesus is and what his grace and mercy gift is to them. I teach them to give his grace and mercy to others in their lives. Every moment is worship…music is just an incredible plus in that…