I would say these are acts that usually demonstrate someone who is acting in worship. But worship must be more than performing these three things. Did Jesus build any temples, sing praises or praise His name? Did Jesus therefore worship God because He did these things, or are these things a result of His living in worship?
I have no idea. I'd be surprised if Jesus actually worshipped God, because he
is God - does God worship himself? Is that even possible?
Some gods can be imaginary though.
True, but that doesn't stop Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus from worshipping them.
Your understanding of the word seems to contradict Jesus' understanding of the word, unless you think that money is a "fundamentally concious, external, spirit-based beings, typically of unimaginable power and knowledge" (
Matthew 6:24).
Jesus is entitled to his definition of 'worship' and 'god, just as I'm entitled to mine. I'm not interested in Jesus' definition - as I've tried to explain, I'm interested in mine.
The core of my question is: if I were to be convinced that the Christian God exists, that alone wouldn't make me want to worship him. If I were truly convinced he existed, I would be no more inclined to get on my knees, sing his praises, build temples, go to church on Sundays, proselytise to others, etc. So, this thread is for others to explain to me why I should do those things. Perhaps believing in him indwells a person with an urge to do those things, perhaps it is doing those things that provides a person with proof of his existence, who knows.
(A separate, but related, opinion of mine is that I would be
disinclined to worship him (read: build temples, sing praises, etc), given his actions in the OT. God killed the firstborn of Egypt, I deem that wicked, so I'm disinclined to sing praises to a wicked being. But that's a discussion for a separate time, perhaps)
I actually wanted to encourage you to understand the question you are asking, but if you don't want to, then I might indeed consider the conversation moot.
I'm all for understanding the question I'm asking, but it seems people are using different definitions and coming up with all sorts of irrelevant answers.
Then is this what Jesus is saying in Matthew 6:24?
I see Matthew 6:24 as saying "You can't have two masters" - you can't live for God if you're living for money. That seems to be a naive oversimplification, but there you go.
No, it is a serious question. Is there no harm that comes from not worshipping God, or worshipping someone/something other than Him?
Depending on the situation, the answer could be yes, no, or maybe.
Religious worship has a nasty tendency to ferment literalism, fundamentalism, and extremism, which is a negative side-effect of worshipping God. It can also foster charity and goodwill, which would be a positive effect.
'Worship', as you understand it, could be either good, bad, or neutral. If you 'worship' peace or medicine or science, good things follow. If you 'worship' money or possessions or power, bad things may follow.
So, it depends.
Is there no benefit to doing it? I don't actually know the answers to this question, which is why I asked it on this thread. I do think that sometimes there is harm from worshipping someone other than Him. In fact, I think that every problem in the world would be solved if everyone did worship Him at all times. Which is a fantasy. It is every Christian's fantasy of heaven.
I think many problems in this world come from people being too hung-up on worshipping him. It is God's worshippers who rather pray than bring their kids to a doctor, who want to replace science and medicine with Creationism, who preach 'abstinence only', who encourage the prejudice, expulsion, oppression, and even murder of others just because they're gay, or brown-skinned, or non-Christian.
I am not convinced that worshipping God is always such a good thing. Even if these people are misinterpreting text X, or aren't following the true message of Christ, or whatever, it's undeniable that they are 'worshipping' God - they are holding God as highest, are they not?