Nov4
Defining Worship
Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) once said “Every definition is dangerous.” That may explain why when we try to define a word simply and precisely we often end up missing significant aspects of the word we’re defining. Attempts at explaining worship as “love,” or “intimacy,” or “relationship” say something true, but end up leaving out more than they contribute to our understanding of worship.
In spite of Erasmus’ warning, over the years I’ve come across numerous definitions of “worship” that have caused me think about worship more biblically.
Harold Best, in his book Music Through the Eyes of Faith defines worship in the broadest sense as “acknowledging that someone or something else is greater – worth more – and by consequence, to be obeyed, feared, and adored…Worship is the sign that in giving myself completely to someone or something, I want to be mastered by it. (pg. 143)
We want to be mastered the objects of our worship. And indeed we are. We worship whatever rules our time, energy, thoughts, longings, and choices. “Those who make them [idols] become like them; so do all who trust in them.” ( Psa. 115:8, ESV)
A definition of worship that I appreciate for its simplicity and clarity is by Warren Wiersbe, who writes:
Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are – mind, emotions, will, body – to what God is and says and does. (Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship, p. 26)
I’ve used that definition, or something similar, when I want to accent that worship can’t be half-hearted, and is all about God’s character, words, and acts.
David Peterson, in his wonderful book Engaging with God unpacks what at first blush is a more sterile, but nevertheless insightful, definition:
“Worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible. (Engaging with God, pg. 20)
Peterson’s definition highlights God’s initiative, authority, and enabling power in our worship.
Dr. Dan Block, who until recently was a Professor of Old Testament at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, defines true worship as “reverential human acts of submission and homage before the divine Sovereign, in response to his gracious revelation of himself, and in accordance with his will.” (from Dr. Block’s For the Glory of God. course notes)
This is the first definition that specifically mentions what many of the biblical words for worship imply - submission and homage.
Well, this post is already longer than I anticipated. But, here’s one more from William Temple’s (1881-1944) Readings in St. John’s Gospel.
“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His Beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin”.
Amen.
Read Part 2 of Defining Worship
For more on this topic, download the following free message from the Sovereign Grace site:
Worship: What Really Matters by Bob Kauflin
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I really liked this article a lot. Worship is truly more than just sing on Sunday mornings. Everything we do is to honor God. One way that I think of it is that I need to worship God in every part of my life. That doesn’t mean pray every second or play a worship song or evangelize every moment of my life, but it does call on me to realize that God deserves all glory and obedience from me. Some worship times are more intense, like on Sunday morning.
Comment by Ben Cook — November 1, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
Dear Brothers ,
I am so glad to write after passing through your web . It is really interesting to see some of the important spiritual insights . It really shows that you are serious for his sake . In the past , I was the preacher of the Church of Christ having studied and obtain Bachelor of Biblical Studies . But because the writer in Psalms 119:96Psalm 119:96This text is from the ESV Bible. Visit www.esv.org to learn about the ESV.
says that God’s word is wider enough ,we ( I and my wife ) started to re-read our Bibles and seen that some of the things which I received were not so . For example Instrumental music and judging others e.t.c . For that reason we decided to leave the Church and just worship at home up to the moment . We will still be here up until God tells us what to do in the future . We are so much eager to start another Congregation in our local area .
[96]I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
Therefore brothers , I would like to welcome you in our Country , if you feel like and assist us in evangelism and seminars so as to grow up his Kingdom . I really know that we need other brothers and sisters in performing his will . I will also be glad to work with you in any capacity . May you pray for us and we will do the same . Lastly , I hope to hear from you soon .
In Him ,
Rev. ALLEN MKITA
TANZANIA E.A
Comment by Rev. ALLEN MKITA — November 23, 2007 @ 5:14 am
Allen,
Great to hear from you. Please send me your address, as I’d like to send you some materials.
Bob
Comment by Bob Kauflin — November 23, 2007 @ 10:01 am
Great read.
Comment by Paul Fincher — January 21, 2008 @ 3:22 pm
Wow this is good, as a worshipper
I am still looking to understand more about worship.I have to learn more about worship because i belive the most powerful man on earth is the man with an understanding of why he does what he does.
Comment by Kelvin Mutize Zimbabwe — February 7, 2008 @ 8:51 am
These definitions are wonderful. I love definitions because I think they can bring clarity to our thinking.
When working with children I have used the definition I came across in “Teaching Kids Authentic Worship” by Kathleen Chapman. It is simply: “Worship is all our attention focused on God”. I call it “God-Gazing”.
Even in it’s simplicity, I found I needed to break it down even more than that for my 4 year old Sunday School class. When we are sitting together in our “worship circle” on Sunday mornings we say, “Worship happens when what I think, say and do is all about Jesus”, and that “Worship can happen any time, any where and in many ways”. As ways to express our worship, we speak words of worship, move, play instruments, use flags & banners, write letters, and draw pictures. We are working our way through a “Jesus alphabet train” in which we ascribe an attribute of Jesus for each letter of the alphabet (A-Almighty, B-the Beginning, C-Creator, etc.), because I believe that as we begin to identify the character of Jesus we come face to face with who He is and we can not help but worship Him. Also, as Hebrews 1:3Hebrews 1:3This text is from the ESV Bible. Visit www.esv.org to learn about the ESV.
tells us, “everything about Him represents God exactly”, so when we look at Jesus, we see God.
[3]He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact
imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the
word of his power. After making purification for sins, he
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (ESV)
Sometimes struggling through the challenge of putting things into language a child can understand has been helpful for me.
A fellow God-gazer,
Cathy
Comment by cathy — February 21, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
I really liked the part of quote by Harold Best “Worship is the sign that in giving myself completely to someone or something, I want to be mastered by it.” I like this part mostly because it reminds me why we should worship, to make ourselves less and God more. God takes over, not just on sunday morning but also in every area of our lives.
I must also say that I really appreciated Cathy’s comments on how she explains worship to the children she teaches, one I think that it is wonderful that children are learning all the aspects to worship instead of just singing, and two i can relate to what she says about the fact that when you simplify something to explain it to children it really does help you to clarify it in your own mind.
Comment by Valerie Munoz — March 3, 2008 @ 12:28 am
Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are – mind, emotions, will, body – to what God is and says and does. (Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship, p. 26)
This quote said by Wiersbe really hit me this semester in school. In my worship class we have explored this vast topic and I believe that this is the best working definition. It reminds us that worship is and never will be about us. It is about God. And what we can do for Him. It is a great reminder of what Jesus says in the Gospels about coming after him, they must deny themselves himself and take up their cross daily and follow Him.
Comment by Russel — April 30, 2008 @ 11:40 pm
So I just left a long comment on your site but when I submitted it, my time ran out, so now I don’t care enough to rewrite it all. I still have to write this comment because it is an assignment for my Worship class.
I feel that worship is really hard to define; I’ve had a hard time processing in my mind, what a good definition of worship is. My professor loves the quote by wiersbe as well you Bob. I might agree with both of you in thinking that, but I haven’t studied the Bible at all, so I don’t feel like making an assertion as to what I think the Bible says about worship. I would agree with you Bob about how silly it can be when people try to define a complex term such as worship, so I made my own definition of worship.
Worship – it is complicated.
Comment by Jonathan — May 6, 2008 @ 11:32 pm