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Church of Christ
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Louisville, KY 40215

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True Worship
Aaron Erhardt

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, He said that true worship “must” be “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). “In spirit” refers to our attitude or disposition. “In truth” refers to the divine pattern. John 17:17 says, “…your word is truth.” Hence, true worship is both internal and external. If either of the two is missing, then it is in vain.

Though many today stress the internal element of worship, very few emphasize the external aspect of it. They think that sincerity alone determines the acceptability of worship.

“One of the great delusions of modern worshipers is the fallacy that there is no pattern, actually, and that it makes no difference what men do religiously, just so they are sincere in it” (James B. Coffman, Hebrews, p. 159).

There are many biblical examples that demonstrate the importance of “how” one worships. We will consider just two of them from the Old Testament.

1)  Cain and Abel. When the sons of Adam and Eve brought their offerings to the Lord, one was accepted and the other was rejected (Genesis 4:3-5). Why was that? Though we do not have all the details about this situation, we do know that Abel offered his sacrifice “by faith” (Hebrews 11:4). Since faith comes by hearing the word of the Lord (Romans 10:17), we can safely conclude that they had received divine instructions for worship. Abel obeyed the instructions, Cain did not. Hence, his worship was refused.

2)  Nadab and Abihu. When the sons of Aaron and Elisheba offered fire before the Lord, they were both rejected (Leviticus 10:1-2). Why was that? Because they offered “unauthorized fire” that God “had not commanded.” Apparently, their fire came from the wrong source.

Since these examples were written down for our instruction (Romans 15:4), what lesson do we learn? We learn that it is not enough to merely worship the right God. We must worship Him in the manner He prescribed. In other words, both the “who” and the “how” matters.

God has not left worship open to the inventions and imaginations of men (Matthew 15:9). He has not given us the right to structure worship after our own thoughts and desires. He alone has decided what elements should be included in worship, and they are clearly set forth in Scripture.

The divine pattern details five acts of worship for Christians — sing, pray, preach, give, and the Lord’s Supper. The last two acts are confined to the assembly on the first day of the week. Not included is tithing, keeping the Sabbath, or playing mechanical instruments. They were part of the Old Law for physical Israel, but are not part of the New Law for spiritual Israel.

Four of the five acts of worship are mentioned in a single verse of Scripture. Acts 2:42 says, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The only one not found in that text is singing. However, there are many other passages that instruct us to sing (1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 2:12, etc). So, are you worshipping God “in truth?”