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About HOFCC Essential Reforms | The Essential Reforms of HOFCC |
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| Friday, 21 July 2006 | |
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Page 6 of 8 Reform #5: Spirit & Truth in WorshipPart 1: What Kind of Worshippers Does the Father Seek?"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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24).What does it mean to "worship the father in spirit and truth?" This is one of the clearest and most important statements concerning worship found anywhere in the Bible. Our Lord Jesus spoke these words, not to some doctor of theology, but to a common woman encountered at Jacob’s Well in Samaria. It is a statement He intended to be understood by all who would be the kind of worshippers that the Father is seeking. And yet, there has been more controversy and confusion about this passage than any other on the subject of worship. How should we understand Christ’s words? What did He mean? To begin, we must look at the context. The woman at the well had just made a statement about the differences of opinion between the Jews and the Samaritans. "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." (John 4:20) In response Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. (John 4:21) In other words, location no longer matters. There will be no holy edifice like the Jewish temple to restrict worshippers. Worship "in spirit" knows no boundaries. But Jesus goes on to add, "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." (John 4:22) The Samaritans were at a serious disadvantage concerning revealed religion. They worshipped, not in truth, but in doctrinal error. Both "spirit" and "truth" would be important in real worship from that time on. -- to be continued Part 2: Spirit V. Truth in WorshipLast week we saw in Jesus encounter with the "Woman at the Well" that worship in the New Testament era is free from limitations to geographic locality and sacred facilities (John 4:21). We also saw that New Testament worship is based on an authentic revelation of truth about God. The Samaritans worshipped in a doctrinal void. (i.e. "You worship what you do not know;" (John 4:22a) while faithful Jews worshipped in response to God’s revelation. "...we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." (John 4:22b)These two points seem to be what Jesus had in mind when He declared "those who worship [God] must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24). Both "spirit" and "truth" are then crucial to real worship in the age in which we now live. However, there may be another dimension to Jesus statement, "You worship what you do not know;" (John 4:22a). Note that Jesus did not say "You do not know what you worship." but rather "You worship what you do not know." The difference may be important. Samaritan worship may have been a celebration of awe and wonder rather than revealed truth. They had no revelation! But they may have been exalting in what for them was the incomprehensibleness of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If this was all we had to go on, we would have to stop here. But Paul’s teaching in 1st Corinthians 14 gives us more. The Samaritan’s "ignorant awe" may in fact be part of what it means to "sing praise with my spirit," just as the Jew’s "revealed truth" is needed to "sing praise with my mind" (see 1 Cor. 14:13-19). If so, we are on the trail to find a way of worship that is both awesome and doctrinally sound! -- to be continued Part 3: The Mind & the Heart in WorshipLast week I raised the question of whether Jesus’ statement "you [Samaritans] worship what you do not know," possibly denoting their unenlightened awe toward God, and His statement "we worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews" denoting revealed truth, (John 4:22) has anything to do with Paul’s teaching that he will "sing praise with my spirit," and "sing praise with my mind also" (see 1 Cor. 14:13-19). Are we on the trail toward an approach to New Testament worship that is both awesome and doctrinally sound! I believe so.My reason is found in Paul’s distinction between singing or praying "with my spirit" and singing or praying "with my mind." He writes, "Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say "Amen" to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. (1Cor. 14:13-17) Paul encourages an approach to corporate worship that engages both hearts and minds. Singing in the spirit edifies one’s spirit. Singing with the mind edifies one’s mind. One touches the heart while the other deepens the understanding. Our hearts may bypass our minds in order to exalt God in awe and wonder, but God’s revealed truth requires us to also worship Him through doctrinally sound lyrics! Both are important to God. He seeks such "spirit and truth" people to be His worshipers. -- to be continued. Part 4: Can All Worship & Pray in the Spirit?According to the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 14:13-17, New Testament worship, which includes prayer, thanksgiving and singing, can be done with both the mind and the spirit engaged. In the context it seems that Paul has speaking in an unknown tongue in view when he refers to praying or giving thanks with my spirit. He points out that others cannot agree with an utterance they cannot understand.However, Paul has made it clear earlier in 1 Cor. 12 that not all members of the body speak in an unknown tongue, at least in the sense of doing so as a spiritual gift during the corporate worship. But this leaves us with the question of whether or not Paul expects every Christian to have what some call a "prayer language." Do all have the ability, as Paul does, to say "pray and sing with my spirit" as well as to "pray and sing with my mind?" If not, are some unable to worship God in spirit. My first answer is that every child of God is able to worship God with his spirit whether or not he has a "prayer language." Paul refers in Romans to the Holy Spirit praying with groanings that cannot be articulated. That is a very different thing because my spirit is not the Holy Spirit. However, it does suggest that my own spirit could also pray in the same way, with deep unutterable yearnings that go beyond language and may in fact require no language at all! If our worship is to be both spiritual and doctrinally sound, it stands to reason that all Christians can freely engage in both. Worship and prayer are not the reserve of an elite few. My reason is found in Paul’s distinction between singing or praying "with my spirit" and singing or praying "with my mind." He writes, "Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say "Amen" to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. (1Cor. 14:13-17) Paul encourages an approach to corporate worship that engages both hearts and minds. Singing in the spirit edifies one’s spirit. Singing with the mind edifies one’s mind. One touches the heart while the other deepens the understanding. Our hearts may bypass our minds in order to exalt God in awe and wonder, but God’s revealed truth requires us to also worship Him through doctrinally sound lyrics! Both are important to God. He seeks such "spirit and truth" people to be His worshipers. - to be continued. |
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