It’s one of those questions asked by scoffers and people who took one philosophy class. Why does an all-powerful, self-sufficient God need to be worshiped? Sometimes, they’re asking why they need to worship God at church, but I’ll answer that in another post. Right now, why does God need to be worshiped at all?

For the non-believer, this question is valid. They’re on the outside looking in, wondering why people are lifting hands, shouting, and passing out (ah, the 90’s…).

But when a Christian asks this question? Y’all need Jesus!

The Short Answer

God needs nothing from us. He existed long before we did and he didn’t make us out of necessity. God does not wither when he doesn’t get his daily dose of Vitamin Praise.

Neither is he sitting around whining, “Why doesn’t anybody like me? It’s the beard, isn’t it? I knew I should’ve gotten a goatee. Satan gets all the chicks.”

The scoffers have this much right: God does not need our praise.

So why does he ask for it? Why does the Bible say to worship God in too many verses to quote? Why do the forefathers, the prophets, the kings, and that noisy lady in the front pew always tell us to praise God?

Because They’re Geeking Out

I’m reminded of The Boondock Saints–a lovely Christian film, that–in which one of the gang, Rocco, is panicking over an impending danger. One of his friends tells him to calm down.

Rocco shouts back at him, “No! You start getting excited, mother f***er!”

This is what the heroes of the Bible were all screaming. “You start getting excited, mother f***er!”

I’m guessing many of you are suddenly distracted by a Christian dropping an f-bomb, censored or not, into his blog post. Click here for that discussion. Moving on…

Have you ever geeked out? You don’t have to be an internet-defined geek to geek out. You just need to be wowed beyond compare.

Ever seen a baseball play that you can’t get over? Ever had a car nearly hit you, but miss by a needle’s width? Ever seen someone unfairly sexy? Ever won a big prize? Ever seen a mic drop moment? Ever fallen madly in love with a TV show? Ever had any item or event in your life that you just can’t stop talking about to everyone you meet?

That’s what Christianity is supposed to be. That’s what the saints are all doing. They’re geeking out and telling us to join in.

They’re saying, “Did you see that?! Did you see that?! Did you see–No! Shut up! Stop what you’d doing and pay attention to this! Shut up! Look! Look at this! Why aren’t you soiling yourself in sheer awe?! LOOK AT IT!!”

Do You Geek? You Should

Christian life is not meant to be stoic and boring because Christians should never get bored with God. I’m not saying we need to be in a state of perpetual mania–we all get tired, familiar, and yes, bored. But this should not be our defining characteristic. We should regularly be amazed by something.

It can be a Bible verse that makes you say, “Huh.” It can be a sermon that makes you like “Aw, snap.” Or a worship song that makes you say, “Aw, yiss.” Or simply some natural wonder or life experience that makes you stand still for a second.

If you aren’t geeking out about Jesus on a regular, even just a teeny bit, you ain’t read the book right. He healed sick people! He came back to freaking life! He died for people who didn’t deserve it! He was a religious figurehead more likely to be found in a bar than a church!

Christianity isn’t kowtowing to some egotistical prick in the clouds. It’s pointing to unparalleled awesomeness and shouting to the world, “You start getting excited, mother f***er!” Filtered for language, perhaps, but you get the point.

Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a woman who lost a silver coin, upturned her whole house to find it, and when she did, she invited everybody to rejoice with her (Luke 15:8-10). This is what finding God is like.

He also said there would be rejoicing in heaven over a sinner who found repentance (Luke 15:7). Sounds like even angels do the dork dance of happiness.

Christianity is not a bunch of stuffed shirts sitting around singing hymns. It’s a religion of geeking out over someone and wanting to be just like him.