WHAT DOES WORSHIPPING OUR LORD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH ENTAIL?

What we think, say, and do are all expressions of worship. Our entire life is lived as worship, as Paul charged:

•    I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

Our "body" also includes the activity of our minds. Therefore, Paul followed this admonition to worship God with our entire being with the charge to be transformed through changing our thought-life so that we could know the will of God.

Why? Because we cannot worship God properly without knowing His will and His thoughts! Jesus affirmed this principle to a Samaritan woman:

•    “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)

Worshipping God had to be according to His truth—the truth of who He is. Worship is our expression of love for God, and we are not free to love Him in any way that seems right to us.

Likewise, I am not free to love my wife in any manner I please. I cannot love her because she reminds me of my first flame. Instead, I must love her for who she is. Anything short of this is unacceptable.

To love God is to worship Him according to His instructions and revelation. Consequently, I am not free to pick-and-choose among the teachings of the Bible. Following Christ is not like a smorgasbord lunch, where I can simply choose the foods that are appealing and leave the rest.

If Christ is the Master of my life, I must embrace all the Word of God, as He did. Quoting from Deuteronomy, Jesus answered the Devil:

•    “It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4)

Jesus always acknowledged that the Father is in charge. This means that we are required to embrace all His teachings (Matthew 28:19-20). He spoke whatever He had been given. We can do no less!

Nor are we free to worship a God of our imagination. While many suggest that we should imagine for ourselves the God that seems right and comfortable for us, we mustn't do this. Nor will truth allow this. Thus says the Lord of hosts:

•    "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord...I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart.” (Jeremiah 23:16, 25-26)

Our God cannot be the creation of our own minds. For years, I had wanted God on my terms—one who would tell me what I wanted to hear, one who would affirm my ethnicity. However, the true God wouldn't conform to my specifications. I had to conform to His, and until I did, God remained distant!

Nor are we permitted to visualize the God of our imagination. The Second Commandment seems to make this plain:

•    “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.” (Exodus 20:4-5)

This refers specifically to the creation of any images that represent God:

•    “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form [of God] on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves [to represent God] in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female...And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven...Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.” (Deuteronomy 4:15-16, 19, 23)

God makes it clear that the problem is not with making images, but rather, images that represent God, who had refused to appear to Israel in any form at Horeb.

We also have to be careful about whatever the eye sees, even the "sun, moon, and stars," so that these might pervert true worship, lowering our estimation of God.

I am often tempted to visualize God comforting me as I recline in the dreaded dentist's chair. However, this too represents a perversion of true worship, which requires me to meditate on the promises of God's Word instead of the images of my imagination.

Instead, it has been argued that “images of Jesus need not affect our worship of Jesus. Instead, they serve as mere reminders.” Perhaps, this might be true for some. However, I think that there are numerous overriding considerations:

In both the Second Commandment and Deuteronomy 4, physical representations of God are specifically forbidden. Meanwhile, many verses insist that God must be worshipped in truth and not through a creation of our imagination. The entire Bible specifies how God should be loved and worshipped, and images of God are never suggested as aids to worship. Instead, it seems that, at best, they distract us from a true worship according to God's Word.

Just consider one way that our images may prove problematic. Our images and portraits of Christ are competing images, which might cause unbiblical division. Whites want a white Jesus; Blacks want a black Jesus; Asians want a portrait of an asian Jesus. Each group represents Jesus according to its own ethnicity. Consequently, these images serve to divide and not unite.

Clearly, we are not free to worship as we please. Instead, we must love God as He has commanded us to love Him.

I know that this essay will be troubling to many. Some argue that the Incarnation has overturned the Second Commandment. However, I have not seen a biblical case to be made for this.

Instead, we are to worship our Lord according to what He has revealed—His Word!