John 4:23
‘”Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
Jesus draws a distinction between worshipping in the time to come and the kind of worship that had been going on. He also draws a distinction between “true worshippers” and other kinds of worshippers.
This distinction haunts us with a question: What kind of worshipper are we?
As a small child, I think it is possible my worship, such as it was, was more in “Sprite and in truth” than anything else. As I grew older, I began to worship in ways I thought were more intellectual. My religion, as it were, was much more of a mental construct than anything having anything to do with the heart. Now my journey with Jesus has brought me back to a place where my personal worship is back to being more about Spirit and truth.
Q: What do you think it means to worship “in Spirit and in truth?”
I think it means that the focus is on God rather than on myself (or on a task).
I think worship in Spirit points to the reality that true worship will no longer be centered on a location (temple/mt. Zion), but wherever the Holy Spirit dwells – so worship is now everywhere the church/believers are (individually and as a group). We are mobile temples – continual & abiding worship should be the characteristic of believers/church.
I think worship in truth points to the reality that real worship must be grounded in reality – in obedience to scripture and in accord with our relationship to God. This is true of any relationship, but is particularly important with God. It is beautiful and necessary to be intimate with one’s spouse, but abhorrent and sinful with a stranger. How much more with the Spirit who indwells us? To worship outside of that relationship or in opposition to scripture is idolatrous and adulterous beyond the worst of humanity’s sexual perversions of marriage.
Agree with Robster, serve God with all our heart. John the Baptist comes to mind. Dressed in animal skin, leather belt, eating honey and locust, dependent on God, independent of men for all he required. He lived in total obedience to God as he prepared the people for the coming of Christ. Humble, knew he had to decrease so Christ would increase.
It’s interesting that Jesus says Mat. 11:11, Not one person born of woman greater than John, however the least in the kingdom of heaven will be greater than John.
Well, I am late to the game and don’t have much to add. There are some good, thoughtful responses here. Along with what others have said, the spirit stands opposed to the flesh. It is no longer in a set place but is in the Holy Spirit through our heart response. This is what God wants and seeks. I am thankful He wants us and not just some form of religious expression. I am thankful He is relational and has opened the door to a relationship with Him for which we were created.
Wow,..this site is sooo beneficial to my walk with our Lord Jesus,..I am grateful for the responses to these questions that are meant to keep us in step with Jesus,..
I always thought that worship is raising hands during worship service,..I have come to learn that worship is more than just the raising of hands during some music that’s being played,..because for some reason I know I am in there right along with everyone else singing and praising Jesus but my hands seem to be chained to my side,..they are moving but not in the air,..it may stem from when my mom switched our denomination from Baptist to Pentecostal when I was younger,..because I seen her fall out of her chair,..roll on the floor and was shouting out in some strange language I couldn’t understand back then,..I didn’t know what to think and it really did scare me,..after studying the Bible for a while I have come to grips with what she did but I am I guess hesitant to be slain like that,..one day the Holy Spirit will get a hold of me and break the chains that keep these hands at my side,..but I have been on my knees in my house shouting out in some language I couldn’t understand,..tears in my eyes just rocking back and forth on the floor it seemed like to me,..
Worship to me has got to be picking up my cross and following Jesus,..and that right there is all about truth,..truth about what He did for all of us at the cross, believers and unbelievers alike,..how else will unbelievers come to believe if some believer doesn’t speak the truth of, about or even in the Spirit,..
My thoughts anyway,..