ZA MAGAZINE // seek truth.

Worship is one of the more fun Christianese words we’ll get to study, because it’s definitely one of those words that a lot of people throw around, but not everyone knows what it means. Let’s just get straight into the word study.

Weorthscipe

For the sake of completeness and adding something interesting, let’s look at worship’s English roots. The word ‘worship’ is a condensation of ‘worth-ship,’ or, as an Old Englishman might spell it, ‘weorthscipe.’ Worth essentially means high value or merit, and the -ship extension means the same as in friendship or citizenship or relationship - it denotes a quality or condition or state. So if “Brendan has citizenship” means “Brendan is in the state of being a citizen,” then you’ll understand how the original application of worship was. “Brendan has worship” would mean that “Brendan is in a state of having high value or merit.” From this definition, we get the old application of the title “Your Worship,” a once-common term that is rare today. The best part to remember from this etymology lesson is that worthiness (of God) is a key concept of worship.

Worship

Relatively concurrently, the word also meant what it means today. Today, we’ve completely shifted to the usage that means “reverence or veneration paid to a being or power regarded as supernatural or divine” (OED). The verb form of worship refers to “the action or practice of displaying [this] by appropriate acts, rites, or ceremonies.”

So this is where the proper English definition is at. Obviously, definitions and applications can change, but when we see the word “worship” translated in the Scriptures, this is what the translators were working towards. It says a lot of things about worship - reverence (deep respect, usually for accomplishments or attributes), veneration (respect again, with a tendency towards the dignity of the person), and the ceremonial end of acting it out. But what it doesn’t say is, well, a lot of things. No joy. No happiness. No dancing, no singing, no celebrating. So already, we see that we’re looking at a more specific part of something bigger.

A trip into the Greek confirms this, but it does tell us more about worship. Using an NIV concordance, I was able to look at every time the word ‘worship’ was used in the New Testament. I briefly looked at the Hebrew words used in the OT, but I found that the main translations were largely similar to the Greek words, so I’m focusing on the Greek because it’s more manageable. Out of the many times that worship is found in the Bible, there are three that are used frequently enough to warrant a closer look.

Sebo

One word is ’sebo.’ Not used very often, it translates something along the lines of “to be devout.” It also gets translated into “God-fearing” in Scripture, and is never used as a command. It’s found in lines like “for they worship me in vain” and “this man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” To be devout is to have a deep feeling and commitment to something, so while this word isn’t used in Scripture a lot, it tells us something about worship.

Latreia

Another word, used more frequently than ’sebo,’ is ‘latreia.’ ‘Latreuo’ is the verb form of the word, and they mean the same thing: service or ministry. It sometimes comes with an allusion to the old Jewish system of temple service. Romans 12:1 is the best example: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This covers the rites and ceremonies part of the English definition, and tells us that worship is something that we present to God. It’s a way to minister to God.

Proskyneo

Finally, the Greek word that is translated as ‘worship’ the most times (by a long shot) is ‘proskyneo.’ It means to “pay homage, show reverence, [and] kneel down.” Homage, in English, is defined as “special honor or respect,” and some definitions include that it is a corporate or public thing. This reminds us that worship is public, but it more importantly places emphasis on the special respect part. We already covered reverence, so we know what that is, but that last part, the bowing down part, is new. The Hebrew equivalent translates as ‘prostrate,’ so we’re not looking at a polite bow so much as being flat on your face. Now, obviously, it’s not just about bowing down; after all, Muslims do that multiple times a day! But it’s done correctly when it’s a reflection of what’s going on in your heart, and when you are bowing before the one true God.

Clear confusion

So, isn’t it interesting that three different concepts get translated into the same word? I mean, the Hebrew word that conveys worship in the service sense also gets translated into words concerning enslavement and bondage, and that word gets lumped in with prostration and bowing before God. The idea of prostration doesn’t even enter into the English definitions, but it’s one of the more prominent elements of the Greek and Hebrew words. Then, on top of that, we take the English word and take it to mean things that it doesn’t, like this definition, given by a worship leader at a very big church:

Any expression of our love to God-for who He is, for what He’s said, and for what He’s doing. The Bible says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Worship is a physical expression of our spiritual relationship with Him. (source)

And herein lies the problem. We are supposed to express our love for God. That verse he gave is so true. We are supposed to physically express our spiritual relationship with Him. Maybe you can say that this is an extension of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, our reasonable act of worship. But to define worship like this takes away from a lot of the specific actions and attitudes that are more clearly associated with the word. THEN, on top of that, people get the whole thing wrong and think that worship is a slow song you sing before a sermon at church! Crazy!

The purpose of this article was to clearly state the confusion surrounding the word worship. We have an English words with roots in one thing, trying to describe three or four different things. Then, people take the word and make it into something isn’t, then people distort that to make it something it isn’t at all.

Why point this out? First, because there are some key components of worship that we have to get. To blend all the correct translations and definitions together shows us that worship needs to be a vital part of what Christians do. It involves humility, reverence, veneration, respect, and ministry, and it definitely includes the worthiness of God. Go back into your Bible and find passages that talk about worship, and read them in light of a more correct definition. Do they make more sense? Do they give you more meaning?

The other reason for talking about worship like this is to point out that while it is a vital part of what Christians do, it is only a part, and it’s part of something bigger. That thing is glorification, and we’ll talk about that in a future article.

Until then, challenge everything.

Grace and peace,
Brendan

Image credit goes to Lawrence OP, and was distributed under a Creative Commons license.