What is worship?

I find myself tangled up in this question over and over again. We've all heard comments like "Worship wasn't very good today." or "Worship was amazing this morning." We may have even been guilty of making these comments ourselves. I know I have. Comments like this may lead us to believe that worship is this thing, apart from us as human beings, for which there is a very human litmus test: If you have an emotional reaction, you have worshiped, and if you do not, you have not.

We are always brought back to the question at hand: What is worship? Is it a song? Is it a feeling? Is it an action? It can be all of these things in part. I find it particularly interesting to investigate the word/s in scripture from which we derive this word “worship.” Both the Hebrew and Greek words mean to bow or prostrate oneself before another. The Greek word is derived from a word that means to kiss one’s hand as a dog licks his master. It implies a complete submission to our Lord and God.

Enough with words though. Where God reveals true meaning to me is through reflections in my human relationships. I have been married for almost four years and like anyone that is married, I can tell you that love is an action carried out daily in marriage. It is not contingent upon emotion or even the other person’s actions. Love is a product of true intimacy. Love grows in sharing in one another’s victories and hardships, and one another’s triumphs and tears. That’s why I find it interesting that the physical act of a man and wife coming together is referred to as “making love.” Hear me out. I’m not going to get weird. I just want to examine that label. It suggests that through that act, love is born or made.

We all understand on a cognitive level that love and/ or intimacy cannot be achieved through the physical act of “making love.” However, many a man or woman has been led astray by the emotional response resulting from this act, even when no level of intimacy previously existed. This is because as humans, we allow our emotional reactions to mask truth. If we feel it, it must be true. This is not to say that the act of “making love” cannot be a true expression of love within a marriage. It is an integral part of a healthy marriage and is an outward expression of intimacy built over time. At the same time, without that intimacy and love, the act itself is empty and shallow.

As I have prayed and searched my heart for the true meaning of worship, God revealed this parallel to me. As I said before, our human portraits of worship show it in part, but true worship is the love and obedience that is behind any outward response. What we say, do, and sing on Sunday mornings is a reaction to the intimacy that God allows us to build with him over time. Without the existence of true intimacy and relationship with God, and without our humble submission to Him, these acts, in and of themselves, are empty.

Is that to say that any emotional response is futile? No. God made our hearts and there are times that he reaches us through our emotional vulnerability. There will be certain songs to which you have a stronger emotional reaction, and that is alright. God connects with us in many different ways. The important thing to remember is that God does not change, regardless of the set list on Sunday, and neither does true worship.