A Four-Dimensional Worship Experience

For too long, worship in our churches has been lopsided. What's even worse is it has been two-sided! Worship is more than the expression of our intellect and emotions. In fact, there are least four dimensions of the human personality that we can involve in worship.

Intellectual

It goes without saying that our worship should be thoughtful and reflect the truth and character of God. With the growing popularity of contemporary worship songs, many of the old hymns, with their succinct and profound statements of theological truth, have been tossed by the wayside. In a growing number of churches the result is that worship has become a time of singing where we express our hearts to God, but we leave rational affirmation of faith for the sermon. If we claim to praise a God whose character and deeds are great, then our worship and prayers should reflect that. That does not necessarily mean we have to bring back all the old hymns (though there certainly would be no harm in it). But we should be more intentional about making sure our new songs still communicate the "old, old story."

Physical

In Romans 12:1, the apostle Paul urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices in spiritual acts of worship. The obvious implication there is to live a life of service to God. But what about the worship service? We can also involve our bodies--all five senses--in the corporate worship setting.

Hearing. "Speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19, NIV). Music and the spoken word have been a part of the worship experience since the very beginning. Still, we have barely begun to tap into the tremendous potential for creative worship.

Touch. Clapping our hands in celebration, raising our hands in surrender, holding hands in solidarity, or laying hands on one another in prayer are all ways we can incorporate the sense of touch.

Sight. We can never underestimate the power of beauty in evoking an attitude of worship. Whether it is as simple as a cross or stained glass, or as elaborate as an animated projection system, through imagery we can focus our hearts on God.

Smell. Adding incense or scented candles can add to the worship experience by creating an intimate feel and symbolically representing God's presence.

Taste. An already important element to our worship is the Eucharist, or Communion. Through the sense of taste we remember the love of Christ in a tangible way.

Social

Of course the most important relationship in a worship service is the one between the worshipper and God. Nevertheless, there is another very important relationship that exists between believers. It is vital that we be able to worship God in unity. Toward that end we can sing more songs that use the pronouns "us" and "we" in them and celebrate our common identity in Christ. Even joining hands in prayer or breaking a song down into an a capella chorus can go a long way toward building a sense solidarity. The ultimate outcome should be believers motivated to reach out together to others in love.

Spiritual

"God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24, NIV). So said Jesus. But what did He mean? Did He simply mean that we are to engage our minds and emotions in worship to God? If so, then He does not require much of us. We give that much and more to our television sets. On the contrary, "spirit and truth" does not refer to which parts of ourselves we should involve in worship. Scripture is very clear that we should worship God with our entire being. Instead, it refers to the quality of worship God desires. He is looking for people to worship Him deeply and intimately.

The spirit is the very core of a person's life and being. In fact, "the body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26, NIV). So, if we are to worship God, who is Spirit, in spirit, we must worship Him from the very core of our being. Our minds and emotions will follow when we do. Worship in spirit is what happens when all that we are seeks to embrace all that God is.

When we worship God in spirit we find that we are also worshipping Him in truth. "Truth" in this text means not to be hidden or escape notice. In other words, to worship God in truth is to worship God sincerely, without pretense, making ourselves open and vulnerable to Him. We don't have to pretend we have it all together. We can be honest about our struggles and take them to God.

True worship is the difference between a cold handshake and a warm embrace. If I were to shake someone's hand, I could still be doing something or holding something with my other hand. But if I were to embrace that person, I would have to drop everything and involve my whole body. In the same way, we should offer our whole selves to God in worship. Then, we will be on our way to a more complete and balanced worship experience.

for Introduction to Journalism at APU circa Spring 2001