I'm speaking at a youth music camp at Silver Lake at the end of the month. So I've been thinking about what to speak on. The passage that came to me is John 4:23-24:
"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
I've been meditating on, and investigating the phrase "In Spirit and in truth". And the question that jumped to my mind is "Why choose these two characteristics in particular?" Why not "his worshipers must worship in purity and love" or "holiness and excellence" or "sincerity and passion"? Why "in Spirit and in truth"?
So I've been using resources such as Strong's Concordance, different translations of the Bible and NEXT Bible and looking into the greek words used.
Here's what I discover:
The Greek word for Spirit is pneuma, and according to Strong's, it can mean any of the following: a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit:--ghost, life, spirit(-ual, -ually), mind. In short, it can either refer to our Spirit or the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word for truth is aletheia which comes from the word alethes.
Are you still with me? Hold on in there for just a while longer!!! Now, the word alethes comes from two words a (meaning "not") and lanthano meaning to suppress / be ignorant of / be hid.
In short, the word truth refers to "not suppressing / hiding" - i.e. authenticity.
So God is looking for worshipers who are living authentic lives in the power of His Spirit (Spirit and in truth).
Intriguingly, John 16:13 also connects the twin concepts of Spirit and truth as he quotes Christ as saying:
"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide You into all truth..."
Finally, in my devotions, this morning, the set reading was Galatians 5:16-24.
Here are some excerpts:
"I say then: walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (v16)
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (v25).
What shows that we are walking in the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit.
"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (v22-23)
What shows we are not walking in the Spirit? The fruits of the self-life.
"...sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these" (v19-21)
I'm still trying to figure out this John 4:23-24 verse, but at this point, it seems to me that God is actively looking for / seeking / desiring people who will worship Him by being opposed with every ounce of their being to living hidden, secret lives and instead are committed to living authentic, open lives in the power of the Spirit, resulting in a visibly transformed life of which the evidence is clear to all. This seems to me what worshiping in Spirit and in truth means.
- Does your life demonstrate your are walking in the Spirit or in your own power (follow the trail of evidence)?
- Are you living a life of vulnerable, open authenticity? If not, what skeletons are in your closet?
- Do you believe that God is seeking to free you from this?
- Are you willing to ask Him to lead you to freedom, understanding that this half-life of suppressed guilt and slavery to sin is not bringing you joy?
- Feel free to reply to this blog, or to email me at its.dan.wallis@gmail.com
- I've lived under this cloud of guilt, sin and shame for too many years, and there are still times when I go back there for a visit. But I know that God is calling me to a life of liberating authenticity where people know my worst self and love me still, where God knows my worst self and loves me still, and where I begin to see myself as God sees me. I'm not talking about telling everyone your deepest darkest, but finding a fellow believer (or group of Christ-following friends) who are a few steps down the road in their Christian walk from you and with whom you can take the risk to be honest.
He's looking for you.
Cheers
Dan
So I was just wondering whether anyone has any ideas / insights / great illustrations / stories / object lessons etc to do with this "worshiping God in spirit and in truth"?
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of the story about the Pharisee and tax collector praying (Luke). The Pharisee does not say anything essentially wrong and would consider himself living in "Spirit and Truth", yet he like the rich young ruler are caught up in religiousness. The Tax Collector on the other hand does not even appear to be repentant and is considered Justified. How does this apply to what you are say Dan? Well worship comes from the heart, the knowing that you are saved by grace and loving God because of that. The repentance, the authenticity, fruits of the spirit all come out of that. If you think you have arrived then it is safe to say that you are more like the Pharisee than the Tax Collector beating his chest.
ReplyDeleteMark, I agree with all you say and I get what you're saying about the tax collector being caught up in religiousness; even the fact that Luke starts off the parable by saying "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable..." (Luke 18:9).
ReplyDeleteI guess that there must be a difference between thinking you're worshiping in Spirit and in truth and actually worshiping in this manner. And the difference seems to me to be whether we are allowing the Spirit to lead us into all truth or not. Is it a "me-centred" process (which will always end up in legalism or libertarianism) or a Spirit-centred process...?
Mark, as I'm reading through what you're saying, do you think this message, where it's heading, is focusing on works-righteousness? I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say...
Cheers for your input
Dan
I don't find fault in your message. It is a difficult concept "Spirit and Truth" for some. How do you allow the Spirit to lead? What is Truth? These are relevant questions for today.
ReplyDeleteYour questions regarding walking in the Spirit are good and thought provoking, yet we don't measure up to the criteria and others unintentionally meet some of the criteria. To make this brief, If you consider living/worshipping (same) in the Spirit to be your life, your breath (see translation again) you already are "in the Spirit". The truth part for me is focused more on the sinner saved by grace. This has a way of curbing pride, a sense of arrival, and lets me know I am loved just the way I am. The criteria you set out, and the authenticity you mentioned are just truth working into your already Spirit lead life.
You said "It's a difficult concept " Spirit and Truth" for some". Absolutely - until last week when I started really delving into the passage, I thought it was merely about "When we 'worship' God on Sunday (i.e. sing)we must have leave room for God to move (i.e. Spirit) and must have some scripture read too (i.e. truth)" How narrow a view of worshiping God in Spirit and in truth is that? I remember Wayne Cordeiro speaking at the Leadership Summit a few years back. He said that when we speak, we need to take the word into our hearts before we preach it from the pulpit. He made a hand action as he said this - 'grabbing'from the Bible, and placing his hand on his heart, then from his heart, he 'scattered'out to the congregation. This is my challenge: it's great to have the concept neatly unraveling in my head, but am I allowing this truth to transform me? I guess this is the bane of the average Pastor's life - not just studying for information, but transformation (even that is a cliche - the other bane of the Pastor's life - summing deep truths up in pithy sayings!). I thank you for your bloody minded refusal to move away from grace. I think I'm hearing you!
ReplyDelete