The Climax (Authentic Worship Part 1)

The object of people’s worship may be religious, material, ideological, or any number of things.  This is possible since worship, in its general sense, has to do with ascribing worth, and dedicating one’s self and resources, to someone or something.  Christians are not necessarily set apart from those who worship Mohammed, Buddha, or capitalism, etc., because of their acts of worship or their level of devotion.  Instead what sets true Christian worship
apart is that the object of worship is the Living God.  We will explore and discuss the biblical basis and practicalities of worshiping God.

A difficulty that quickly becomes apparent when studying this subject is that the Bible does not clearly define and explain what worship is in any single passage, nor is there any one word that is consistently translated as “worship”. Therefore, the concept of God-worship must be gathered from verses throughout the various books of the First and Second Testaments (generally described as Old and New).

There are several Greek and Hebrew words from the original Scriptures that can be grouped into three main categories: worship as homage or grateful submission; as service; and as reverence or respect.  Worship as homage is often seen in the Old Testament in verses like Psalm 138:2 and Exodus 4:31, where people physically bowed down in connection with worshiping God. This type of description is not given as much attention in the New Testament, yet verses such as Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10 speak of the day when every knee will bow at the name of Jesus, implying that physical acts such as bowing will always have significance in the worship of God.  Although bowing or kneeling may remain important in worshiping God, in my opinion it would be wrong to conclude…that a particular posture or gesture is somehow essential to worship since a person’s heart/attitude is what God judges in his assessment of whether or not someone offers acceptable/pleasing worship.

Another aspect of the concept of Christian worship is service.  In the Old Testament, there are many references to the idea of “serving the Lord”—referring to all of his people, as well as those specifically related to the service of the priests in the Jewish sacrificial system.  In the New Testament, there are verses that speak of the expectations that all Christians should serve God (i.e., Heb. 9:14; Rom. 14:18) and that they are to serve one another as parts of the same Body—which then he credits as serving him.

Thirdly, worship involves the element of giving God reverence/respect.  Biblical Hebrew and Greek authors wrote about having a fear of the Lord which is sometimes described as a deep reverence which borders on having fear (in the way people today generally think of it).  In some encounters with God, the Israelites were filled with terror when God drew near to them.  In other passages, their worship (as reverence) was described without having overtones of dread.  The words used in the New Testament would also fit more into the latter category, although there were times that the early Christians were brought to the realization of God’s ‘fearsomeness’—such as the time He meted out immediate judgment/punishment on Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).  The expectation to revere God is a constant, even if the way it is manifested changes.

There is some disagreement over the purpose, or object of “worship services”, which can lead to confusion over who is to be the object of worship.  When church services are planned, it seems that leaders sometimes assume that people are coming together to worship God, but then go on to put together elements of a service that primarily focuses on a certain group of people (Christians or non-Christians, young or old, etc.).  This may be a reaction to a previous lack of attention to people’s need to participate in worship (versus observing a priest or other designated leaders) and to be serving and interacting with other people, yet it seems that caution should be taken here.

I believe God is to be the focus of worship— He is the one to whom we are to pay homage, to serve (ultimately), and to give complete reverence.  I agree with Don Carson’s statement that “what ought to make worship delightful to us is not, in the first instance, its novelty or its aesthetic beauty, but its object: God himself is delightfully wonderful, and we learn to delight in him.” (D.A. Carson Worship by the Book 30).  There is another “side” or “pole” of this tension though, and that is the concept that Christians are also supposed to focus on edifying the Body, as well as reaching out to those who have not yet become members of this universal Body.  Therefore I also agree with John Frame’s statement that “In worship, we should not be so preoccupied with God that we ignore one another. …It is to be God-centered, but it is also to be both edifying and evangelistic.”

To be continued...