My Take on Worship - 2

Since there was much more I wanted to add to this topic, I thought of writing it as a sequel to my earlier post. It has been a constant struggle to be in a world where this enormous 'concept' of Worship, is practiced. I wonder if this is a subtle satanic strategy to marginalize actual worship to a mere time bound activity of well accompanied singing which they call as 'Praise & Worship'. While use of technology and evolution of music is welcome, these are only to be considered as aids to worship God. We should be careful not to lose the bigger picture of who God is and what actual worship is. The ambience, the settings, the lighting, the sound and effects employed can trigger the senses of people to get them into a frenzy at times, or the constant repetition of a monotonous chorus which takes one into a trance like state are familiar practices these days. Honestly, these things make me question the authenticity of such worship sometimes. I am perplexed to know that some of these things are found in pagan practices and these have taken inroads into the church today. Worship in it's purest sense is what comes from within and not what we experience externally.

Here are some of my reflections on worship which will help us to have a wider and deeper understanding of Worship.


Worship is living - How well we are living our life is very important. Presenting ourselves as living sacrifices unto God every day is more important than a mere performance on a Sunday morning (Friday morning in the middle east). Worship is what has to happen for all seven days of the week and not just one day. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.'' Rom 12:1.

Worship involves Truth - Worship is not a performance. It involves our truthful submission to the Truth personified king of kings in whose sight everything lies bare and naked. We cannot masquerade in his presence. He sees through our facade and reaches down to our inmost being, our very soul. "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Jn 4:24.

Worship is giving- Worship should result in a change of one's nature, a change of focus from self to God and others. Loving God implies loving our neighbour which in turn implies that we are to give selflessly as Christ gave himself for us. Therefore, you worship and honour God by your act of selflessly giving your resources to God and his children.

Worship is service- True devotion is taking care of the widows and orphans says James. Not every one can leave everything in order to do this. However, to the best of our capacities in the contexts God has placed us, we should be able to serve others. It could be service in the Church or the Community or in the neighbourhood. Our worship makes sense when there is more action and less rituals and rhetoric.

Worship is yielding - Worship should result in our willingness to yield ourselves completely to him. When we do this, the Spirit of God takes control and we are changed to be more like our Lord Jesus.

Worship is tithing - In the old testament they gave a tenth of all their produce to the temple as tithe. There is no set percentage that is prescribed in the new testament worship. Real tithing is giving to God our all - a total surrender besides all that we can part with for the service in the house of God.

Worship is obedience - Worship is true love for God. John 14:15 Jesus says, 'If you love me keep my commandments'. The one who truly knows God will love God. The one who truly loves God will worship God and keep His word. A true worshiper will be governed by the Word of God.

Worship is diligence in work - When we believe that work is God ordained then our attitude will be different towards our work. Many Christians dichotomize Spirituality and Work and end up as failures in one or the other or both. Bible shows many characters who were involved in work while being very godly; men like Joseph, David, Nehemiah, Daniel and his three friends. These were committed public figures who excelled in their respective work situations and God was with them. When God is preeminent and integral to our work then He causes us to excel and ultimately he derives the pleasure of our excellence and in that sense it becomes worship. Paul encourages Timothy to be a workman approved of God. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15. Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. Pr 22:29.

Worship is Communal - The early church worshiped as a community. They gathered in houses and worshiped. Yes, individual worship is necessary. But the body of Christ is comprised of many individuals who live in harmony bringing glory and honour to God. The world will know we are Christians by our love as we live as a united and harmonious community of believers. With the advent of the internet and live telecast of the Church service, many people resort to staying at home and watch a live service. While this can be a last resort in situations like sickness or travel to unfamiliar places etc., this cannot become a norm. Worship should nurture true fellowship and community.

Worship is Sacrificial - David said, 'I will not give unto the Lord that which does not cost anything,' (2 Sam 24:24) and therefore paid a high price in order to worship God. It involved a price and a sacrifice. The people in the Old Testament were required to bring a sacrifice as they came to worship. We need to sacrificially offer our lives and our possessions as we come to worship a God who gave His own life for us on the cross of Calvary.

Worship is Transformational - Worship results in repentance, cleansing and a change of heart. A change in our character where we are purified and transformed into the likeness of our Lord Jesus.Worship makes a person humble and holy. The more a person worships the more sanctified he becomes as he spends considerable amount of time in the presence of God. This is what happened to Moses as he spent forty days in Mount Sinai.

Worship is Missional - Our worship is a response to our understanding of who God is. We will be able to understand who God is when we reflect on Jesus, the true image of the invisible God (Col 1:15). Jesus left everything and came in search of the lost mankind to redeem him from sin and certain death. The birth of Jesus was hence incarnational as well as missional. Therefore, an understanding of this Jesus whom we worship as Lord and God should result in an emulation of him which causes us to reach out with the love of Jesus. Therefore all genuine worship must result in missions, else it is no worship.

Therefore, worship is a much larger thing than so called worship music and so called worship leaders. 

Lasting Relationship?

Just happened to have a chat about music with a friend who has a fancy for old Tamil movie songs. We had a great discussion about the styles, content, genres, values conveyed and a whole lot of comparison of today's music with that of yesterday's. In the process of the conversation we stumbled upon a famous Tamil song that talks about human relationships and the lines are as follows:


"Veedu varai uravu
Veedhi varai manaivi
Kaadu varai pillai
Kadaisi varai yaaro?"

The song talks about death and the transience of human relationships. The meaning of the above lines are as follows:

When a man dies....
"Veedu varai uravu = The relatives mourn his death only as long as they are in his house 
Veedhi varai manaivi = The wife follows the corpse till the street corner (in Tamil culture women do not go to the grave yard)
Kaadu varai pillai = The son comes till the grave yard (to perform the last rites)
Kadaisi varai yaaro?" = But who will remain till the end?

Even though I have heard these lines many times, it struck a new chord today. Today I was able to see the song in a different light altogether - I was drawn to thinking in terms of eternity. It talks about the reality of death with no inkling of what lies ahead and about how fleeting life is. It also makes us ponder  about the longevity of all relationships we have. Finally the song ends with a question that portrays hopelessness.

In response to this question in this song, I was reminded of the parting words of Jesus to his disciples. He said, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

Oh what a hope!!! His presence is always with his children, to comfort, guide, help and deliver. His eternal presence with us enables us to face life boldly. It helps us to stand up to any challenge. The Psalmist David stood before the giant and was not shaken by the appearance or the taunting of his adversary. He knew His God and he was able to say in Ps 16:8 - "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." In Joshua 1:5 God says, " I will never leave you, nor forsake you." His love is a lasting and enduring love which remains true always!! In Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness."

What a hope to be the child of the living God who rose again from the dead. Death was conquered in sweet victory and that is the reason Jesus' words are so life-giving. Death is such an inescapable part of our life, yet for a child of God, death is the threshold of a life of lasting love, union with God, an endless hope and not a hopeless end as the song says. There is no fear and hopelessness in death for a Christian. That is what makes Christ so special to me.

As I close I am also reminded of the song by PETRA which is called "Grave Robber" which talks about life beyond the grave! 

Life - So Fleeting And Yet So Eternal!

I've lost three people who were very close to me since the beginning of this year and what pains me even more is the fact that all three have died young. It was in the month of February that the Lord took away my cousin in a tragic road accident. He was the only son besides two daughters for my uncle and aunt. He left behind his wife and two small children. In the month of March it was my good friend Danny who died while on tour in Indonesia. He is survived by his wife and only daughter. And now, I just received yet another heart breaking news of the demise of a very dear niece who struggled with a rare stem cell disorder for the last 7 years.

I wonder why a person should die so young when she has a whole life ahead of her. I wonder what the purpose of letting someone live all these lovely days in the first place was?...only to be deleted from the rolls of life all of a sudden? Why should the parents of these young ones go through these moments of heartache after having had great dreams for their children?

The only thing I can say at this moment is that our life is not in our hands. We are here today and gone tomorrow. There is no guarantee of staying alive even when all things are going well. This life is so temporal. Nothing that we hold on to is permanent. Our life belongs to the One who gave it to us and only He is constant.

I'm now reflecting as to what my life is all about. What am I doing here on earth? Why was I born? Why have I survived so long? Will it all be over when I breathe last? Is there something beyond the here and now? If there was nothing beyond this life, then the whole point of living is meaningless.

How fleeting is this life and what do we really live for? The Psalmist David says, "Life is but a hand breadth". But yet there is a thread of hope that is woven throughout the Bible that when we come to terms with this very Source of life and place our life in His hands He promises eternal life - life beyond the here and now. This gives us the hope that we will meet them again in eternity.

This is the hope I would like to leave for the bereaved families of my dear ones who have moved on to the world beyond. Dear JP, Danny and Ann girl - you will always be missed :(