There are two main Greek words in the Bible that are commonly translated as "worship." The first is "proskuneo" - this is a combination of the Greek words for "toward" and "kiss." Literally, "proskuneo" means to kiss toward. This is an idiomatic word that carries the idea of prostrating oneself before someone. Later on, the word came to mean to show honor, reverence or adoration to someone.
The second Greek word is "latreuo" - this word is derived from the Greek word "latron" which means wages. "Latreuo" originally meant to work for wages. Somewhere down the line the meaning of this word actually took a turn, and came to mean to serve without wages in public or religion. This being the case, the word slowly came to mean to render honor to the state or gods.
It should be clear why those two words are typically translated "worship." However one of the most glaring issues we can see by a simple study of our English word and the words used in the Bible that are translated as "worship" is the fact that all too many Christians use the word "worship" to specifically refer to singing. As is obvious from the word study above, worship is not just singing.
Worship is also not always God glorifying either. This is first seen right away since neither the English word nor the Greek words used actually refer to anyone specifically. People have historically worshiped many things. People commonly are worshiped when they are famous (actors, musicians, athletes, writers and other artists). Those people are surrounded by others who attribute high amounts of worth, honor, reverence and adoration to them. This is a form of worship that is not God glorifying, and it is one that is sadly all too easy at times to fall into. Our challenge, here, is to constantly evaluate just how much worth we are placing on anything. Ultimate worth should be placed on God, as He is the ultimate Being. He is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Savior, and our Protector. He is an infinite Being, and is therefore deserving of infinite worth. The moment we give more worth to a lesser being, we dishonor the greater.
Another window into worship that is decidedly not God glorifying comes to us when we read Matthew 15:8-9:
"This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (ESV)
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (ESV)
When we read this verse, it is striking that Jesus is not saying that "This people" (the Pharisees in this specific case) do not worship Him. They do worship Him. However, they worship Him in vain, because they teach as doctrine the commandments of men. They honor Him with their lips only, because their hearts are far from Him. The act of worship is still going on - but to God this act is meaningless. And if the act is meaningless to God, it should be meaningless to us.
It becomes apparent, then, that worship can be just actions... sets of actions or words that are performed in order to obey Biblical commands and traditions. The act of bowing, of lifting up hands, of kneeling, of singing, of reading scripture and many more can all be considered worship. It also becomes apparent that the act of worship is not all that is important to God. He wants us to have hearts and minds of worship as well. The physical act of worship is rendered vain when our hearts and minds are not engaged in worship: when our hearts and minds are not attributing ultimate worth to God, or showing honor, reverence and adoration to Him.
Worship, then, if it is to be God honoring, needs to be all encompassing. At this point it may feel more natural to flow into the discussion of how to worship: of how to worship in this all encompassing manner. However, I would like to take a pause in the next 3 parts of this discussion to address whom we should worship, why we should worship, and who exactly should be worshiping. Once we get those preliminary discussions out of the way, we will be free to dive into the discussion of how to worship God in an all encompassing, God honoring way.
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