Truth in Worship

True confession: I've spent a lot of time staring at John M Frame's Worship in Spirit and Truth without having read it yet. When I look up from Reggie M Kidd's book for moments of reflection, I see Frame's in the dock on the coffee table. All that to say, my reflections on the title don't come from the book itself so don't blame Frame for anything said here. Or Jesus for that matter--as much I want to be Biblical, I know I'm springboarding beyond John 4 here.

I've had a number of conversations and discussions that have revolved around truth lately--mostly the truths of our personal lives. The question has often come up, Isn't this just all pious introspection, aren't you just having a pity party? While the answer might sometimes be a hearty 'Yes', I think it only goes that far when the thinking and reflection and introspection are devoid of any sense of God's presence, either in the subjects of introspection or in the act of introspection itself. Otherwise, such reflection is essential to our growth as worshippers. The truth of who we are and where we've come from must be explored alongside the truth of who God is and where he's bringing creation. In a way, this is just a reiteration of Calvin in Bk1Ch1 of his Institutes--knowing God requires knowing self, and knowing self requires knowing God. In order to come into God's presence as ourselves with all we have to offer and all we need to receive, we must know who we are. We must know that we are united to Christ, adopted as sons in his covenant, declared righteous, and freed from our slavery to sin into newness of life. But this is true of all Christians; we all participate in the reality of God's kindgom as co-heirs with Christ. Realizing the truth of who God has made us in his Son, how does the existential truth of our own lives impact how we come to God as his children, as slaves to righteousness, as the redeemed humanity? If we are to offer ourselves to God, we must know what is most dear to us. Worshipping in truth seems to require that we know where we've come from and how that impacts our expectations of who God is and how he will meet us in worship. But we cannot ask these questions apart from the Spirit of Christ who will lead us into all truth, even the truths of our own personal lives.