Journey to the

Center of the Worth

by Brian Casey, April 1996

wor-ship, n. 1. to show religious homage or veneration to ... [Old English weorthscipe, honor, dignity, or respect shown, from worth + ship]

In this edition of PP, we go to the "core" of worship. The center of the worship experience is expressing the worth of God. And the Worthy One--the One of absolute excellence--is God. He is of priceless value, of ultimate worth.

Often I pick up on a certain line of thought among certain good sisters and brothers. Some seem to think that those of us interested in deepening and expanding "vertical" worship of God are also somehow tied to the erroneous "5 Acts of Worship" model . . . as if the two must go together.

In case you ever wonder, we reject the "5 Acts" paradigm soundly! (It's just not in the Bible, and its simplisticness hinders the conceptualization and enactment of genuine worship.) We also affirm that true worship will be accom-panied by a whole-life sacrifice, the nature of which is spoken of in Rom. 12:1-2.

But one can believe in the viability and validity of special times for direct focus on God without believing that those times comprise the sum total of Christianity. This is where we find ourselves.

Believers should worship God. By that we mean that those who want to honor Him in all they do should make special effort to honor Him in specific, intentional ways . . . such as calling attention to things He has done and speaking/singing adoringly to Him.

If you want to call these things "acts of worship," that's fine. In doing so, you will not be negating the notion that the life of continual sacrifice is also, in another, related sense, an act of worship. Instead, the recognition that certain acts and actions are clearly and definitively worshipful allows you to affirm an eminently Biblical concept.

Though there are numerous specific directives in the pages of the Bible for God's people to worship Him, it is often simply assumed in Scripture that both privately and corporately, we will naturally be found magnifying God, wor-shipping in word and in action. While we should worship, the focus is not so much on the must as on the want to--the natural outpouring of a soul to God.

On the following pages, Rob McRay and Mike Armour (through excerpted, written versions of oral presentations) speak on the nature of proskuneo and latreuo/leitourgia. We believe it is important to revisit these crucial concepts often, and both of these men offer some excellent illuminations. Rob, in particular, relates worship under the "Old" and "New" covenants, emphasizing the shortcomings of the Edification model and the need for continued proskuneo, even under the New Covenant.

We invite you to come to the "core" . . . journey to the center of THE WORTH in worship as one of His creatures. Why is proskuneo so central?