Worship?  In mind and in method?  Or in spirit and in truth?

In Western Christianity, we’ve been trained to worship in mind and in method.  We’re taught to sit in a tightly programmed service (a method) and hear a talk that is targeted toward our thinking (mind).  The particulars of this type of worship are usually planned as if we were planning a performance.

However, Jesus taught that God wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth.  God desires for our worship to be open, honest, and vulnerable (in truth) as we allow His Spirit to flow out of our innermost being (our spirit or heart).  This worship humbly waits for and allows the Holy Spirit to stir our spirit — to deeply touch our heart.  It permits the people present to actively obey the Spirit’s promptings.

There remains an example of worship in spirit and in truth in the Western church.  It’s called the altar call. For the last few minutes of a worship service, people are encouraged to be sensitive to God and to obey Him by taking action in the meeting to come to an altar, open up to God, and publicly seek Him.

So why not expand the altar call?  Instead of just giving God a couple of minutes to run the very end of the meeting, why not give Him 10 minutes (or 20, or 30, or the whole meeting) to run things?