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Worshipping God in Spirit and Truth
By jason | May 3, 2008
In the midst of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well she throws up a religious controversy to divert the conversation away from her pain.
You Jews say worship must happen in Jerusalem but us Sarmaritans say Mount Gerezim is the place. Who really knows.
But Jesus draws her attention to what really matters, not location but worshipping God in spirit and truth.
I say it often, but I feel compelled to say once again that worship is not about music, worship is about responding to what God is saying and doing. And this passage has much to teach us about biblical worship.
Worship must center on truth
This should go without saying but worship that is grounded in reality, the reality of who God is and what he desires for our world, is misguided. How can we worship God unless we know who he is and what he desires for our world.
This is why the scriptures must be central to our worship of God. The scripture is God’s chosen means to reveal himself. Yes, we see something of what God is like through creation (general revelation). But we cannot come to the biblical God without his special revelation.
This is why the scripture is foundational to all we do at LifeConnection.
Worship must be life-giving
The idea that worship must be in spirit is very cool when we take into account the context of his passage. The notion really points back to the OT description of God as a creative, restorative spirit who brings life.
When we consider our current context of living water described earlier in the passage we see how this makes sense, I think. Our worship is to be fresh, restorative, life-giving not stale and muddy. This plays on the contrast between the water that will leave you thirsty and the living water of Jesus that brings eternal life.
This is what true biblical worship always does: as our worship centers on God it will bring life to everyone around us.
May our worship (our lives and our moments) bring life to all those around us. May our worship cause people to thirst for Jesus. May our worship bring restoration because of the gospel.
Topics: Church, The Scriptures, Worship Experience |