Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Growing up in churches, there were so many disagreements over worship in church. Should the songs be old? Should we be singing hymns? Should they be modern contemporary songs? Should we have a small band? Should we have a large band? Should we have no band?
Here's what Jesus does in this verse. He cuts through all of that. He cuts through all of those concerns, and He gives two essentials when it comes to worship: worshiping in spirit and worshiping in truth.
The Context of Jesus' Teaching
Here's what's going on in John chapter 4. Jesus—you might remember—He's having a conversation with a woman from Samaria, and she's at a well. They're having this discussion, and she says, some people are saying we should gather for worship here on this mountain in Samaria but I've heard other people say that we should be gathering for worship in Jerusalem, which is it? She presses Him and she wants to know who's right, where is the proper location for worship?
Worship in Spirit
Then Jesus says these two things. First, He says that God must be worshiped in spirit. Whatever you think about worship, think about what Jesus says here. Number one, God must be worshiped in spirit. In other words, worship is not confined to a particular time or a particular space. God can be worshiped by His people anywhere and everywhere. The who of our worship is more important than the where of our worship.
Worship in Truth
The second thing He says is that God must be worshiped in truth. Think about this. Of all the things that we should be concerned about in worship and all the things we might disagree over, truth must be central.
Keep this in mind. Worship is not just music. The church has been gathering together every Sunday now for thousands of years in local expressions called local churches. They've been gathering together to do what? To worship God. That entire gathering, that entire service, is worship. We worship God in prayer. We worship God in song, and we worship God in preaching. All of it is worship from the prayers we pray to the songs we sing, to the unfolding of God's Word. What Jesus says here is that we must, in all of that, have truth as our highest priority.
Making Worship Intentional
What if I were to praise, say good things to, or compliment my wife, only to say the same thing over and over again? If I were to just say, you're great, you're really great, but I never gave her any specifics? Specifics like, you're great because of how loyal you are to your family, how defensive you are of your children, or how strong you are when life is difficult. Furthermore, what if I could rattle off examples of each of those things?
The same is true in our worship of God. It's one thing to tell God that He is great, and to give this sort of fuzzy proclamation of why He is worthy of worship, but it's another to ground what we say and what we pray and what we sing in the deep truths of God's Word. God, You are great, but God, You are great because of this and because of this and because of this.
Since worshiping in truth means worshiping God as He has revealed Himself, would you do this even today? Would you commit to knowing Him better through His Word that you may truly worship Him in truth?
