Index of
Compass Articles

(#2) Worship Begins with
GOD'S NATURE
(John 4:21-24)

The Nature of God: "God is spirit"

In the last article we looked at Jesus' announcement in John 4:23 that "the Father is seeking worshipers." And so worship begins with God's call. The second way Jesus teaches us that worship begins with God is with his statement "God is spirit."

Now this is not just an abstract theological statement about God. It is closely tied to the familiar call to worship God "in spirit and in truth." But the order is important. It is precisely because GOD is spirit that his worshipers MUST worship in spirit and in truth. True worship is grounded in the very nature of God. He is to be worshiped in a way that corresponds to who he is.

The words "in spirit and in truth" have sparked a lot of discussion. Like so much of John's gospel, they seem simple, yet profound, even elusive. Do they mean that our worship must be sincere and from the heart, and that it is this and not the outward form that matters? Yes. . . and no.

Yes, our worship is to be from the heart. God, through the prophets, repeatedly warned his people of outward rituals that papered over their rebellious lives. He tells us that this is not what he wants, that he even detests the sacrifices of those whose lives dishonor him. But being "sincere" is not all that counts either. Worship "in spirit" flows from the fact that GOD is spirit. And it is possible for "sincere" people to worship God in ways that are not consistent with his character. The test is not whether I am sincere, but whether the worship honors who God is.

In fact, God repeatedly tells his people HOW they are to worship him, based on who he is. He revealed his "name" by which was to be worshiped (Exodus 3:15). This is not just the word people are to pronounce, but the whole revelation of who he is and what he is like. The whole story of redemption that Exodus tells is about the revealing of the "name" of the LORD. It shows God's people, and the world, who he is, and that there is no other like him.

At Sinai God gives many instructions about the specifics of worship. He is a holy God, and so when he comes to meet with his people, they must prepare by being ritually pure and holy (Exodus 19:10-11). The first four commandments relate to how God's people are to worship the one who redeemed them. They are not to worship any other gods than the one who redeemed them. They are not to use images from creation to worship the one who created all. The hallowing of his name is based in God's zeal for his own honor, and the keeping of the Sabbath day is rooted in God's work of creation. The laws of the following chapters go on to specify the feasts which Israel is to hold to honor him and remember his saving deeds. Thus all of these commands are grounded in the sort of God he is.

What is Idolatry? Exodus 32:1-8

Because of who God is certain forms of worship are appropriate to him and others are not. Perhaps the clearest example of this was at Sinai itself. The story of the golden calf is the classic picture of rebellion. The form that rebellion takes is false worship of the true God. The people make a calf and hold a "feast to the LORD"! They apparently mean to worship the LORD God. And when the calf is made Aaron declares, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt." Now, it only takes a slight change in the text to make that read, "This is your God, O Israel. . . " I suspect that is what Aaron actually said. After all, there was only one calf! And the feast was held to the LORD.

So why does it read "your gods"? For one simple reason. The people were mistaken. They were not worshiping the LORD who brought them up out of Egypt, no matter what they thought. God had told them who he was and how he was to be worshiped. God had given specific instructions about the feasts they were to hold to him (Exodus 23:14-17). Yet now they invent their own. He guarded their purity, instructing them to abstain from sexual relations for three days before he appeared on Sinai. Now their "feast to the LORD" turns into an orgy! Most importantly, in Exodus 20:4-6 he forbids their making any images to worship him by. When they ignore that command God treats the images as false gods, in competition with him, the one TRUE God.

This was all said to be the worship of the LORD! But God says it is not. He declares that worshiping him however we wish is not worshiping him at all. We too must be wary that we are not thinking of God and worshiping him the way we wish to. Mental images of God that tell lies are as much idols as pieces of wood and stone. And so we must test what we think and say about God against the truth that he has revealed about himself. Otherwise we may find ourselves worshiping a false God we have made up in our heads.

Wasn't that just the Old Testament?

But this is not a signal that God's nature has changed. The changes come because the coming of Jesus marks the coming of a new stage in God's revelation of himself, a new era in his plan. If anything, because God has now revealed himself more fully, his worship can reflect his nature more fully. In fact, God's people had long known This house is not big enough for God! (as Solomon knew, 1 Kings 8:23,27, cf. Isaiah 66:1-2). Now the God of all will be worshiped by all--by people from every tribe and tongue. No longer will it just be in one city, but in every place. A greater revelation of God leads to greater worship of God.

This is the hallmark of the worship of God. It is "narrow" in one sense, because it is based on the nature of God. True worship is to reflect the truth about God. But in truth it is FALSE worship that is narrow! Whatever idolatrous form or idea people invent makes God LESS than he is. The idols are not capable of accurately capturing who he is. What language shall we borrow to thank and praise him. All we have and all our 'ransomed powers' are not rich enough to express his greatness.

Some of us must repent of playing fast and loose with the truth of God, of not being willing to have our minds stretched, of not being willing to do the work of testing to see whether we are not worshiping a god we have imagined, rather than the God who has made himself known.

Others of us are so concerned with getting the facts straight, of testing teaching to make sure it is in line with the Truth, that we forget the Person, the God of truth. This too may be idolatry. For it is not an idea but a Person we worship. It is the great God and King of the universe, worthy of all glory, and at the same time, through Christ our gracious Father, who has invited us to KNOW him, to enjoy him, to worship him!

Lord, cleanse our hearts from every idol and give us hearts to worship you! (see Ezekiel 36:25-26)

Putting it Into Practice

• Do we say, "I like to think of God as. . . . "? What do we include? What do we leave out?
• In our prayers and in our teaching do we make more of some "attributes" of God, and little of others? Do we emphasize God's holiness and lose sight of his love and mercy? Or do we worship a "God of love" with little room for his holiness? Is our good both powerful and good?
• How do the songs and other materials we choose to add to our "repertoire" reflect a "full-orbed" picture of God?
• In our prayers for mercy do we focus solely on our individual sin and mercy or do they reflect God's concern for all his people, and his creation?
• (see Pathways Service #2)

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