What is the point of worship?

One of my favorite questions in fiction is that famous question, "What does Good need with a starship?" It seems pretty silly, in a (Jim Kirk face-punching space Jesus" sort of way) , but it does hint at a much more fundamental question:

What does God need with anything, really?

And while we could spend all day applying this question to literally any topic, today I want to talk about worship? Why does God need us to worship?

Of course, the simple answer is: God doesn't.

The problem is that we're operating out of an entirely wrong premise. When we consider worship, we all too often think about it as something that we do for God, as though we are serving God by engaging in worship. This mindset is incredibly useful for us as humans, because it allows us to compartmentalize our life in Christ's service. If we consider worship as service to God, then we don't really have to think about serving God in other ways. Once we walk out the sanctuary doors on Sunday morning, we can dust ourselves off and go out into the week without having to think any uncomfortable thoughts about serving God during the week.

When worship is service to God, the rest of our time becomes service to ourselves.

But, the real catch is that worship isn't for God at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Worship is the one part of the week that is only for ourselves. We don't give glory to God because God needs to be glorified; we don't give praise to the magnificence of the Almighty because God needs a reminder of God's own majesty.

We worship and praise the Lord so that we can remember.

We worship and praise the Lord so that we can experience God's presence as a community, and not just individually.

We worship and praise the Lord so that we can prepare ourselves for the rest of our lives outside worship, which are dedicated to the service of God.

In most forms of denomination Christianity, worship services are subtly, even subconsciously, designed to present a participant with an experience that mimics what one might expect from an encounter with God.

Regardless of how liturgically complex the pieces are, most services (generally speaking of course), open by approaching and praising God, which is the natural reaction for one to have when first encountering God.

Next, we move into a time of confession, self reflection, and purification. When one confronts God, the disparity between God's perfection and our imperfection become clear, and we feel compelled to apologize for the things we have done which have been hurtful to God and to others.

As we experience, or at least recollect, God's forgiveness, we then find ourself in a space where we are clear-headed and right-hearted enough to hear God's word.

Once we've heard the Word, everything from that point is moving outward; responding to that Word with tithing, service, further praise, and a sending out into the world to be servants of Christ in all things during the rest of the week.

Arguments to it's efficacy aside, we can at least see what the point is; to encounter God, to be cleansed by God, and to move into the week ready to serve God.

It's got nothing to do with giving anything to God at all.

In exploring the problem of modern hostility to the very idea of institutionalized "church," author Daniel Migliore notes that, "(a)nother major source of the problems that many people have with the church is to be found in the conspicuous and disturbing discrepancy between the expressed faith of the church and its actual practice (1)."

This quote really hits the proverbial nail on the head and for many people, much of that discrepancy is rooted in this idea that worship is for God, and not for us. When we think worship is our service, we focus on what we're doing in worship (singing, dancing, etc), and fail to allow our hearts to be truly purified.

Perhaps more importantly, when we think worship is our service to God, we as humans start to focus (perhaps understandably, given the motivation) on doing the task of worship correctly, rather than allowing ourselves to be changed by the experience of connecting with God. We focus on singing correctly, praising God loudly or powerfully enough, forcing ourselves to have an emotional reaction rather a contemplative transformation.

When we worship for God, we do worship well, but we don't take anything with us when we leave. And that makes us hypocrites.

Worship is something we see in the Bible very often. From the songs sung by the people of Israel in the desert (Exodus 15), to formal worship codified in Jewish ritual practice (1 Chronicles 6:31–32, 16:4), to Jesus' own practices of hymn singing and worship (Matthew 26:30), all the way through to Paul's own invocation to "...sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." (Colossians 3), we know that it's supposed to be a part of our lives.

But we must be aware of its purpose.

The point of worship is to align ourselves with God, not to "fill up" God's divine gas tank with narcissistic fuel.

So...what does God need with a starship?

Nothing. We need it to get to God.

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1 Migliore, Daniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology. Grand Rapids. William B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1991. (187)