What is the natural response to Jesus’ presence in the room? Let’s make it personal—if He were to walk through the door right now, what would you do? For most of us, if Jesus walked in it would be impossible to continue doing whatever it is we’re doing. No doubt we’d stop mid-word, mid-motion, and stare. We might even fall to the floor and lay prone at His feet. We would want to give Him honor and glory in every way that comes to mind. This is His rightful due, this is worship. This is our appropriate response to His total awesomeness.

Why is it, then, that when we come into the presence of Jesus as we pray, as we sing, as we listen to the Word of God, we often just sit as if watching a movie or some other impersonal activity? If it is natural to worship Jesus when we come into His presence, maybe the reason we’re such a bump on the log is that we’re not actually in His presence. And if that’s the case, we’re obviously not worshipping, because scripture makes it clear that Jesus inhabits the praises of His people.

In the ordinary life situations, none of us likes being ignored. We may not need to be the center attraction, we may even sometimes prefer our privacy, but most of the time we want at least to be recognized as being there. We want to be an early pick for the kick-ball team at recess. We don’t want to be a wallflower at the school dance. We like hearing our name on the lips of others and seeing a spark of recognition in their eyes when we meet. In other words, without a glimmer of reaction from others, we feel ignored, and we don’t like being ignored.

Imagine how Jesus—who loves us with a love greater than anything known to mankind—must feel when we ignore Him by not participating fully in the expressions of worship afforded at church. Watching someone else worship is not worship. Listening to someone else sing is not worship. Unless we are fully engaged, we are not participating. The most common Greek word for worship is prokuneo, which means literally to kiss the hand like a dog. How can we kiss the hand of God as a faithful dog does his master without being a participant in that action?!

When it comes to worship, participation is the key.