“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  John 4:23

Yesterday I heard someone say, “There’s no such thing as ‘casual worship.'”  I can’t stop thinking about those two words.  What is casual worship?  Is it more than wearing holey jeans and an old tee to church?  Let’s dig into it.

I always start my digs by going to Mr. Webster.  Casual: 1) without definite or serious intention; careless or offhanded.  2) seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic.  3) irregular, occasional.

Next, I turn to Mr. Roget.  Casual: nonchalant, relaxed, blase, easygoing, lackadaisical, perfunctory, purposeless.

Usually, my next stop is at biblegateway.com to see where the word pops up in the Bible and then take that word and look it up in the original language (Hebrew or Greek).  However, the word “casual” isn’t in the Bible.  Huh.  I follow up by going to all my favorite Bible study and commentary sites and come up with nothing.  Hmm.

It seems that being nonchalant, lackadaisical and occasional doesn’t have a place in true worship.  Or anything else pertaining to an intentional walk with Jesus.  Speaking of Jesus, I can’t think of one time he was indifferent, offhanded or purposeless.  In fact, in light of the extreme measures He went to in order to save our souls, how can we even dare to offer a half-hearted, perfunctory (def: superficial, unenthusiastic) type of worship?

Let’s do the opposite!  Look up the antonyms!  May our worship this week be deliberate, intentional, motivated, purposeful, careful, passionate, fervent and full of spirit!  These are the kind of worshipers the Father is looking for!  May He find it in us!