I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “worship”? You might picture a dimly lit room with a stage, a band, inspirational music playing in the background, and people singing along. However, if you were a Jew during the time of Christ, you would have pictured something a little different.
Imagine gathering outside an ornately constructed temple with hundreds, sometimes thousands of other people. And instead of Bibles or a cup of coffee, each family brought a smelly animal. Not only would the stench of the animals around you be overwhelming, but the smell of the animals that had been slaughtered and placed on a burning alter would probably be too much to put into words – not exactly the smell of your favorite BBQ restaurant. Yet, that scene was the common practice of worship in Scripture.
In Romans 12:1-2, we see that there is no mention of singing or instruments being played. No songs of any kind.
So what does it mean to worship?
A simple definition of worship is a sacrificial response to the majesty of God’s character. The idea of sacrifice presented in this definition comes from the Old Testament and New Testament ideas of worship. A person’s response encompasses his or her whole life and the entirety of the human emotion. The type of response can be one of joyful admiration of God, deep sadness over one’s own sin, or many things in between.
The first time that the word “worship” is used in the English Bible is in reference to Abraham taking Isaac onto the mountain to sacrifice him. In Genesis 22, Abraham tells his servant, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” This example is a powerful image about the nature of worship as it relates to one’s understanding of God’s character. Abraham knew that God was a covenant keeping God, “he believed in the Lord; and He credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen.15:6).
Not only is worship seen as literal sacrifice in the Bible, but this sacrificial response can be manifested as singing and praise to God. As Keith and Kristyn Getty explain in their book Sing! How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church, there are “over four hundred references to singing in the Bible and at least fifty direct commands.”
So while singing is an essential aspect of worship, it is not the extent of worship.
That is the heart behind Paul’s message to the Romans in this passage. Believers that exhibit true worship seek to honor God with their lives daily and not succumb to the lies of the world. May we pursue Christ daily, delight in His ways, and may our lives be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. And as we seek to worship Christ daily with our lives, our Sunday morning worship services will be transformed, and our songs will ring out in spirit and in truth (Jn.4:24).