The Exercise of Reason as an Act of Worship

Over the past few years, I have noticed how different people define worship in church. I would venture to guess that most people attending your average Sunday morning service would equate worship with the music portion of the service. However, I would argue that anything we do that honors God is an act of worship, including listening and paying attention to the sermon. I get it, we have all heard our share of boring sermons with a preacher that drones on and on, but on the other hand, we have also heard dynamic speakers who say nothing of substance, but their charisma makes us hang on every word. I believe this is because in today’s world, we put more emphasis on feelings and emotions rather than reason.

For many, reason and worship do not seem to go together. Reason is seen as more of an intellectual endeavor, while worship is more of an emotional experience. Reason is “the guiding principle of the mind in the process of thinking.”^[1] When we think, we use a process. We do not just think of things randomly. While it is true that thoughts randomly enter our minds, we process them logically, and reason allows us to make sense of these thoughts.

Worship is “to honour or revere as a supernatural being or power, or as a holy thing.”^[2] As I mentioned, most of us probably think of worship as singing during a part of corporate worship on Sunday mornings, but that is not what true worship entails. As humans, we are to use our minds to worship God since God made us in His image, and He commands us to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind" (Matthew 22:37, New Living Translation).

Reason for Reason and Worship: Human Creation as Imago Dei

One thing that sets humanity apart from the rest of creation is that we are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 tells us that God created man and woman in His image. Because God created us in His image, we can know that we possess several traits of God within us. One trait we humans have that no other creation has is our intellectual capacity. While animals have some intellectual capacity, their capacity is not as high as ours. People argue about the abilities of animals all the time. Still, no animal has ever had the intellectual capacity to learn enough to send itself beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.

Humans also have free will. We can make choices that determine what we do and how we do it, and are cognizant of the results those choices will have on our lives. Our free will allows us to enrich our lives by making choices. Another attribute of God that humans possess is creativity. Our God is a creative being, as evidenced by His creation. The majesty of the Andes mountains and the absurdity of the duck-billed platypus illustrate the creativity of our creator. This creativity is also present in humanity in the great artists such as Da Vinci, Ansel Adams, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who each used different media to showcase their creativity. Once again, humans are the only creatures that show this advanced level of creativity. Perhaps we most demonstrate being created in God’s image through our relationality.

While other animal species form some relationships, none are as complex and multi-faceted as those of humans. We have friend groups, families, and close relationships with others. We do not choose mates just for procreation. We enjoy spending time with them. We have friends with whom we share common interests and want to socialize. We desire to be around others.

In the same way, God desires to be around us. He wants a relationship with us so much that He gave us a way to spend eternity with Him after we messed up our relationship in the Garden of Eden. The Bible is written so that we can have knowledge of God, come to know Him, and understand how He has redeemed us. Jesus chose to die for us. Many serving in our military fight for people they have never met, yet choose to do so, knowing they might die. Because of this relationality, God has given us the intellectual capacity to know him, the free will to choose Him, and the creativity to worship Him.

Mandate for Worship

We worship God in many different ways. One of the most common ways we worship is through singing. Psalm 100 tells us to make a joyful noise to the Lord. James 5:3 tells us that we are to sing praises if we are cheerful. These verses deal with the emotional part of worship, but there is an intellectual part of worship. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which is our spiritual act of worship. He then goes on in verse two to tell us not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by renewing our minds. He is telling us to live our whole lives as an act of worship.

"According to Paul, the key to change is the formation of a new perspective, the development of fresh insights about our lives and the world around us, the gathering of the knowledge and skill required to know what to do and how to do it. And this is where the mind comes in. Truth, knowledge, and study are powerful factors in the transformation of the self and the control of the body and its habits for a healthy life in the kingdom of God.^[3]" We must notice that Paul did not tell us to worship by developing close feelings or obeying Biblical commands.^[4]

When Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, Jesus is telling us to engage our minds to love Him, not just rely on emotion or blind faith. Jesus also speaks in John 4:23 and says the hour has come when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. God wants all of our being to worship Him. In fact, in Matthew 15:8-9, Jesus quotes Isaiah and speaks about people honoring the Lord with their lips but not their hearts. This type of worship is prevalent in many contemporary worship services where one part of a song is repeated, often leading to more of a trance-like emotional worship. This singing might “feel good” to the worshipper, but I believe the mind is not genuinely worshipping here, only the lips. We often speak of how we feel after leaving a worship service, but not how it made us think about God. However, we are beginning to see some examples of reason-based worship in our churches today.

One of the most prominent examples of reason-based worship in the church is the rise of apologetics-based sermons. We are seeing churches, YouTube channels, and university ministries increasingly host forums dedicated to defending and explaining the core beliefs of Christianity. These services often tackle complex questions about science and faith, the problem of evil, and the reliability of Scripture, and they attract people who are seeking faith that can withstand intellectual scrutiny. Again, we should always be engaged intellectually when listening to sermons, but these types of sermons and teachings almost force you to engage with the material.

If singing in a worship service is the only type of worship we think of, we miss out on other great opportunities to worship. If we worship with our minds, we can truly worship God through whatever we do. Is the woodworker carving a wooden animal to the glory of God worshipping any less than someone singing a hymn? I would say no. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we do, we should do it for the glory of God. We elevate our act of worship from just an hour on Sunday mornings to living our lives for His glory by using our whole selves.

True Worship

True worship is about worshipping God with our whole being. Worship includes our minds. By creating us in His image, God gave humans some of the attributes He shares. God gave us the intellectual capacity to see Him in creation through general revelation. God does not want the love and worship of some automaton. We can choose to love God or reject God by our own free will. He has given us the ability to use creativity to worship him through art, music, and intellectual pursuits such as the sciences. Finally, He desires relationships and has built this into every human being. We want to be around people. God wants relationships with us. Because we are created in His image, we have reason and can follow His command to worship him with all our beings, including our minds.

Bibliography

Moreland, J. P. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul. 2nd ed. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012.