Simon, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to his home for dinner. After traveling the dirty, dusty roads, Jesus’ feet needed to be washed. Simon failed to follow the hospitality protocols of the day and provided no water or towel for Jesus to wash His feet. Instead, a woman in town, simply described as a sinner, washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with fragrant oil. The woman’s presence offended Simon, and her actions were contrary to the social norms of the day. Yet she continued with her mission.
Washing Jesus’ feet was the woman’s humble, personal act of repentance, worship and love. At the same time, it met a real need in Jesus’ life. It was authentic worship Jesus could truly feel, focused exclusively on Him.
It’s exhilarating to leave a spirited worship service energized. It’s wonderful to hear an empowering message that gives the hearers encouragement for the coming week. And, it’s uplifting to commune with like-minded believers who support and fortify each other through life’s challenges. That’s one side of worship, how worship impacts us. But when we make worship about ourselves, we fail to focus on the real audience.
The other side—the singular purpose of worship is focusing on the audience of one—God. Authentic worship isn’t about us feeling energized, empowered, encouraged or uplifted. Those may be byproducts but not the end products of worship. Worship isn’t about entertaining ourselves or others, following the crowd in rote worship protocols, nor impressing others with our manner of worship. Every worship experience is about expressing love, honor and reverence to The Almighty in authentic adoration and gratitude, regardless how others may worship or view our worship.
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”—John 4:24
