{"id":108,"date":"2008-10-11T16:36:19","date_gmt":"2008-10-11T05:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/?p=108"},"modified":"2016-07-18T17:18:49","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T07:18:49","slug":"is-everything-we-do-%e2%80%98worship%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/?p=108","title":{"rendered":"is everything we do \u2018worship\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a tendency among many evangelicals\u2014at least many of those with whom I’m familiar\u2014to take Rom 12:1 as the basis for arguing that the Bible tells us that all we do should be described as “worship.”1<\/a><\/sup> As a corollary to this, the point is often also made that referring to parts of a church service as “worship” is unbiblical. Indeed, many years ago I preached just one such sermon!
\nBut there are problems with this. For starters, “worship” in contemporary English has specific connotations that do not easily accord with the broader meaning many evangelicals and many English Bible translations try to invest in the term. More significantly, however, it glosses over clear distinctions in the Greek text of the NT which we’re trying to understand. So let’s take a quick look at the Greek terms.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What is \u2018worship\u2019 (<\/b>\u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03ba\u03c5\u03bd\u03ad\u03c9)?<\/b>\n

    Underlying this term is the notion of prostrating before a ruler or deity. It is thus an expression of submission motivated out of respect\/fear and\/or gratitude.
    \nThese issues are discussed in David Peterson\u2019s book, Engaging With God<\/em>. Peterson does engage in a generally useful study of the terminology. When it comes to the meaning of \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03ba\u03c5\u03bd\u03ad\u03c9, I think the title to the section which examines the term is perhaps a useful definition in itself: \u201cWorship as homage or gratefull submission\u201d (although I would add the notion of fear\/reverence as well.) I think this is correct: <\/p>\n

    In the Old Testament, bowing down or bending over could simply be a respectful greeting, but more often than not it was an expression of inferior status and subservience to another person. Sometimes this obeisance was an indication of gratitude and sometimes it was associated with supplication or entreaty. Whatever the situation it was a recognition of the total dependence of one party on another for the provision of some need.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    ISTM that this defines what we do when we \u2018worship\u2019. Being so restrictive, however, is not to say that this description defines all aspects of our relationship with God. Other aspects of our relationship, however, are better described with different terminology.\n<\/li>\n

  2. What is \u2018service\u2019 (<\/b>\u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1)?<\/b>\n

    In the LXX the term is not common, but is usually tied to some form of cultic (in the technical sense) action, so the rehearsal of the passover is \u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1, for example. As Peterson says:<\/p>\n

    \u2026 the Septuagint gave it special prominence, using it to refer exclusively to the service rendered to God or to heathen gods, and especially service by means of sacrifice or some other ritual.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    As such, Paul\u2019s use of this term in Rom 12:1 in association with being a \u2018living sacrifice\u2019 is eminently appropriate. This is our equivalent of the OT service which took place in the precincts of the temple. The word is also used in Rom 9:4 which the NASB nicely translates as \u2018temple service\u2019 (contrast the ESV and its predecessor the RSV which simply use \u2018worship\u2019 in this instance).
    \nThere are only 3 other uses of \u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1 in the NT. Heb 9:1, 6 refer to service in the temple, and John 16:2 uses the term in reference to a perceived \u2018service\u2019 to God, again probably in a technical sense.
    \nIn summary, all uses of \u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1 are technical and refer to service of a deity (often in the specific context of the temple or high place or whatever), and in the NT when not applied to OT cultic activity, it remains tied to the sacrificial language. So perhaps the translation \u2018service\u2019 itself is too vague for this term, and it should be translated along the lines of the NASB in Rom 9:4 with \u2018temple service.\u2019\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The danger in collapsing distinct terminology, terminology which is not strictly synonymous, into a single English term is that it obscures the meaning of the different texts. If ‘service’ and ‘worship’ are different in meaning but we translate them using the same term, we lose sight of the distinction and can feel free to import the meaning from one context into another.
    \nThis is, in fact, basically one of the arguments the ESV employs in favour of its approach (although it does not employ the methodology when it comes to this terminology!).
    \nIt is also at this point where I depart from Peterson, who writes:<\/p>\n

    \u2018Bowing down\u2019 to God in the Old Testament, however, is ideally an expression of one\u2019s desire to \u2018serve\u2019 him. It is therefore necessary to recognize that, from a scriptural point of view, worship involves specific acts of adoration and submission as well as a lifestyle of obedient service. To make this point, it may be helpful to translate words indicating service to God as \u2018worship\u2019. There is always a danger, however, that readers of the English text will then understand such worship purely in cultic terms! The problem for translation and for theology is that the English word \u2018worship\u2019 is generally used too narrowly.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    In response:<\/p>\n