As this is the Lord's Day my mind often wanders to the subject of what true worship is. What do we do, how should we act, how does God respond, how are we blessed? Here's a few thoughts from John Piper:
Worshiping in spirit is the opposite of worshiping in merely external ways. It is the opposite of empty formalism and traditionalism. Worshiping in truth is the opposite of worship based on an inadequate view of God. Worship must have heart and head. Worship must engage emotions and thought.
Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half-full) of artificial admirers (like people who write generic anniversary cards for a living). On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship.
If you have not been to church today may you keep these thoughts in mind as you worship. If you've already been, what was it like, emotional, formal or well balanced? Let us all pray for ourselves and our churches for balanced worship that pleases God and edifies his people.
Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
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