John 4:23 –
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.
Jesus and “crew” landed in Samira during their travels to gather provisions. While His disciples were in the village buying food Jesus strikes up a conversation with a Samaritan woman at Jacobs Well. The fact a Jew acknowledged her was unusual since the Israelis were very much separatists. The Samaritan’s acknowledged God, but didn’t know Him like the Jews. So she was aware of the idea of a Messiah and quickly understood Jesus to be Him.
So one of the first questions was a point of worship, where the Jews believed Jerusalem where the Samaritans believed it was Mount Gerizim. Jesus made it clear that God was making Himself known throughout the land and worship would no longer be limited to certain places. This breaks from long standing traditions with many cultures and is some of the reason Jesus rocked the “status quo”.
One point Jesus makes in this verse that “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” He noted before that the Samaritans knew little but worshiped in spirit and the Jews knew God. The though is to truly worship God you need to combine the two, both a flowing spirit of love and a cerebral knowledge of God’s truths. I know I get wrapped up in one or the other during “seasons” of my life. Sometimes I can’t contain my passion for God, while ignoring the “nuts and bolts” of knowing Him. Other times I get so wrapped up in the “details” I forget the passion and spirit.
Here Jesus is saying we need both, the spirit of worship the Samaritans have and the truth of knowledge the Jews have, to properly worship God. Don’t let yourself get caught up in one or the other for too long or you may miss some of the joy of God’s “spirit. I know the next verse kind of confuses things because if God IS spirit why do we have to worship him in truth? We connect to God via the spirit, but He wants us to know His truth also.
So what does this mean? Well keep the passion, keep the love but learn as much as you can also. Drive that passion into a structured study of the Bible so you can know God in truth. And if you are “wonkish” in your studying of the Word, get out and experience God. The easiest way I found to “break away” for the study is to do some mission work. So seek God’s spirit and truth so you can worship Him as He wishes.