William Randolph Hearst printed newspapers in seventeen cities, owned three radio stations, and published various magazines. His ability to manage information made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. Hearst used his wealth to assemble one of the largest private art collections in the United States. On one occasion, he read of an extremely valuable piece of art and instructed his art agent to find it and buy it. After searching for several months, the agent reported to Hearst that he had finally found the desired piece of art. It had been stored in one of Hearst’s warehouses for years. Hearst made millions managing information, yet he was not aware of the valuables he already possessed.

People today are still searching to possess various valuables. However, today’s priceless valuables are more intangible. People are searching for acceptance and fulfillment. Josh McDowell speaks to high school and university students throughout America. He believes

…two of the greatest fears people struggle with today
are the fear that they will never be loved and
the fear that they will never be able to love.¹

We are all looking for a fulfilling relationship where we can give love and receive love. Yet, most of us are like Hearst. We do not know that we already have this treasure. We already possess the ability to give love to God and receive love from God. It is called worship. We long for such a relationship with God, and God-seeking worshippers who would have such a relationship with Him.

God Is Seeking True Worshippers

All were created to give love to God and receive love from God. However, sin broke our ability to have that relationship with God. When a potter fashions a pitcher on his wheel, he makes it so it will hold water and pour water. If the pitcher is broken, it cannot be used. We were created by God to hold the love He pours into us and to pour our love back to God. That is worship. However, our sin messed up God’s purpose for us. It left God and us seeking a way to mend the relationship that had been broken.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sin against God. Prior to their sin, they walked with God and God with them in the Garden of Eden. Look what happens as a result of their sin in verses 8-10,

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

Do not be misled. God knows everything. He knew where they were, but by calling out to them, God let them know the following. He let them know that they were not lost, but He also let them know that He still loved them. If He did not love them, He would not seek them. Adam and Eve were hiding like disobedient children. They were ashamed of what they did, but they stepped out as soon as God called their names because they still needed to give their love to Him and receive love from Him.

Thousands of years later, Jesus revealed that God was still calling to the lost. He was still seeking those who would have the relationship with Him He always wanted. It was to be a worshipping relationship with God where they could give Him their love and receive His love.

Jesus tells a woman about God’s ongoing search in John 4:23-24,

23 “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. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Earlier, this woman told Jesus where she worshipped and what she worshipped. But Jesus knew she was unfulfilled. She had a lot of religious movement without any spiritual fulfillment. She had rituals to God without a relationship with God. Therefore when Jesus revealed that God was still seeking to have a genuine, loving, and worshipping relationship with her, she wanted it. So Jesus explained that if she always wanted this relationship with God, what was broken by sin would have to be fixed by God. She would have to return to a mint condition with God.

I recently read that an eight-inch teapot, of the Wildflower series from the Hull collection, sells for $1,150. It is shocking how prices can soar in 54 years. Consider then how valuable must be the Smithsonian’s earthen jar from the Shang Dynasty of 1500 B.C. Yet, if the owners dropped and shattered these two expensive pitchers, they would not sell for $1.50 at a Saturday garage sale. The pitchers are valuable as long as they can still do what they were intended to do, which is to hold and pour. They have to be in mint condition.

Likewise, the only way you can enjoy your worshipping relationship with God is for you to be in mint condition. That which was shattered by sin must be forgiven by God. That which we broke, God alone must mend. Like the woman at the well, you must acknowledge and accept by faith that

You Have Sinned
(John 4:13-18)

Being Religious is not Enough
(John 4:19-24)

Jesus is God
(John 4:25-26)

You Must Surrender Your Life to Him
(John 4:39-42)

By following the woman’s example, your life returns to the mint condition God intended. Now you can enjoy a worshiping relationship with Him that allows Him to pour His love into you and allows you to hold and pour love back to Him.

True Worshippers Worship “In Spirit”

Though God can return us to mint condition, the sin in our life can still tarnish our appearance to Him and affect our handling by Him. As believers in Jesus Christ, we need to make sure that we remain in mint condition. This allows us to be “true worshippers.” These are the kind of worshippers God seeks. According to Jesus’ statement in John 4:23-24, there are two qualities that God looks for from “true worshippers.” True worshippers worship Him “in spirit” and “in truth.”

Worshipping “in spirit” creates confusion. Our first impression is that this is referring to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, most would think this means making our worship spiritual. That occurs when we worship God “in truth.” Worshipping God “in spirit” refers to making our worship personal.

A closer look reveals that worshipping “in spirit” does not refer to the Holy Spirit. In newer translations the word “spirit” has the lower case “s” rather than the capital “S.” Here is why. When the Greek New Testament talks about the Holy Spirit, it places the article “the” before the word “spirit.” This means the verse is acknowledging “the” Holy Spirit. Otherwise, the word “spirit” is referring to the attitude, emotion, or life of an individual, not the Spirit of God.

When Jesus spoke to the woman in John4, He said God was seeking worshippers who worshipped “in spirit” – lowercase “s” – because “God is spirit” – again, lower case “s.” He is speaking about worshipping God with all your life because God is the source of your life. With this statement, Jesus is saying that God wants each individual to give all of himself or herself to Him in worship. God wants your worship to be personal.

Throughout the Bible, people displayed various personal responses when worshipping God. People rejoiced, wept, celebrated, trembled, sang aloud, and knelt in prayer. God gave us life, with all its energy and emotion expecting, us to cast our energy and emotion on Him in worship. I am afraid many of us give more energy and emotion showing our love to a puppy than we do expressing our love to God in worship. If some said, “I love you” to their spouse with the same energy and emotion they worshipped God, their spouses would think they were having an affair. When you come to worship God and there is no energy or emotion in your worship, I wonder if God thinks you are having an affair. You are giving all your passions to your work, to your family, to your civic groups. God says to worship in mint condition. Your worship needs to be personal. “I gave you life with all its energy and emotion so you could give it to Me the same way I give it to you.”

True Worshippers Worship “In Truth”

Worship in mint condition not only means worshipping God “in spirit,” or personally, it also requires worshipping God “in truth,” or sincerely. When the Crystal Palace Exhibition opened in 1851, people flocked to London’s Hyde Park to see the latest steam inventions. Steam locomotives, steam looms, steam organs, and even a steam cannon were on display. Yet, the first-prize winner was a steam invention with seven thousand moving parts. When turned on, its pulleys, whistles, bells, and gears made a lot of noise and attracted a lot of attention. When asked, “What does it do?” the inventor replied, “Nothing.” With seven thousand moving parts, it was full of activity but accomplished nothing. That is why worship in mint condition must not only be full of vitality, it must also be full of sincerity.

Again in John 4:24, Jesus told the woman, “God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Vitality comes when you worship “in spirit” because it is personal. Sincerity comes when you worship “in truth” because it is spiritual. Worshipping “in truth” is the second quality needed for your worship to be in mint condition. This quality is also provided by God. It comes from the Holy Spirit. Listen to Jesus’ teaching regarding the Holy Spirit in John 14:15-18,

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

Here, the Greek New Testament places the article “the” before the word “Spirit” and Jesus identifies the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth. In John 14-16, Jesus explains how the Holy Spirit enables us to worship God sincerely.

God’s Spirit Resides in the Believer
We can worship God sincerely because His Spirit is in us. Jesus said that the Spirit of truth will be in you and that He is the Spirit of truth. Today, some churches hold what are called “Seeker Services.” The intent is to make their worship service understandable for those seeking a relationship with God. I do not want to get lost in semantics. But according to John 4, the true Seeker’s Service is God seeking those who have a relationship with Him whose worship is spiritually sincere. You see, the lost can attend worship services and the lost can participate in worship services. However, only those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus and have his Spirit in them can sincerely worship God. God is seeking saved worshippers who worship Him sincerely.

God’s Spirit Inspires the Believer
We can worship God sincerely because his Spirit inspires us. In John 15:26, Jesus said, “…, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” In a court of law, a witness testifies. His or her credibility is based on their first-hand knowledge of the individual or experience. Jesus says that his Spirit of truth will testify about Him. No one knows Jesus better than Jesus, so He will tell you about Himself. For me, the more I learn about Jesus, the more I want to worship Him. It is a growing knowledge of Jesus that inspires believers to worship Him sincerely.

God’s Spirit Instructs the Believer
In John 16:13, Jesus says, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” Thus, the Spirit of truth not only inspires us to worship, but also instructs us as to how God wants to be worshipped. This protects the sincerity of our worship.

On January 11, 1877, Phillips Brooks addressed the students of Yale University. While delivering the Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching, Brooks offered a definition of preaching which remains the standard today. He said,

“Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men…
[it] is the bringing of truth through personality.”²

Brooks’ definition of preaching can also be a standard for a definition of worship. “Worship is the appropriate response of individuals to God. It is the expression of truth through personality.” Brooks also believed true preaching did not take place if it was void of either truth or personality. I believe the same is true about worship.

Worship that is all spirit without truth, all vitality without sincerity, is like a chicken with its head cut off. It may be the most active and expressive bird in the yard, but it is also the one that is dead and does not know it. On the other hand, worship that is all truth without spirit, all sincerity without vitality, is like a corpse in a casket. It may be dressed nicely, and people there might say, “Doesn’t he look nice,” but it too is dead. It is a nice shell with no life.

Classify Yourself

Dr. R. G. Lee was pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, for decades. His convictions were understood as he stated them colorfully and giftedly from the pulpit each Sunday. One Sunday, a church member did not agree with Dr. Lee’s sermon. Leaving church, he told Dr. Lee, “I don’t like what you said this morning.” Without taking a breath Dr. Lee said, “Well, the devil didn’t either, so go home and classify yourself.”

I will never have the direct boldness of Dr. Lee. Yet the last half of his statement is worth repeating. All of us need to occasionally go home after a worship service and classify ourselves.

Are you a true worshipper?
Have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ?
If you have not, you may be a church attendee, but you are not a true worshipper.

Do you worship God in spirit?
Do you give the same life to your worship that you give to other passions in life?

Do you worship God in truth?
Are your efforts in worship more aerobic than authentic?