Understanding Worship
(Originally posted on Jan 18, 2007 at randehle.com) Why has worship been at the core of so many divisions both within and between churches for the better part of four decades (if not longer)? Perhaps a significant reason is that we do not have a clearly-defined understanding of what worship is. In Worship by the Book , D.A. Carson accurately presents worship as far broader than either music or corporate worship. He begins by noting the difficulty we will have in constructing a theology of worship. Indeed, he takes a full eight pages out of his 52-page first chapter just to explain why an agreeable definition of worship is difficult to come by. And when he does present his definition, he takes 16 lines to do it! Here is the first sentence Carson offers, which I believe is an accurate summary of biblical worship: “ Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so.” (...