What Is True Worship?

When talking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (John 4), Jesus makes an earth-shattering statement. In response to her confusion about where people should worship (v. 20), Isa says the following:

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (vv. 23-24)

The reason this is so earth-shattering is because for thousands of years, worship had always been associated with a physical location. The woman tells Jesus that "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship" (v. 20). In other words, she's trying to argue latitudes and longitudes. But Jesus doesn't go down that road. He isn't concerned with temples or mountains. He's stops her dead in her tracks and says, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father" (v. 21).

In essence, Jesus is saying that you no longer need to travel any amount of distance in order to worship Allah. You can worship Him wherever you are. You can worship Him at home, in your car, at work, at the grocery store, in your room, at the bank, at the mall or anywhere else. Allah loves our worship all the time - not only when we're at religious buildings.

I know (from personal experience) that it's one thing to show up at a temple, mosque or church and go through all the motions. But it's an entirely different thing to worship the Father in spirit and in truth - regardless of where we are. And remember, these are the people that Allah is seeking! He desires our worship, regardless of where we do it. For "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:24-25).

Praise and thanks be to God for sending Isa al Masih to show us this exciting and liberating reality. May we all be true worshipers of Allah, wherever we are, in spirit and in truth.