You’ve probably heard people say things like “I feel closer to God on a hike in the forest than I do in a church building.” You may have even said that…I have. In fact, there are a lot of places & actions that make me feel closer to God than the traditional prescriptions. I feel closest to God when I’m praying while running through a forest, or serving someone in need. Running because it’s just me & Him communicating in His creation….serving because it sidelines my self-seeking nature and focuses me on Him. How about you?
Taking it a step further, I wonder if there’s a connection between things that draw us closer to God, and His definition of the word “worship.” Here are some things the Bible says, and doesn’t say, about WORSHIP:
- When we read the word “worship” in the New Testament (NT), 80% of the time it’s translated from the Greek word “proskuneo” (which looks like this προσκυνέω). The word literally means to “kiss toward”….kind of like how we would say “to blow kisses.”
- Not once in the NT does the word “worship” refer to singing or a time/place.
- “Worship” is often used without much description…”they fell down and worshipped”….”Jacob worshipped while leaning on his staff”…
- It’s not dependent upon place. “Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.'” (John 4;21)
- In perhaps the most powerful Biblical description of “worship,” found in Romans 12:1-2, we find this: “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. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
So perhaps worship, real Biblical worship, can happen anytime at any place, as long as it involves recognizing, honoring, and communing with God in ways that empower us to follow Him.
