Worship

One the way home from church Sunday, I asked the children about their Sunday school class. “Did you have fun?” seems to be the most natural thing to ask, but I’d rather ask “What was your lesson about?” or “What songs did you sing?”

Bethel sang some song about a caterpillar, and I asked if the song was about God. No, David said, It was just about a caterpillar. I don’t want to be critical, but I do want them to understand that church isn’t just about fun songs. So I said that I like songs about God the best when we come to church. [note: It’s possible that the song was indeed about God and my children missed it.]

Then I started listing why we go to church: We go to learn about the Bible, we go to sing songs about God, we go to worship God. But for some reason I’m hesitant to say “worship God.” Maybe I’m not certain that they know what worship means, and I’m searching for a term that I think they do understand. Maybe my understanding of worship isn’t what it should be, and thus I’m lacking in my ability to explain the concept so they understand the term.

In any case, I started thinking that maybe I should do some more study so I’m better prepared to teach the concept. I don’t think it’s beyond them, although right now, I suspect they might think it’s just another word for “singing songs about God.” The solution is not to come up with a easier word, but to come up with what God says about worship. I’ll be thinking about this for awhile, I think.