Introduction
What's the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the word "worship"? Is it singing, raising our hands at church, or being part of a community? More often than not, many of us think of worship as something we do at church on a given Sunday. However, worship is so much more than this. In the New Testament, worship is described as something we are to do every day. It is much less focused on location, timing, or form, but more on how we live our lives before God. Although Christians are known to worship on Sunday, are Christians known to worship in all of life?
Worship Is All of Life
In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul writes, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1). For Paul, worship means offering ourselves fully to God in service. Just as the entire animal was sacrificed, so too must we offer ourselves entirely and wholly. From Monday to Sunday, from morning to evening, our lives are devoted to worshipping God. If our understanding of worship is limited to singing and praise, then this seems quite the impossible task, doesn’t it? So, how can we worship God in our day-to-day lives?
Worship as Consecration, Adoration, and Celebration
When Jesus spoke with the woman at the well about worship, he told her, The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:21-23). Rather than focus on where someone worships or the form it takes, Jesus inaugurates a time where worship is radically heart-focused. It is not about where we are located, what books we read, or who we are with, but principally about how we live. So, if worship is not merely about what we do together on Sunday mornings, what all does it encompass?
Our worship of God encompasses consecration, adoration, and celebration. Consecrating ourselves involves dedicating all we are to God, setting ourselves apart for His purpose. It means turning away from worldly pursuits and living for something greater than ourselves. We yield our wills and plans to God's guidance and surrender control over our lives, families, and children, trusting in His providence. Consecration also entails serving others by prioritizing their needs above our own.
To worship God is also to adore Him and His works. To adore God means to regard Him with deep and rapturous love. It involves profound internal affection and reverence. The 24 elders in Revelation adore God when they say, Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created (Revelation 4:11). In our adoration of God, we focus on both Himself and His works. As Psalm 92 (NIV) says, For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!
Finally, to worship in all of life means to celebrate God and His works. Celebration comes last because worship is first internal before it can be external. True worship comes from the heart before it is on the lips. The worship of God through celebration is public and communal. We celebrate God when we come together and praise Him on Sundays or in Life Groups. We celebrate God in our homes when we rejoice with our family about something He has done in our lives. We celebrate God when we gather for Christmas and Easter and marvel at the incarnation of Jesus and His resurrection. So, when we are living for God (consecration), when we are thinking and singing about His works (adoration), and when we are gathered for public praise (celebration), then we are worshiping God all of life.
Obstacles to Worship
However, many distractions in the world keep us from worshiping our God. The biggest distraction is ourselves. It is our propensity to self-worship. Self-worship is the prioritization of one's own interests, desires, and needs above God and others. It means to parade ourselves and our achievements instead of praising others for theirs. It is to pretend to be holier and more put-together than we really are. It often takes the form of pride, where we want to be admired for our purity or dedication. This is a duplicitous life where we act one way with others but another when alone.
The pernicious problem of self-worship is that it cannot make room for genuine repentance. It often lacks awareness of the waywardness of our hearts, which leads to a lack of compassion for others. Other Christians are just not as dedicated, mature, or committed enough, or so we say. As long as we are worshiping ourselves, we can never worship God for Himself. Our worship will always be contingent upon how good He might make us feel or the blessings He might give. In a real way, self-worship marks us all to varying degrees.
To put off self-worship, we must learn the spiritual discipline of self-denial. Self-denial is an intentional and ongoing act of renouncing one's own desires, interests, and ambitions for the sake of following Jesus. Jesus says, Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 10:39). We cannot make ourselves the ultimate point of reference in this world; that place belongs to God. Instead, Christians who have denied themselves have embraced a life of sacrificial love.
Christian self-denial is not merely a practice of personal sacrifice; it is a transformative posture of the heart that shifts our focus from ourselves to others. In embracing self-denial, we step off center stage and intentionally shine the spotlight on those around us, highlighting their strengths and celebrating their unique contributions. A life of self-denial is a life that worships God.
Summary
In summary, our worship of God is not merely reserved for church on Sundays. As the apostle Paul said, we worship God when we present ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). We worship God when we are obedient, think about Him throughout our day, sing to Him in the car, and even thank Him for our food. However, there is much within us that still does not praise Him. As Dallas Willard states, “Refusing to worship him is a way of trying to avoid his face and his eyes."1 Part of Christian maturity is learning to bring our heart, mind, and soul into the worship of our triune King. It is in this space that we are required to have the utmost commitment.
FOOTNOTES:
1Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002.
