What Does It Mean to “Worship in Spirit and Truth”?
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Jesus declared “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24).
What did Jesus mean by worshiping in “spirit and truth”? Further, what is worship? Jesus’ statement implies that God has some specific expectations where our worship is concerned.
What Is the Context of John 4:24?
Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well outside of town where she sought water during the heat of the day. She was rejected by the other women because she was with a man who was not her husband, and she had been married five times previously. She told Jesus the truth, but was not expecting him to know all about her before she said a word. “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.’” (John 4:19).
John Piper explains: “To get away from his prophetic probing of her heart, the Samaritan woman leads Jesus into a discussion about worship. But even here she wants to keep things on the external surface of worship, not the heart of worship. She wants to talk about ‘where.’” As scholars explain, Samaritans believed Mount Gerizim was the center of worship as opposed to Jerusalem. Jesus does not argue about Jewish vs. Samaritan tradition, but points to himself as the center of worship.
Jesus told her that he would have given her “living water” (v.10) if she had asked; he wants to quench a thirst for love that she has been trying to slake with the attention of men. His remedy, however, is eternally and spiritually satisfying. Jesus sought to draw her away from sin, but also away from Mount Gerizim – away from empty religious practice – to the heart of worship, anchored in him.
Worship That Christ Intends
Many people believe that the manner of worship can be whatever they want, but Jesus says this: “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28-29).
Acceptable worship is reverent, humble, and grateful (Psalms 100:40). A worshiper’s posture recognizes that Jesus is to be revered and loved as King, not as a buddy, copilot, or plan B.
There are also actions which please God, the fruit of true worship. James 1:22 unites the intellectual with the practical: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” True worship is active, fruitful, loving and reflective of a changed heart.
We worship, in part, by how we live in the world – how we treat our neighbors. When a person helps another in Jesus’ name, or shows them hospitality, this is a way of sharing him with others and, therefore, a method of worshiping him, declaring his glory publicly, and serving him.
“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me” (Luke 9:48).
We worship personally and corporately – there is no such thing as a church of one. We meet regularly, “encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:25). We cannot call the mountains or forests our “church,” going there to find God, yet rejecting the body of Christ. At church, we listen to sound teaching and “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24) if we want to worship as Christ taught, both in word and deed. Christ worshiped the Father with his whole self.
Worshiping God consistently is difficult, not because worship is unnatural but because worship is totally natural, yet misdirected. We worship idols such as our children, work, our bodies, sports, etc. And our feelings change frequently; they cannot be relied upon to instruct us in how to love the Lord and one another. Our steady faith in the one we worship must spring from something weightier or we will constantly waver.
But believers have a helper: “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Ephesians 5:18-19). The Holy Spirit teaches and helps us to worship God. As one with God, the Spirit is qualified to direct and inform our worship.
Worship In Spirit
Sam Storms says that to “worship God ‘in spirit’ means, among other things, that [worship] must originate from within, from the heart; it must be sincere, motivated by our love for God and gratitude for all he is and has done.” No one can see or measure this love. Feelings are personal.
Commentators are divided as to whether Christ means Spirit or spirit, but they can agree that worship involves emotional, subjective elements. David Mathis explains: “For those who are new creatures in Christ, our spirit owes its existence and vibrancy to the Spirit of God. [...] God’s Spirit ignites and energizes our spirit.” We cannot quantify such things, but we can recognize their effects.
To worship Christ, we must love him. We worship when we express love towards and about him to others. The fruit of this deep love will show in the form of neighborly service, prayer, Bible reading, gratitude, and more.
While some will argue that only a needy and egocentric God requires so much worship from us, D.A. Carson responds: “He is the God of aseity. He has no needs. [...] His focus on Himself is not only because He is God, but because, out of love, that is what we need” or else “we wallow in idolatry again and again and again.” Devotion to God and service to others are both forms of worship and ways of keeping our devotion focused on Him.
Worship In Truth
Worshiping in truth means worshiping with our minds. Sam Storms explains: “our worship must conform to the revelation of God in Scripture. It must be informed by who God is and what he is like.” The ways we worship find their source in Scripture. How do we know the truth of God’s will for our worship? Christ’s life is the primary example, as described in the New Testament. He led disciples and lived with them as teacher and friend.
We can trust the writer of Hebrews and the other epistle writers who encourage us to worship corporately and privately because Christ did both. Christ loved the Father and would retreat daily to pray; he also trusted and frequently quoted Scripture against his enemies. Christ is truth, and he affirms the truth of the Bible.
Our reason to worship Jesus comes from Bible-based, intelligent conviction that Jesus alone is our Lord and Savior. Storms asserts, “worship is not meant to be formed by what feels good, but by the light of what’s true.” This might lead to worship that feels good, but feelings alone are insufficient for informing method and motive. Says Mathis, “truth centers on his person and work, the one who is himself ‘the Truth’” (John 14:6).
When we worship without truth, we run the risk of worshiping idols, says Storms, because our devotion is not grounded in the truth about who God is, what he has done, and what he wants from us. We can be zealous and joyful, but if lies are mixed in with truth, the Lord will reject our worship. We will also find that such worship becomes empty, like a cup needing to refilled over and over. The brittle foundations of wishful thinking and uninformed worship cannot sustain faith, so they cannot support worship.
Assessing Your Worship
Mathis stresses that “Christian worship [...] necessitates true doctrine about the Father and his Son, and their partnership in rescuing sinners, and due emotion about that doctrine.” We cannot say that just any worship is good enough, or better than no worship at all. While we sometimes need help pairing the two parts of worship, whether as new believers or during times of spiritual dryness, Jesus has set the example so we always find our way.
One way to assess your worship is to test the specific things you thank God for against Scripture’s actual promises. Be very specific – are you worshiping God as a cosmic vending machine, for what you have, or for who he is? Are you, in fact, worshiping those things?
Maybe you have been mistaken about God’s promises, but rest assured that you can restore the “truth” to your worship as an act of humility, demonstrating a deep love and reverence for Christ. When you worship in truth and spirit, worship will satisfy because the object of your worship satisfies.
Photo credit: Unsplash/John Price
