Worship is about much more than sitting in pews. Okay, so that is the excuse I used today for my family not going to church. But I do believe it.

I grew up thinking of “worship” in very abstract terms. Basically, we “worshipped” God instead of false idols. He was the one that we recognized as supreme. We didn’t worship golden calves but instead we worshipped God. This concept that I grew up with was certainly the right idea but it turned worship into a pretty esoteric thing in my brain and heart but not in my hands and feet.

In recent years, “worship” has often come to mean the musical part of a church service. We have worship leaders, directors, and teams. They help us to sing songs that attest our faith in, love for, and dependence on God. That’s all good but I really struggle with seeing why it’s so often called “worship” because to me this is only a small part of worship. If that is all worship is, then we have spirituality that, as a friend of mine says, may be a mile wide but only an inch deep.

I am coming to recognize worship as honoring God, and that can occur in so many different forms. Certainly going to church is a formal way to do that. But it is so much more. Worship can consist of listening to God, voicing our praise, and doing things that honor, glorify and respect Him. Today, it was spending time with my family – respecting, honoring, and valuing them as exactly what they are – a gift from God.