At MERCYhouse, we try to organize our church around 5 devotions - Worship, The Word, Prayer, The Church, and Our mission in the World. One of these devotions is central to all the others and that one is worship.
So what is worship? The closest thing to a definition that I've ever found in the Bible is Romans 12:1. The Apostle Paul writes:
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship."
He starts with the object of worship, that is, God. The Bible throughout Old and New Testament depicts human beings as worshipers. The first two commandments deal with having no other gods before God and prohibit worshiping idols. While this makes sense in an ancient world where everyone was worshiping multiple gods, does this really apply today?
I'd say it does. Worship doesn't have to revolve around something religious, it can be anything that we choose to put at the center of our lives. As human beings, we crave something that we can commit to, think on, work for, sacrifice for, celebrate, tell others about. We are never not worshiping something.
I was reminded of this, when a news story broke a few months back when a tweener, who really wanted to see Hannah Montana, wrote a phony letter into a radio station to try and win some free tickets and back stage passes. She put in the letter how her dad died in Iraq, which wasn't true, in order to better her chances of winning. The letter worked and she ended up getting the tickets.
Then the media started asking her and her mother about their fallen father/husband and they both kept up the lying until someone confirmed that it was a hoax. Most who saw this story shrugged and wondered when they'd be on the next Jerry Springer, but something more was happening here - worship.
The desire to see, be with, experience, celebrate Hannah Montana had become the center of this family's life and they were willing to sacrifice anything to make that happen. Something about that chip off the akey breaky heart, had taken over their mind, will, and emotions to the point that anything that tried to unseat this priority (common sense, fear of embarrassment, morality) was quickly pushed out of the way.
I can certainly remember days as a young tweener church goer when I'd never have dreamed of making that kind of sacrifice for Jesus. For example, I would say just about anything to fit in with friends and have a good time. Even if that included taking God's name in vain or making fun of a kid that wasn't part of our group. Even though I knew a lot about Jesus, believed he existed and that He died for my sin, I wasn't worshiping Him.
Everyone who experiences Christian conversion, becomes a worshiper of Jesus. They have gotten a view of His mercy (aka the gospel) and it has set in motion a surrender of their mind, will, and emotions to such a degree that that they now become a "living sacrifice." The Apostle Paul is most likely speaking of the "whole burnt offering" of the Old Testament that was not mandated by the law. It was instead a free will offering that was completely consumed as a way to communicate to God absolute surrender.
This is what our hearts are all longing for. Something that takes such a high priority in our lives that nothing, not even embarrassment or common sense, can unseat it from our center. It's what makes everything else (the Bible, prayer, church, our mission out in the world) come to life and maintain a level of passion and perseverance that will continue all the days of our life.
*This article is part of a series on leadership.
