by IMHO 8 Replies latest jw friends
We hear a lot these days about family worship evening, but what is worship?
Is family worship the same as family study? Does study therefore equal worship?
Are the meetings where one listens to talks or questions and answer items are given worship?
Is singing the songs worship?
Is the prayer worship?
What is worship to you? and what is not?
If one wants to, how does one 'worship' God?
Good thread topic, I'm very interested in this subject. i think I did a thread on this a long time ago, but I can't remember. It's something thats been bugging me too. What is worship? Who dictates how its to be done?
The meetings JWs attend do not resemble worship of God in any way whatsoever they are more along the lines of a sales meeting and an instructional gathering on how to recruit to the publishing company. Included in the meeting content of course is the all important emphasis on obediance to the management.
edmond dantes you say that JW meetings do not resemble worship but you didn't go on to say what you define worship as.
Even worshipers won' agree on what worship is.
It seems that it is unquestioning devotion (in most cases to a deity). It includes all the time devoted to the object of devotion, which would include study or meetings or whatever.
Ray Franz wrote about how there was some disagreement over what was "service." Of course, the publishing company leaders mostly fell on the side of saying that only WT-defined field service (the type you can record on a monthly report) was "service." Seems the same for worship.
Wow...just the question I have been asking myself, too embarassed to ask anyone else I guess.
Agree with Edmond D.
But I did once tell my wanna be JW husband that I thought the JW's were just completely obsessed.....he responded with "well, isn't that what worship is?"
hmmmm..still stumped
Worship is man's natural response to awe in another person.
It is the "I'm not worthy" instinct.
As basic as it can possibly be it stems from the natural selection of leaders vs weaker members of a group.
TOP DOG causes other dogs to fall to the ground and expose their underbelly.
In humans who are superstitious it is the impulse to SERVE and OBEY an invisible super-being. It usually leads to ritual performance of
tribute.
I think it involves denying "self" and then devoting time, energy , resources etc. to the thing worshipped, even if it is a Pop star or a football team.
To that extent (My poor definition above) Jw's do worship, the problem is they worship the leaders, GB, of a publishing company, (WT)
Sad waste of time.
Good question how do you define worship I think it's to do with content and quality expressed in the way of love of God and fellow man. Also good worship involves saying thank you God for all thats good .
I would say that if it's good worship in a building like a hall associated with main stream christianity for instance take a look at the prayers , hymns or songs, sermons and even the architecture of a magnificant building with it's religious symbols .
However a simple mud hut in Africa can be a place of worship so it might boil down to true love as expressed in the content , practice and method . On the other hand kneeling down in the great outdoors and praying would be classed as worship.
So to sum up perhaps it's to do with content and to me the JWs meetings are more like a product sales get together repeating over and over why they have the best product when in truth they have a faulty product with very little true love for their fellow man.
