spirit and truth

When Jesus was asked by the woman at the well (Why didn’t she give her name? I can’t imagine going through life being called “guy who lives by Pierce College”),

John 4:19-20
19"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus’ answer gives a clue why Christians weren’t outraged at what happened at the Church of the Nativity.

John 4:21-24
21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

The place of worship is not the essential ingredient; it is worshipping in spirit and truth. We view our “houses of worship” with respect and it is an outrage that the Church of the Nativity was so treated, but ultimately God is worshipped in spirit and truth, regardless of the building.

This brings us to another point. Jesus says God seeks true worshippers. Is it not also an outrage to not worship the one from whom salvation comes? What does Jesus think about those who know him but don’t worship him, or those who don’t know him and don’t seek him?

If he doesn’t care about our worship or he doesn’t care if people seek him or not, then why didn’t he just say,

“Don’t worry ‘woman at the well.’ It’s all good.”