We believe that worship is a vital part of
a healthy life.
Of course, it depends largely on what you understand by
'worship.' Most people can get by quite happily
without ever singing Victorian songs in cold buildings.
But worship, in a deeper sense, seems to be built into us as
humans - much like you will find morality and art in every human
society, no matter how 'primitive' or 'advanced' they may
be.
People do not always think of the object of their worship as
a god. Sometimes it is called the 'Life Force', the 'Ancestors',
'Mother Earth', or
'Progress'. Some people devote their lives to the
worship of Science. Young people often worship pop
singers, athletes and film stars.
Who or what we worship is one of the most important factors in
our lives. Christians believe that ther is only one God, that
this God is
worthy of our worship, and that in worshipping Him we discover
what it is to be truly human.
To put it the other way round, we believe that worshipping
anyone or anything
less than God almighty inevitably leads to us being less than
the people we were created to be.
Sometimes God is presented as a supreme egoist, never
satisfied unless everyone is constantly telling Him how
wonderful He is. This is not (surprise, surprise!)
the Christian view.
As Christians, we believe that God commands us to worship
Him...
because it is right to do so - not just because
He says it is right, but because it is right in the same way
that "two plus two equals four" is right.
because He knows that we need to worship Him, and He wants
the very best for His children.
In worship, we do tell God how wonderful He is. But
then, listen to any two lovers, and you will hear them
constantly telling each other how wonderful the other
is. That is the nature of the
relationship. It would be sad if things were any
other way. It is good to delight in your lover's
presence and attributes. That is the essence of
Christian worship
The alternative must be the belief that worship is not part of
a healthy life. But, right now, I can't remember ever hearing
anyone suggest this.
Even Nietsche, who thought that believing in any god made you
a lesser person, could not stop himself from including worship
as an essential part of life.