What is worship?

Do you consider yourself to be a worshipper? You might think that if you’re not religious then the obvious answer is ‘no’. But it’s not as simple as that.

Worship sits at the core of humanity’s collective heart. Entire ancient cultures were shaped by their recognition of a power or deity beyond themselves. Tribes worshipped the sun hoping it would bring a bountiful harvest. Religious groups offered sacrifices of riches and obedience hoping for some blessing in return. But worship goes beyond religion.

Worship in its truest form is about how you respond to what you value the most. The word worship originates from the acknowledgement of worth in something, worth-ship. These days people worship careers, relationships, possessions, hopes and dreams and fame. These things are healthy when they are a part of your life, but become destructive when they take it over.

A helpful illustration is social media. Social media has become an object of worship for many people. Their lives can revolve around growing their following, they make immense sacrifices of their time to it, their actions and behaviour change, and it can determine their self-worth. Social media is fine when it’s kept in appropriate boundaries, but it brings disorder as an object of worship.

Worship of social media causes mental illness, bullying, narcissism, and addictive and dangerous behaviour. This can be said for any object of worship in your life. An unbalanced priority of work, study, relationships, hobbies, and socialisation often ends in disorder. Many people have a ‘worship problem’, and they don’t even know about it.

So what role does worship play in your life?

Ask yourself a few questions. What takes ultimate priority in your life? What good things are you sacrificing to serve that ultimate priority? And is it worth it? Does it bring order and goodness to your life, or disorder and brokenness?

If you think you might be struggling with what you worship, it can be helpful to consider looking outside of your current experience. Every physical thing in this universe will one day pass away, your money, friendships, status – even your life. Many people have discovered that having Jesus as their ultimate priority and object of worship brings a life filled with love, joy and peace. A life of ordered goodness.

Jesus says, he stands at the door knocking – waiting for you to open it. Why not try opening the door to Jesus today? You can do that by simply talking to Him. Ask Jesus right now to help you know him and understand who he is. Ask him right now to bring order and goodness to your life.