Truly biblical worship is not just a time where we talk about God. Our words and actions must be directed toward Him. One of my favorite authors, Jerry Bridges, has written numerous books. One that I read just a couple years ago was entitled, The Joy of Fearing God. In it, Bridges made this statement.
“It isn’t my intent to make a judgment statement about any church service that emphasizes evangelism or body life or teaching. I do believe that such a service should not be called a worship service. A worship service should focus on God. This doesn’t mean that ministry to members of the body or even to unbelievers will not occur. It does mean that the emphasis is on worship of God, ascribing to Him the praise, adoration, and thanksgiving that are due Him.”
Again and again when we see worship happening in the pages of Scripture, the object of the worship is the Lord. The word worship is not used to talk about God, but instead is directed toward Him.
Some years ago I attended a Christian conference. A man who spoke during one of the general sessions mentioned that he had been in another city on business over a weekend. He was there with a friend, and, since both were followers of Christ, on Sunday morning they went to a local gathering of believers. As they left the service, the friend seemed a bit frustrated. He turned to the man and said, “I really enjoyed the sermon there this morning, but I didn’t get much out of the worship.”
The man looked at his friend and asked, “Have you ever considered what that has to do with anything?” In essence, he was asking, “Whom is the worship for?” Worship is not for us. It is the creature honoring the Creator. It is the redeemed loving and adoring the Redeemer. It is not for us; it is for God. Worship must be directed toward Him.
Recently my family and I visited a church in another part of the country. We were in the area for an athletic competition in which our son was participating, and this church was a convenient place for our Sunday morning worship. Before the service I looked through the church bulletin. Besides the “Special Music” and the response song after the sermon, there were two other song segments with two songs listed for each. The two main times during which the congregation would be called on to sing were “Songs of Worship” and “Fellowship Songs.” The two songs listed under “Songs of Worship” were Think About His Love and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Lyrically, both of these “songs of worship” are sung to one another. We were certainly not telling God to “Think about His love.” We were singing words that were written to be sung to one another, yet the bulletin labeled this “Songs of Worship.”
I thought that was rather strange, but later the service took an even stranger turn. When we got to the “Fellowship Songs,” the two songs listed were Ancient of Days and As the Deer. Try to picture this scenario. We walked about greeting one another with the words, “Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare Your glory,” and “I long to worship You.” Huh?! We’re singing songs to God, and these were referred to as “Fellowship Songs”? I thought, It is no wonder most people have difficulty describing worship. If church leadership can’t get it right how can we expect the folks in the pews to understand?
Let me offer a brief grammar lesson that may prove helpful. Worship is a transitive verb. It needs an object. My friend Bob Kauflin, likens it to the word “throw.” You can’t throw nothing. There must be something to throw in order to use the word throw. Throw...what? Throw a baseball? Throw a party? It needs an object. In the same way worship also needs an object. Worship...what? Worship the Lord!
To truly be called worship it must be directed toward God.