Devotional: Worship that Matters: John 3:19-26

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:24, NASB).

The late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.” Further, he said, "We must face the fact that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning when we stand to sing… we stand in the most segregated hour of America.” Dr. King was explaining that segregation in America’s churches was a primary reason that segregation exist in America. When all of those who worship God come together focused on God segregation will at least begin to cease in America. God is not the God of white America. God is not the God of Black America. God is the God of all people. As creator, God is the one who created human beings and divided them into different people groups. As Savior, God does not save people according to their human status. God desires that every human being be saved regardless of their status in the world.

When I think about it, I have my own preferences about worship. I have my preference of music, preaching, and organization of the church. What ministries do the church concern itself with? How do the people dress? Does the church cater to people according to their age, their education level, their economic status? Do any of these things really matter?

The Gospel of John was written to tell all people about Jesus. He is God; the Son of God who came into the world to make the will of God known to all people. In John 3:16 these words are recorded. “For God so loved the world that, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” We can say with certainty that God does not discriminate, No individual or group is more important than the next one. All must be saved, that is be born of the Spirit.

The author of the Gospel of John writes in chapter four that God includes everyone in the plan of salvation. Jesus goes into the area of the Samaritans. He encounters a woman at Jacob’s well. He breaks the societal rules by engaging in conversation with a woman, and a Samaritan woman at that. The woman brings us the issue of worship. From her own words Jesus knows that the woman believes that one should worship a certain location. She said, “our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship” (Jn. 4:20, NASB). Jesus tells the woman that the place that one worships does not matter (v. 21). The place of worship does not matter. The person that worships is inclusive of all people.

The worship that matters is worship in spirit and truth. God is spirit. He cannot be seen. He cannot be contained in a certain location. God is omnipresent. God is available to all people in every place. God can be worshiped any place. The worship that matters is that it is worship in spirit and in truth.

Prayer: Father, we seek to worship you in spirit and in truth. Amen.