BOOK PREVIEW

Introduction

Most of us, at some point in our lives, will experience a longing for the transcendent.  It's an intuitive sense that might be described as the murmurs of the eternal (Eccl.3:11).  Blaise Pascal, the 17th century mathematician, spoke of it as 'a God-shaped vacuum'.  This longing often expresses itself in ways we do not recognize as a transcendent longing.  It's considered a curiousity or a passing sense of aloneness in a vast cosmos.  But this longing raises fundamental metaphysical questions - is there something greater than ourselves?  Is there life after death?  Are there realities that are imperceptible to us, unseen dimensions of reality?  These questions trouble some people deeply; they spend a lifetime trying to come to terms with them.  Others respond to them with a shrug; they simply turn away from them.  And yet, there is no denying that this longing is common to the human experience.      

A companion to this longing for the transcendent is an impulse to worship.  This is uniquely human.  No matter how far back you go in history, no matter where you look, you find the artifacts of worship:  temples, idols, sacred books,  priests, shamans, mediums, diviners.  Every civilization has its religious cultus.  There are god-stories, holy sites, alters, and liturgies of worship.  What does this tell us about human nature?  It suggests that the impulse to worship is embedded in our spiritual DNA.  We are worshippers by nature.  And if we don't worship something outside of  us, we will worship ourselves.  We'll worship the human accomplishments of science and art, human conquests and man's profound intellectual capability.  Man becomes king...man becomes god.  

As Christian believers, our instinct to worship has been directed to the God of the Bible, who is revealed to be supreme and sovereign, loving and gracious, compassionate and forgiving, holy and perfectly perfect.  The question raised by the biblical revelation is, is the God revealed worthy of our worship?  It's a crucial question. To worship anything other than the true God is blasphemous.  For centuries Christian have worshiped God who ultimately revealed himself in the person and work of Christ (Heb.1:1,2),  God transcendent, yet God incarnate.  

Basis of Judgment

When we think about God's worthiness of worship, what is the basis for making such a judgment?  What criteria should we use?  What is it about the God of the Bible that makes him deserving of our worship and devotion, worship as understood to be an orientation of life, God-centeredness, and a disposition of mind?  It's a condition of the heart that is expressed in reverence, obedience, liturgy, and moral uprightness.  Given the life altering nature of worship, the object of our worship has to be deserving, and he is.  God's worthiness is grounded in the nature of his being and character.  What the Bible tells us is that God is the Creator who exercises absolute authority over all things.  He is loving, just, and rich in mercy.  And, above all, he is holy.  God's holiness is what inspires reverent worship.  Dr. David Wells writes - “...without a compelling vision of the holiness of  God, worship inevitably loses its awe, the truth of God's Word loses its interest, obedience loses its virtue, and the Church loses its moral authority.” [1]  God's worthiness of worship is rooted in his holiness, and when we lose sight of this we are less inclined to worship him.  There is a great price to be paid when this occurs.

What's at Stake? 

What's at stake then?  A number of essential things are affected.  When the worthiness of God diminishes, the sinfulness of sin is lost.  Sins become disorders.  Repentance becomes less urgent.  We are more inclined to excuse ourselves and less likely to respond to our sin as King David did.  David's sin with Bathsheba, when exposed, created in him an anquish of soul that drove him to true repentance.  There are lines in Psalm 51 that clearly express his spiritual brokenness - “Have mercy on me, O God...(v.1)”,...”Wash me thoroughly from my iniquitry...(v.2)”,...”...my sin is ever before me.(v.3)”...”Against you, you only, have I sinned and done this great evil in your sight,...(v.4),”...”Purge me with hyssop,...wash me,..(v.7),”...”Create in me a clean heart, O God...(v.10).”  When the true nature of sin is understood, true repentance is produced.  Our sin offends God's holiness and needs to be turned away from. The holiness of God and the richness of God's grace establish his worthiness of worship.  

Another point of risk is that if God is no longer worthy our of worship, idols will take his place. When  God is absent our impulse to worship will be redirected to another object.  John Calvin said that “man's nature is a perpetual factory of idols.”  Someone or something other than God will take center stage in our lives.  Whatever occupies the center of our lives is the god we worship.  As 'moderns', this will take more subtle forms than those expressed by 'primitives'.  Career, affluence, self-pleasuring, sex, or recreation can become the idols of our lives (Col.3:5).  We are human beings; we will worship. 

Finally, when God's worthiness diminishes, there is a loss of reverence and awe in worship.  Our souls are no longer stirred, our pride is no longer confronted, and our disinterest in the things of God is no longer challenged.  Worship becomes an exercise in self-pleasuring.  The question becomes, “How does a worship service make me feel?”, rather than, “Does worship turn my attention away from myself, and exalt the God I serve?”  Worship should be less 'earth-bound' and more heaven focused.  It should lift Christ high and recenter our lives.  There is a sense in which worship is to be 'other worldly' if it's to be relevent to God and spiritually renewing for us.

When God is no longer worthy of our worship there is great loss!  Our lives become eccentric and  disoriented.  We become people searching for a 'center'.  For some it's a conscious project, but for the vast majority of us it's not deliberate.  We drift.  We stumble along, worshipping without awareness.  God doesn't occupy his proper place in our lives.  We desperately need to worship the God who is worthy! 

Stan Way

 Footnote:

1.  David F. Wells, The Bleeding of the Evangelical Church (The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, Scottland; Carlisle, PA 17013, USA) p.11.