Thoughts on John 4, and what evangelicals usually mean by "worship in Spirit and Truth."
donlowd pornoJohn 4:21-24 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."Talk to most evangelicals about this passage, and prepare to hear this: "We have real Spirit and Truth worship now that we have a new worship leader" or "We need revival so that we can start worshipping in Spirit and Truth." In other words, worship in Spirit and Truth is a description of human effort. It's something we do.
This works nicely with where evangelicals are in the culture right now. God doesn't matter much, but entertainment and feelings matter a lot. So a real church will put on a great show, with a kickin' worship band, great audio/visuals, attractive female singers, a dynamic preacher, and plenty of congregational reaction, from swaying to dancing or beyond. This, my friends, is "Spirit and Truth '05." Tickets are $10.
We do it. We like it. We respond to it. It's bringing God down with praise or climbing up to heaven with emotion. The Father is seeking people who want to really, really worship, i.e. "get into it." Are you into it?
Read the passage. In fact, read all of John 4. Hey, read all of John 1-4. Spirit and Truth is New Covenant worship. It's the incarnation. It's revelation in Jesus. It's atonement and union with Christ. It's what God does to make all the Jerusalems and Mt. Gerazims irrelevant. It's the all and everything of the one mediator. Spirit and Truth worship is worship where Christ is glorified and exalted for who he is and what he does for us. It's the work of the Spirit. It's the Truth of God in Christ. He makes it possible, and he gives all that matters in it. He is the one worshipped. He is the living bread and the living water. He gives the Spirit that cries "Abba." Only worship in and through Jesus comes before the Father as a sweet savor. Everything else is noise and a bad smell.
It's not the show we put on or the reaction we have to what we like. It's God centered, Gospel filled, Jesus glorified, living, singing, preaching, working, loving, praying, gathering, scattering, going, helping, serving, sharing, giving. The hour is coming, and began with Jesus, when all our worship schemes and mantras will be zeroed out by God, and Jesus will be the only way in to worship, the only worship that matters and the only end to which true worship aims.
What many churches would call "worship in Spirit" actually qualifies as a flesh-fest of human entertainment and effort.
Now, that wasn't so hard, was it? And now you can go tell your friends who say that they can't worship anywhere there's not a kickin' band that they may need to rethink some things.
Posted by Michael Spencer at February 6, 2005 10:02 AM