| March 24
Spirit and Truth
Jesus was speaking to the
Samaritan woman as He said this statement.
The Samaritans had a problem. They were
very vibrant in their worship but they were
off-base in who or what they were worshipping.
It doesn't matter what our intention is or how
spirited our worship is if it is pointed in the
wrong direction.
The Jews of Jesus day had
just the opposite problem. They had the
truth but no spirit. The Pharisees had
reduced the religion into a bunch of rules: do
this, don't do that. The leaders were off
base in their understanding of the rules but
even if they weren't they had sucked the joy out
of worship.
Although this is
admittedly an oversimplification, the church has
fallen into one of these two camps. There
are churches where everything is a party and
feelings are emphasized. The truth in the
Word of God is not the central part of a worship
service.
On the other hand, some
churches emphasis strict Bible teaching and
doctrine and have no joy in their salvation.
Yes they are saved but you wouldn't be able to
see the difference in their lives by how excited
their salvation makes them.
As individuals and
churches we need to emphasize balance.
There is a place for joyful singing and dancing
and there is a time for solemn biblical
reflection. We should worship in both
spirit and in truth. |
