Worship and Service

Any who believe in the Bible, Jesus Christ, and heaven, will admit a need to worship and serve God.  He seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:23, 24).  He commands men to serve Him (Lk. 1:74; Matt. 4:10).  Some fail to recognize the difference in the two.

Many of our denominational friends tell us that everyday life is worship.  If they help an old lady across the street, they are worshipping God.  One has even said that changing her baby’s diapers is a form of worship to God because she is caring for her child as God commands (Titus 2:4, 5).  These and similar activities are not worship, they are service.  Worship in the Bible is a distinct activity, separated from the everyday events of life.

Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Isaac.  When he arrived near the place it was to be done, he told his servants, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you” (Gen. 22:5).  He made a distinction between what he was doing in fulfillment of the command (preparation, traveling) and worship offered to God (sacrifice of his son).

All through the Old Testament, worship is pictured as a unique activity, not ordinary daily life in submission to God’s commands (Ex. 24:1; 1 Sam. 1:3).  Likewise, worship is a distinct action in the New Testament. Jesus said, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Matt. 4:10).  Worship is a part of service, but service is not necessarily worship.

If all service to the Lord is worship, then is a husband engaged in worship when he renders to his wife the “affection due her” (1 Cor. 7:3-5)?  Do we worship God when we submit to a harsh and overbearing employer (1 Pet. 2:18, 19)?  Is working at the factory or on the farm worship (Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 5:8)?

Here’s the problem: If all life’s activities are worship, then where is the uniqueness of gathering on Sunday?  True worship loses its reverence.  How can a group of men and women gather on the first day of the week, partake of the Lord’s supper, pray, sing, etc., and feel that it is indeed a special time in the presence of God when they think every moment of every day is special time before God?  If everything is special and unique, then nothing is special or unique.

Satan’s agenda has long been to convince us that worshipping God is a casual activity; something to which we may give no more thought than putting on socks.  When we believe everything we do in service to God is worship, we void the command to worship in spirit and truth.  Instead of being more reverent, worship becomes common.

I will build My church.
- Matthew 16:18

The New Testament Church
By Roy E. Cogdill