The Worship Is Not In The Bowing. (tradition, churches, rituals)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So the big question was why do I have to do it, they say raise your hand and bow down but I don’t think that matter you know. God is looking at my heart and he is not worried about what I do. So I thought of it and just searched about this presumption and this is what I found out.
The worship is not in the bowing but the worship is in the condition of the heart that the whole story here. God sees your worship in the attitude of bowing. In my culture bowing Is a sing to show respect to the elders, when you enter a courtroom you are supposed to bow and address the judge as your worship think about that, Asians bow as a sign of respect and they say the depth of your respect is seen in how low you bow. Universal cultures and traditions show us that when you bow you are showing respect and reverence of the person you are meeting or respect to the seat they occupy and then we come to Christ and we say that our worship is not in the bowing.
Hebrews are very expressive in their worship and looking at all these verses in the bible you realize that worship is indeed a state of the heart and spirit which is then evidenced or expressed in their bowing, lying prostrate, lifting their hands, clapping and shouting just to mention a few.
We will bow in Worship 2 Chronicles 29:28
We bow and worship Nehemiah 8:6
I come and bow down in worship Psalms 95:6-7
Ask yourself is the worship in the bowing?.
When you bow, you are showing respect and honor to the very person you are bowing to, so when we bow in worship aren’t we recognizing the authority of Him who we worship. In this state you are respecting and honoring God with lifted hands, clapping of hands, lying prostrate, singing, shouting and kneeling may it all come from a place of worship deep inside, may this be our expression of our love and affection, a manifestation of the condition of our intent of our lives.
“I would rather let my words be without word than for my words to be without a heart”, Matt Redman. I would say let not our actions and expressions of worship be without a heart. We need to worship God from our hearts and also express our worship through some actions like bowing, lifting our hands. Pst Bonnie Deuschle always says “God wants your heart and also your body”, you can explain it on mountains that you love your wife but it becomes complete when you show it.
“Bodily posture means a lot not only to the being worshipped but also to the one being worshipped”, Matt Redman. The worship is not in the bowing, it’s up to us, it’s our call.
Thats good new for those of us who have bad knees and cannot kneel.
the strangest form of bowing was when i visited a Greek Orthodox church. They bow constantly.. I was watching this one lady, she was bowing about 10 times in a row, the way she did it in quick succession, a perfect bend at the waist, was like she was doing exercise. I thought what good does that do? I did not see the sense in it. So thats just a strange observation, i dont mean to insult anyone, but it was intersting/strange watching her do that over and over. And she didn't look tired from it.. I would have been tired from it.
“Bodily posture means a lot not only to the being worshipped but also to the one being worshipped”, Matt Redman. The worship is not in the bowing, it’s up to us, it’s our call.
“Worship Him In The Beauty Of His Holiness”
I agree with you.
The bowing is not for God, but mostly for us. It is a sign of respect, but as you said, God knows the heart.
Bowing is also a part of tradition. And humans do very poorly without traditions. There is a lot of bowing in the mass and it is beautiful.
Thats good new for those of us who have bad knees and cannot kneel.
the strangest form of bowing was when i visited a Greek Orthodox church. They bow constantly.. I was watching this one lady, she was bowing about 10 times in a row, the way she did it in quick succession, a perfect bend at the waist, was like she was doing exercise. I thought what good does that do? I did not see the sense in it. So thats just a strange observation, i dont mean to insult anyone, but it was intersting/strange watching her do that over and over. And she didn't look tired from it.. I would have been tired from it.
That is because you do not understand her tradition or perhaps you have no traditions. God does not care one way or the other. The bowing is for those that appreciate tradition.
Good presentation ArkofWorship!
The worship of God entails a true, heart-level appreciation and gratitude for who God is and what He has done ... along with a humble recognition that He, not us, is the creator, sovereign and Lord of all.
I've noticed an odd thing regarding what seems to be considered 'worship' in 2-3 churches of mainline denominations lately. There seems to be a sense (and, in fact, an outward expression) of the notion that "worship" is 'only' the singing or music part of the service (?). In my own ministry, I've sometimes used phrases like, "Let us now worship God with our ... tithes and offerings, joyful songs, etc.", but, this is different. Some bulletins list the singing/music under 'worship' and others say things like, "Let us now worship God" to announce the beginning of the music (but, not anything else). Not sure what this is about or where it comes from.
IMO, unless our entire church experience worships God (and we also worship God when we are outside of the church), we are offering religion and ritual, in place of the worship and relationship that God seeks.
Good presentation ArkofWorship!
The worship of God entails a true, heart-level appreciation and gratitude for who God is and what He has done ... along with a humble recognition that He, not us, is the creator, sovereign and Lord of all.
I've noticed an odd thing regarding what seems to be considered 'worship' in 2-3 churches of mainline denominations lately. There seems to be a sense (and, in fact, an outward expression) of the notion that "worship" is 'only' the singing or music part of the service (?). In my own ministry, I've sometimes used phrases like, "Let us now worship God with our ... tithes and offerings, joyful songs, etc.", but, this is different. Some bulletins list the singing/music under 'worship' and others say things like, "Let us now worship God" to announce the beginning of the music (but, not anything else). Not sure what this is about or where it comes from.
God does not need worship.
The worship is for the humans.
The bowing is not for God. The bowing is for us. The singing is for us.
That is because you do not understand her tradition or perhaps you have no traditions. God does not care one way or the other. The bowing is for those that appreciate tradition.
yes i understand that. i just observed it as something different and was thinking about it and what it entailed for her to do that. I hope you dont think i was saying it was wrong or something (judging her) i was more like an observer watching some strange (to me) tradition, like you would do if you went to Africa and watched the native tribes do religious rituals.
yes i understand that. i just observed it as something different and was thinking about it and what it entailed for her to do that. I hope you dont think i was saying it was wrong or something (judging her) i was more like an observer watching some strange (to me) tradition, like you would do if you went to Africa and watched the native tribes do religious rituals.
Exactly! It is just a different form of Christianity.
Imagine how she would feel is she went to a different church where everything was done differently. I personally like the bowing, the reverence enhances the solemnity of the mass. I like it when the priest bows to the altar servers after washing his hands. It is just tradition and reverence.
Last edited by Julian658; 05-29-2014 at 12:47 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
