What is Worship?

Next week I’m speaking at New Hope’s Youth retreat and in preparation I’ve been looking into what it means to be a worshipper. Coincidentally, tonight we (VOHEMO) had our first Night of Worship where I spent about half  an hour talking about what worship is and what I believe our philosophy or worship ought to be. 

So the question for the day is, “What is worship?” But first, I caught this video on Youtube and I thought it was hilarious: 

So what is worship? Most people will resort to some cliche about how worship is a lifestyle. What does that even mean? As well, most people know that worship is not just about songs but yet we treat it as if the quality of worship hinges on how well the song/music was played. Is it possible to define worship without resorting to cliches or shallow rhetoric? 

The way I define worship is – Worship is the right response to God. This is what I believe the dynamic of worship is: 

1. God initiates something or reveals something about Himself
2. We respond rightly

Think about it! God shows his love through Christ, so we respond in song. God shows his grace through the Cross and we respond. Worship begins with God and ends with God. 

I think worship leaders ought to be observers first before they initiate any form of worship. There is a fine line between worship and performing. That fine line is found in the observing aspect of worship. The moment we stop observing  what God is saying, doing, or who He is, is the moment worship is simply a song or  performance. 

I’m not limiting worship to the service. According to this definition of worship, we can see how the cliche “worship is a lifestyle” is actually lived out. God shows us grace, mercy, compassion, and justice – we go out and extend mercy, compassion, and justice to those in need. God shows how he provides for our needs; we respond by providing for others. 

Observe then Respond. 

Thoughts?

Ps. I thought I’d throw in my slides from tonight: