His True Worshiper

An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. (John 4:23)

I noticed some things here.

If there are true worshipers, then it stands to reason that there must also be false or counterfeit worshipers. Jesus says that true worshipers have to worship both in spirit and truth and that they are going to worship the Father. Can one worship the Father without worshiping in both spirit and truth? Or can one worship someone other than the Father while doing so in both spirit and truth?

And what about this reference to His worshipers? What other kind of worshipers are there? Can one believe that they are worshiping the Father and yet not really be His worshiper? Is this a parallel to the places where Jesus talks about the judgment when people suddenly find out that all their worship and works for God and their efforts in His name have earned them nothing but a big fat zero as far as spending eternity with Him? How easy or common is it to worship without being His worshiper?

Is the Father seeking people who are willing to be a specific kind of worshiper? Is this really talking about the forms of worship, the style of worship or something very different? Not everyone who worships is a true worshiper of God. In fact, if the truth be known I suspect very few worshipers are really worshiping God in spite of how earnestly they may believe they are doing so. How often do I think I am worshiping God but find that I am really worshiping my worship? This reminds me of a quote I recently read from Oswald Chambers.

Your god may be your little Christian habit, the habit of prayer at stated times, or the habit of Bible reading. Watch how your Father will upset those times if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes—‘I can’t do that just now, I am praying; it is my hour with God.’ No, it is your hour with your habit. There is a quality that is lacking in you. Recognize the defect, and then look for the opportunity of exercising yourself along the line of the quality to be added. (Chambers, Oswald: My Utmost for His Highest May 12)

But maybe I am being too judgmental. Maybe there are very many people who are worshiping God ignorantly like those in Athens when Paul visited there. I believe that there are millions of people who have never even heard the name of Jesus who will be found in heaven and will need serious educational remediation to get them up to speed about God's plan of salvation. And this is because God is going to save people based on the condition of their heart in relation to the light given to each person by His Spirit, not on the volumn of religious information they have achieved.

I am constantly challenged to move my own basis of worship more away from the externals, the routines and exercises that have been labeled as worship all of my life, to the kind of radically different worship that I catch a glimpse of here in this passage. The kind of worship described here is definitely a heart kind of worship that is solidly based in the deeper part of my being and in the spirit. Of course, to experience this kind of worship I also have to become more familiar and comfortable with being in touch with my heart and learning to pay attention to the spirit side of my makeup.

I have spent a number of years trying to familiarize myself with what is going on in my spirit and the spirit of those around me. As I have done so I have discovered that my ability to discern God's Spirit has dramatically improved though I know it needs much more efficiency. But as I have been willing to be more honest about what is in my heart no matter how painful or frightening it is to face those things, I find that I am better able to enter into the kind of worship that can transform, that can bond me with the hearts of others and with God and that often serves as a channel of life-giving power back into the dark areas of my soul.

I am also aware of my own need to admit when there are other gods masquerading and itching for worship inside of me, the kinds of gods like the habits described above. There are times when I become aware that my habits even involving worship times, either personally or corporately can become so important to me that I miss really connecting or being aware of the more valuable experience of worship that God is inviting me into that must go far past the forms that I have in place for “worship”. My preferences for music, my critical attitude inside about how other people pray or speak or their theology can act as strong interferences to prevent me from experiencing the kind of true worship that requires both engaging my spirit and also believing the truth. In fact, my desire to be right and to have the truth can itself sometimes block my spirit from entering into real worship and being one of His true worshipers.

I want to always keep open to having my worship challenged by God and revised by His Spirit to draw me closer into His presence and His heart. I want my heart and spirit and mind and beliefs to all be engaged in worship even in the most unexpected times or places. I want to become free of all resistance to spontaneously responding in true worship whenever God's Spirit invites me closer into His presence. I know that is a far cry from where I am right now, but again that is God's problem to heal me and I want to fully cooperate with His plans for my healing so I can be one of His true worshipers.