All throughout the Word of God, we see a clear call for God’s people to offer up praise, adoration, song, sermons, and Spirit-empowered worship to God. Therefore, it should not be something we do as an additive to our weekly activities, it should stand high above all other things and it should be positioned at the very center of our lives.

When we watch a big athletic competition on television, there is no question about the motives of the people who are in the stands. The fans are there for one reason—to cheer on their team and enjoy the entire atmosphere of the big game. When it comes to our worship of God, why are we less engaged or less involved? I’m not at all suggesting that we must be fanatical in our worship with crazy shouts and cheering. What I am suggesting is that we must be engaged properly and involved in the worship of God. Worship is not a spectator event. Sinclair Ferguson stated the following, “The foundation of worship in the heart is not emotional (‘I feel full of worship’ or ‘The atmosphere is so worshipful’). Actually, it is theological. Worship is not something we ‘work up,’ it is something that ‘comes down’ to us, from the character of God.” [1]

The Definition of Worship

When we discuss worship in our contemporary setting, we typically have in mind the worship of God. Perhaps in our ultra-contemporary or progressive settings we tend to associate singing with worship while not typically focusing upon other aspects such as preaching, praying, giving, and responding to God in worship.

For many years, the word worship has been used in a variety of contexts from knights who win worship by their feats of arms to the old English prayer book where the groom tells his bride, “With my body I thee worship.” It goes without saying, the term for worship has been employed in a variety of contexts throughout time. The antiquarian English term (weorthscipe) has carried the idea of “worthiness” or the “worthship” of the object or person in reference.

As we consider the way in which the term worship is used in a biblical sense and within the context of the church (the Christian community), we reserve worship for God alone who is worthy to receive such adoration and praise. In the New Testament, we find the Greek verb “προσκυνέω” used to talk about people worshipping Christ (Matt. 2:2).

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