Dualistic thinking is easy. Black or white. All or nothing. No grey. No nuance. We can bring this same idea into the way we approach a passage like John 4:23-24:
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
As worship leaders, we will all have a proclivity toward being ‘word-focused’ or ‘spirit-focused.’ And likely our congregations and denominations will have a similar preference or leaning. But the Word of God and the Spirit of God are completely uninterested in false dichotomies. In fact, we see from this passage that true worship and true worshipers are those who worship in spirit AND truth. It is the Spirit who inspired the written Word of God, it is the Spirit who leads us in all truth, it is the Spirit who illumines the Word of God, and it is the Spirit who awakens our hearts to know, love, and obey God. It is the Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword, reveals the character of God, and acts as a mirror to our own sinfulness.
We need head and heart, weight and wonder, beauty and depth, spirit and truth. All of these realities should make up not just our songs and services, but our lives of worship.