The Fruit of the Spirit in Worship

The Gospel of John records a conversation between Jesus and a woman from Samaria in which questions about worship arise. Jesus says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Volumes could be written to unpack Jesus’ statement. What does it mean to worship in truth? How can worship participate in the life of Jesus, the fullness of divine revelation, the incarnate God who embodies and reveals truth? And what does it mean to worship in spirit?

Of the many ways to answer the latter question, I’ll propose one approach that I hope is helpful. To worship in the spirit is to worship in ways that exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. Our worship practices both reveal the presence of the Holy Spirit and are an opportunity to grow, by grace, in our ability to bear this fruit in our worshiping communities and lives.

Paul writes to the Church in Galatia, “[T]he fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Using a bit of liturgical license, let’s consider how each of these characteristics might relate to our worship practices.

Love — Too few of our conversations regarding correct worship emphasize questions about how we treat one another. As Paul implicitly reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13, powerful preaching and melodious music without love is just noise. When we gather for worship, how do participants experience God’s love and ours? What might we do differently if we remembered that the welcome at the front door and our conversations in the lobby are as indicative of Spirit-filled worship as what happens on the platform and in the pews?

Joy — Joy is not the opposite of solemnity, but sometimes we act that way. When we take seriously who God is and what God has done for us in Christ, we will both bow in reverence and jump for joy. Most Adventist congregations I know are neither inclined toward much prostration nor celebration. And we’re missing out. How can we create space for more exuberant joy in worship? I would suggest having at least one moment of joyful celebration during each gathering. In my congregation, we recently had a visitor who, during one uptempo song, felt inspired to take a joyful jog around the worship space. No one joined him. We’re a diverse congregation with varying kinds of physical expression in worship, which do not (at least not yet) include running. But I was grateful to see that his solo effort did not seem especially out of place. No one really seemed to notice. Joy takes many forms. And I was glad to see he felt free to express his.

Peace — Worship wars are usually rooted in a false understanding of what it means to worship in truth (i.e., in a preferred musical style). And they reveal a need to worship in spirit and experience peace—personally and interpersonally.

Forbearance — I am not by nature or nurture an especially patient person. One indication of whether my own worship is responsive to the Spirit is how I feel when the praise team rehearsal or even service starts late. Worship ministry is a collective effort, and opportunities for forbearance abound. I know I create them all the time. How can we practice patience with ourselves and one another as we plan, prepare, and lead worship together?

Kindness — What would it look like to value being kind over being right? Do we prioritize participation and inclusion over presentation and polish? Could we think more broadly about whom we empower to lead and facilitate our gatherings and how our practices cultivate true belonging?

Goodness — The best evidence for the truth of what we claim is the genuine goodness reflected in how we treat one another. Ellen White writes, “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me’” (The Ministry of Healing, pp. 143). In what way is our worship service a rehearsal for a life of service alongside our neighbors?

Faithfulness — Our faithfulness is not perfect obedience to God but the experience of faith in the midst of human frailty. In worship, we affirm the image of God in each person; and we also lament and confess our failures as human beings to do justice and to love one another as God loves us. Faithfull worship in spirit is worshiping full of faith, a gift that persists as we honestly lament the state of the world and confess our own complicity in it.

Gentleness — We find it difficult to be gentle when we wrongly believe our own power must be brought to bear on life’s circumstances. Worship in spirit reflects a trust in God’s power and even trust in other people. In what worship practices are we seeking to exert control where we could, instead, leave space for trust? I find this tension between control and gentle trust in almost every worship planning meeting. I have never regretted gentleness. Truly Spirit-filled worship begins long before Sabbath morning.

Self-control — Worship is an opportunity for a greatly needed reframing of self-control. In our society, we tend to falsely think of self-control in terms of abstinence—what we avoid doing. It is more helpful to think of it in terms of aligning our actions with our deepest desires. If sin is doing what we do not want to do (Romans 7:15), self-control is the Spirit-enabled ability to do what we do, in fact, want to do. In worship, we remember whom and what we desire most and practice what it means to respond accordingly. Worship is our response to God’s divine initiative to love us, redeem us, and dwell with us. This divinely enabled response transforms the way we live in communion with God and community with one another.

Let us pray that God will do in us and through us what we cannot do for ourselves. And may we, by grace, worship in spirit and truth, enjoying the fruit of God’s work.