What is Worship?
Rev Charlie (July 2026)
The Bible contains countless verses that command, invite, and encourage believers to worship and praise God. But what exactly is worship? It may seem like a simple question, and certainly not a ‘Tough Question,’ as per this series, yet many Christians have a hazy understanding of what the word really means. For some, worship is simply the part of a church service where everybody sings, but this view is too narrow by far.
Worship, properly understood, is a posture of the heart whereby a person is wholly orientated towards God. It is praise of the highest good and admiration of that which is most admirable, and it should be present in every area of our lives. In other words, worship is not merely an activity but a way of life that continually gives glory to God.
In the ancient world, animal sacrifice was central to worship for both Jews and pagans, but everything changed with the coming of Jesus. The Apostle Paul teaches that, rather than offering animals, believers are called to offer themselves as living sacrifices.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
(Romans 12: 1)
In the same spirit as Paul, St Augustine challenged the pagan Roman view of sacrifice when he wrote, ‘Thus a true sacrifice is every work which is done that we may be united to God in holy friendship.’ Worship, then, not only glorifies God but deepens our friendship with him.
As we lay aside worldly ways in favour of God’s ways, every part of our lives can become an act of worship, giving glory to God and drawing us ever nearer to him.
It is often asked why God calls us to worship him, and some even accuse God of being petty or egotistic. To answer this, we must first recognise that human beings are created to worship. We are worshippers by nature, and if we do not worship God, we inevitably give ourselves to the counterfeit worship of something else.
This isn’t limited to the ancient pagan devotion to sun, moon, oceans, or forests. For the modern person, whatever holds the highest place in their life becomes the object of their worship, whether money, possessions, family, sport, or, as is so often the case, themselves.
If worship is inevitable, it would make sense to worship the only one who truly merits and deserves our worship, namely the God who has made himself known to us through the person of Jesus Christ. Moreover, as C.S. Lewis pointed out, “the world rings with praise.” That is, human beings spontaneously praise the things that they value. He concludes, "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed."
The Westminster confession states that, ‘Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.’ If we follow Lewis’ logic, we can only enjoy God to the fullest extent when we worship him.
In conclusion, we have been created to worship; it is part of what makes us human, but our inclination to worship is often misdirected. Worship, in its fullest sense, is a way of living that glorifies God, deepens our relationship with him, and enables us to experience the joy of knowing him. It is a posture of humility and gratitude towards the only one who is worthy, expressed through every aspect of our lives, which of course includes singing God’s praises in church.
