Worship Wednesdays

A really annoying thing has happened in the last few decades. I don't know how it started, I sure hope it will end, but the thing that bugs me is the way we use the term 'worship'. When somebody asks about the church, invariably they will say something like: "How is your worship?" I know immediately that they are asking some type of question about the style of music played during the service. With a smirk on my face, I may answer the question: "Hopefully, our worship is pleasing to God." The conversation moves further with the other person then saying something like: "No, I mean what style of worship do you do?" To which I reply to the obviously annoyed person: "Well hopefully worship is a life-style." To which they then reply: "I mean is your church traditional or contemporary?" To which I reply: "We sing songs that move us." Tired of stringing the person along for quite awhile, I then go into a monologue about the problems with identifying worship only in a musical sense. The person then leaves rather annoyed, wondering why they even asked.
Unfortunately, after awhile, I just gave up and quit trying to educate people on the issues of looking at music as the only definition of worship. However, I will be more than glad to share my thoughts on it with you...
You see worship is so much more than music. Music is just a drop in the bucket of acceptable worship to God. There are so many Hebrew words for worship that I don't even feel like listing them here. But to paraphrase some of the worship concepts of the Bible, they are:
We worship with our minds (so meditate on His Word daily)
We worship with our bodies. (so take care of the Temple of His Spirit)
We worship with our hearts. (it's ok to get emotional with Him)
We worship with our willpower. (we push through even when its hard)
We worship with our sacrifice. (giving things up can show allegiance)
We worship with our words. (careful what comes out of your mouth)
We worship with our work ethic. (serving and worship are the same in Hebrew)
We worship with our time. (God loves good quality and quantity)
We worship with our good deeds. (so don't forget to help that person out)
We worship with our art. (we can make our own personal Sistine Chapel)
We worship with our money. (does your money go towards the faith or something else?)
We worship with courage. (taking a stand in the face of scrutiny)
We worship in Spirit and Truth.
We worship with our LIVES!

So, yeah, I think our entire lives are simply about worship. So, for the next few months on Wednesdays, I will talk about worship and our need to have it engulf our lives.