Undignified Worship

Worship. We overuse that word to describe our church services. Kinda like the word 'love', worship is a word that has come a far distance from the true meaning.

I was thinking about this when reading about how the soldiers mocked Jesus right before the crucifixtion. They dressed him in purple robes (signifying royalty), crowned Him with thorns, brought Him into the governors mansion, and even bowed before Him. But none of it was to worship Him. Obviously, since that would have been the opposite of their true intent.

But what is our true intent? Sometimes I think the worship we give to GOD means no more to Him than the lectures our children tune-out. There are even times when our worship may even resemble the mockery given to Jesus by the soldiers. Extreme? Think about it this way.

We clothe GOD in glory and call Him holy (the purple robes), but then we refuse to confess our sin, so it gets heaped on His head (crown of thorns). We make the right gestures (bowing down), but refuse to forgive hurts others have caused (spitting on Him). We even make demands from Him, asking Him to do what we want, and give us what we think we deserve (which is no better than hitting Him and demanding He tell us who did it.) We put Him in a place of worship (the governer's mansion), but it's just an empty shell of a place, with no life and no power. He becomes an impotent GOD instead of omnipotent.

So what does real worship look like then? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Umm, well, I don't have a clear picture of that. I'm still learning myself. But King David knew. He worshipped GOD so completely that he lost all dignity and said he would be willing to lose even more! He didn't care about the position, the robes, the power, or his reputation more than he loved to dance before GOD and celebrate HIS presence. So perhaps true worship involves losing oneself in the presence and celebration of GOD; forgetting all that surrounds and troubles to focus on the Savior - less me, more LORD. Seems like a good start to me!