SPIRITUAL WORSHIP

Jn.4:23,24 – But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Worship is a big deal for the church. I have been blessed by the Lord to experience many different cultures of spiritual worship, all very different yet all very good. In the early days of my walk with the Lord I enjoyed the California Jesus music, it had the rock flavor that I enjoyed but was saturated with the presence of the Lord. At the beginning days of our church in New Orleans I attended various minister’s gatherings that had more of that Southern gospel feel. Of course being in the New Orleans area there were plenty of African American congregations that had more of that “gospel” style of music. In my travels I experienced worship in Korea, Philippines, Africa, Australia, Europe, as well as Central and South America. Each of these places had their own distinct culture and sound but all of these cultures would have some churches worshipping the Lord in Spirit and truth. Here is how F.F. Bruce describes this passage.

“The answer the woman received was quite different from anything that she could have expected. The time when there was any point in the argument about the claims of Gerizim versus those of Zion had come to an end. A new order was now being introduced which rendered such questions out of date and meaningless. The important question is not where people worship God but how they worship him.…..This revelation of the essence of true worship, as Jesus unfolds it, appears simple and indeed obvious, when once it is presented to us—yet not all that obvious, when we think of the considerable number of Christians who make the same mistake as the Samaritan woman (and with less justification), imagining that a man or woman cannot worship God properly unless he or she worships with them. The sense of Jesus’ teaching was well caught by William Cowper:
Jesus, where’er thy people meet,
There they behold thy mercy-seat;
Where’er they seek thee, thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.”

Humans have a tendency to think their way is the only way to worship or at least the best way. True worship is not about style but about Spirit and truth. Jesus was not describing a style of worship but worship that was authentic and was birthed by the Holy Spirit. You may wonder what that means – Jesus was describing worship that comes from the hearts of those who have been touched by the Lord. This kind of worship does not originate on earth but in heaven. True worship has the taste and feel of heaven on it, this transcends any and all styles.