I will admit, sometimes I can get a little frivolous when it comes to semantics. I've always been a big fan of seeking precision in language, even when it may not really be that important. But when how a word is used/applied in common vernacular starts to have theological implications that may not be biblical, I don't think that it necessarily falls into the category of petty debates. But considering how ingrained this particular use has become in today's popular church culture, I'm inclined to tip-toe carefully through this minefield...
I would contend that the common uses of "worship" as an adjective are potentially leading many Christians to tend to pigeon-hole worship into certain specific areas of their life and have an incomplete idea of what worship encompasses.
For the sake of discussion and clarity, I'll begin by defining biblical worship this way: "Worship is the Christian's response to the right recognition of who God is, originating in the heart, affirmed by the intellect, and manifested in action." Obviously worship can be focused on things other than God, but once again, since this is a matter specifically within the church, we'll limit ourselves to people that want to worship God.
With that definition we start with the idea of worship as a noun, with the response to God in action constituting worship as a verb. Now, when a noun or a verb is used as an adjective, that is, to describe another noun, there is by default an implied relationship between the describing noun/verb and the described noun. More specifically, the described noun is something that is generally used for the purposes of the describing noun or verb (baseball bat - a bat used in baseball; steering wheel - a wheel used for steering).
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Running with the baseball example, it makes complete sense that nouns described by "baseball" as an adjective are associated with the game. Baseball bat, baseball glove, baseball team, baseball diamond, baseball stadium, etc. are all things associated with the game of baseball. In many ways it is the same with worship. Worship music, worship service, worship conference, worship leader, etc. are all things that can be associated with worship.
But worship and baseball are not the same. When you hang up the baseball hat and take off the baseball cleats and the baseball uniform goes in the wash to clean off the grass stains from the baseball practice, you are done with the game of baseball for the time being. But when we come home from the worship service and turn off the worship music and aren't being led by the worship leader, it does not mean that worship stops. But I fear that far too many Christians think that it does, or they don't realize that it isn't supposed to stop.
Instead, going back to the definition I offered for worship, "the Christian's response to the right recognition of who God is, originating in the heart, affirmed by the intellect, and manifested in action," it is not hard to recognize that this is something that is not limited to weekly gatherings at church marked by particular styles of music and a Bible-based sermon. Rather, worship is the whole action and calling of a Christian's life. "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).
So what's the solution? For starters, we can adjust the some of the terms we use to help remove the sense of distinction that sometimes creeps in. For example, instead of having a "worship pastor" or "worship leader," have a "music pastor/leader." Instead of having simply a "worship service," specify that it is a "corporate worship service" (in contrast to one's private worship through how they live their lives). And instead of having "worship music" it could instead be classified as "music for corporate and individual response" (an unwieldy term, I admit, but I'm at a loss for a better term to describe the category of music without drifting back into the original point of concern or getting too narrow by simply using an adjective like "praise" to describe music that goes far beyond that).
Even more importantly, a good step in the right direction would be helping Christians gain a better understanding of the full spectrum of biblical worship. This can start simply by describing elements of a "corporate worship service" as "worship through music," "worship through study of the Bible," "worship through individual response," etc.
Once again, is it getting into semantics some? Yes. But if it helps Christians to better understand in what ways and how they worship God and point them toward living it out then maybe its a shift worth considering.
