This is ESPECIALLY true with the word "Worship."
Some common definitions heard in pulpits (and behind music stands) are that it "literally" means to ascribe worth, and the Greek "literally" means to kiss toward.
Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh, but........
Here's the thing. Yes, in Greek the word translated as worship can be broken up with the words toward and kiss. But a word is generally not the sum of its parts. Consider the word "diaphragm," which "literally" means "across a fence." Ummmmm, what?
Anyhow, when we worship, we are not, somehow, blowing kisses at our boyfriend, Jesus. Rather, the "kiss toward" is kissing the ground in front of a king, like you lost a contact lens. It is prostrate position, bowing down, bending over, to do homage, etc., etc., etc. Similarly, the Hebrew word for worship just means "to bend over." No confusion there.
Ergo...
When we "worship" God, we are not sending up silly love songs (and yes, Paul McCartney, I have had enough of silly love songs about God!) or just saying what he's worth (Far more than you can imagine!). If you want the absolute best expression of true worship found in the Bible, it comes from the mouth of John the Dunker (traditionally: "Baptist"):
"He must increase, but I must decrease!" (KJV)
"He must become greater; I must become less." (NIV)
"[He must] move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines." (MSG)
So simple, yet the implications are farther than we can see. It is about words (including songs) and deeds (yes, works! <
And proportionally, we must decrease! The best part of Purpose Driven Life is the first sentence: "It's not about you." It's not about me. It's ALL about Jesus.
Worship happens when we are alone, face to face with God, when we are with other Christians, and when we act like His kids to both the sheep and the annoying goats (we were all goats at some point in our lives).
God is not "most glorified in us when we are most satisfied with him" (a la John Piper). Rather, God is most glorified, honored, and worshiped by us when He is the biggest and we are the "leasterest," as the apostle Paul so beautifully invented (Eph. 3:8).
14 comments:
I agree with the overall conclusion of your article. Good job.
I do however, think that if people would just believe in a preserved text in English- it would cut out the confusion on something as simple as "worship". Not to start an old debate, but God made the entirety of His Holy Word so that we can understand it in our own language (not that anyone understands EVERYTHING, but you know what I'm saying). In short- I praise the Lord that we don't have to study a bunch of different languages to recieve God's Word.
jp
Yeah, no need to replow the same fields.
Thanks for the affirmation. I made sure to include the kjv for you, and I happen to think they did a great job with that verse. Better than niv.
andrew,
thanks for a refreshing reminder. hope all is well, and glad to see you blogging more often
mike
Aaaaahh, yes.
Like a splash of wintergreen on a cool spring morn. Most refreshing.
Thanks pal.
This is a very good article, with some good conclusions.
I am not sure if you subscibe to the first mention principle, but worship is first mentioned in Genesis 22:5. The Bible says... “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder, and worship, and come again to you."
From this text we learn that worship is much more than "blowing kisses at boyfriend Jesus". Worship involves faith, obedience, and sacrifice.
Joe,
Thanks a lot for stopping by and leaving a comment. It looks like you're doing some great work for God in TN.
Not to sound harsh or snide, but I believe every mention in scripture is inspired and profitable. However your point was excellent and practical.
I'll be sure to return the favor on your blog.
Thanks!
Hello Andrew,
WOW. Looks like your blog is the "place to be" :-) Thank you for bringing up this very important topic.
You say,
"If you want the absolute best expression of true worship found in the Bible, it comes from the mouth of John the Dunker (traditionally: "Baptist"):
"He must increase, but I must decrease!" (KJV)
"He must become greater; I must become less." (NIV)
"[He must] move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines." (MSG)
So simple, yet the implications are farther than we can see. It is about words (including songs) and deeds (yes, works! <>) that increase God's reputation on earth, that increase God's value and importance to us, that increase his authority over our lives! He must increase!"
I couldn't agree more. Excellent points as well on the John Piper quote, and about how we need to examine every mention of a word in Scripture, and not simply it's initial usage.
To me, however, the important question is not, "how should God be properly worshipped?" I say this because that is the question most churches today seek to answer -- as you know the Protestant denominations are divided because of differences in how they believe God should be worshipped. If they would simply read the Bible, they would find that Jesus already answered that question. He said that we worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). He also contrasts true, spiritual worship with the physical, religious worship that the Jews had under the Old Covenant (John 4:21).
Instead, the important question we should all be asking ourselves is, "what does it mean to truly love God?" Thankfully, Jesus answered this question as well.
Luk 10:25-37
(25) And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
(26) He said to him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
(27) And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
(28) And he said to him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
(29) But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
(30) And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
(31) And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
(32) And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
(33) But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came were he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
(34) And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
(35) And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said to him, Take care of him: and whatever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
(36) Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers?
(37) And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus to him, Go, and do thou likewise.
The apostle Paul goes on to tell us that we are doing everything that God requires of us by loving our neighbor as ourself (Gal. 5:14, Rom. 13:8). When you love your neighbor as yourself, you're showing love for God. And, as Jesus indicates in the Luke 10 passage above, we demonstrate that we truly love our neighbor (and God) when we help them in their time of need.
James 2:15-17 and 1 John 3:17-18 tells us that we can't say see a brother in need, not help him, and claim to truly love God (the "brother" that John and James speak of is anyone that is in need, Christian or non-Christian).
In fact, Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that He is going to judge whether we enter into eternal life or are sent to the lake of fire based upon how loved others -- did we help our brother when he was hungry, sick, a stranger, in prison, etc.? Or did we do what the priest and the levite did by showing no compassion toward our brother when he was in need?
There are approximately 2000 verses in the Bible that talk about our need to take care of the poor and needy, and this in my view, should be our focus. It should not be (as is taught in many churches today) on how to "worship" God in the right way.
Frank,
"brevity is the soul of wit"
Thanks for your comments, but you don't need to write out long quotes of me or the Bible. Just the citation is fine.
What you say is true, but I don't know why you're so fired up about it. Jen and I have supported a young girl in Africa through compassion international. Our church has given thousands of dollars to people who have lost their jobs. I pay thousands of dollars in taxes each year to support welfare, Medicaid, and social security. Southern baptists have spent millions of dollars and man hours helping the victims of Katrina and other disasters. MO Baptists have a childrens home. We help at Rachel house who helps poor pregnant women and single moms.
Who are you mad at?
Andrew,
"Thanks for your comments, but you don't need to write out long quotes of me or the Bible. Just the citation is fine."
I like to write out the quotes because it makes it easier for people, so they don't have to look them up. But seeing as how you set the rules on your own blog, I will comply.
I'm not mad, just commenting on the topic at hand. You brought up the topic, and I was commenting.
I'd just like to keep the comments a little shorter than the blog post! :)
I'm sorry. I was thinking that my comment was a little long and considered just posting it to my own blog, instead of yours :-)
Just so you know, I agree with what you said concerning the recent efforts of the SBC in various causes, as you mentioned, Katrina, and I also admired how Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren reached out to those on the other side of the aisle.
i've been thinking about worship in the honor-shame perspective lately. in the 1st century, "equals" kissed each other on the mouth. someone wishing to show his subordination and thus "honor" a superior would kiss him on the cheek (judas & Jesus). a greater show of honor was to bow. and, the greatest affirmation that the other person was more honorable was to bow down at their feet.
the word most often translated "worship" in english NTs literally means "bow down before."
apparently the concept is similar in the OT.
maybe worship has quite a bit to do with honoring God with our lives, whether our corporate life (i.e. church) or our personal walk away from the brethren.
i don't know, just a thought experiment for now. like i said, glad to see you blogging again.
Are you saying we should kiss on the mouth next time we meet, mine equal?
Do you have a source on any of that besides wikipedia??
For me, "honor" is too flexible a term. And I'm still not sure what it means to make God "weighty". That's why I like to give hands and feet to concepts. So your task is to name a guy and an action from the Bible that we can copy.
i just made a huge presentation on some of the OT issues with honor & shame, so i've looked everywhere. a couple good places to start are a work by a guy named pilch (last name) called something like, "an introduction to the social-scientific study of the old testament" (or something really close to that). another good one is by a guy named victor matthews, something like "the social world of ancient israel" or "the social world of the old testament." i'm too lazy to dig in the filebox. as far as NT stuff, ferguson should cover it, well, actually he wrote that book in the 80's when people were still ignoring honor & shame, so try anything by bruce malina. adios
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