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[Coral Bell]

How do you justify worship as a value? As a devoted Christian for over 30 years, I was taught and believed that worship of God and veneration of the saints and martyrs was an honorable endeavor because, when done humbly and sincerely, these efforts brought you closer to God’s favor. Now that I am an atheist (the path of which is not directly relevant here, except to say that it was based more on pursuit of moral integrity rather than on empirical evidence), I cannot see “worship” as anything but an obstacle to moral maturity. Respect for and emulation of exemplary behavior I can understand. Stories of moral struggles and self-discipline are inspiring and necessary scaffolding for moral integrity. We should all be able to cite moral examples, even if they are from fiction (which may be the only hope for those who, for example, have been raised in an abusive family). But, as I see it, worship is depraved slavishness that prevents us from ever taking full moral responsibility for ourselves. As a father, I deeply understand the need to set a good moral example for my children—obey the law but protest unjust laws, treat others with respect, kindness, and love, even if you disagree with them, think for yourself, be grateful, be curious—but I would be sickened if I thought for a moment that they wanted to “worship” me. I can’t imagine any moral being, let alone an infinitely just and loving one, desiring to be worshipped, let alone commanding worship (as Yahweh does in the first four of the Ten Commandments). Any human commanding abject obedience and constant worship is considered a moral monster. A supernatural being should get no exemption, no matter what infinite qualities you may ascribe to him.

[jimwalton]

Worship is recognizing and rehearsing all of who God is, and giving all of myself to Him. It is acknowledging who he is by speaking and honoring his traits, and it is recognizing what he is doing in your life. I don't see how that qualifies as "depraved slavishness that prevents us from every taking full moral responsibility for ourselves."

With that in mind, we can say God deserves our worship for at least two reasons: first, because of Who He is, and secondly because of what He does.

First we’ll look very briefly into who God is. In 1 Chronicles 29.11-12, David worships God because of his greatness, his power, glory majesty, and splendor. He is the rightful sovereign over all—the ruler of all things. God is the greatest of all possible beings. If great people deserve honor, then the greatest of all possible beings deserves worship. We don’t even have the words to describe God’s majesty, splendor, beauty, and desirability. When we try to plumb the depths of what each of these terms is trying to say about God, we arrive at a picture of a being so wonderful that he really does deserve our worship. We worship God because He is the only God, He is holy and righteous. He is good. 1 Chronicles 16.25 says, “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.”

God not only deserves to be worshiped, but He needs to be worshipped because he is Holy (completely Other), majestic, all-powerful, spectacular, awesome, perfect, eternal, love, just, all-knowing, and as such, is worthy of a small creature such as myself recognizing the Greatness in whose presence I live.

Second, God deserves to be worshipped because of what He has done for us. He made us and endowed us with worth, purpose, and function. He desires a love relationship with us, not because we deserve it, but because His love is so beyond comprehension. He sacrificed himself even to death to provide atonement for us that we do nothing to warrant.

God needs to be worshipped because he has acted sacrificially on my behalf to save me from my sin, at great expense to himself, as an act of love. The magnitude of what he has done for me evokes a profound sense of gratitude, respect, love, worship, and obedience. There is only one appropriate response to the depth of that kind of love, and that response is worship.

Some people still claim that even though God might deserve our worship because of Who He is and what He has done, it’s still wrong for God to initiate the response of worship: You HAVE to worship me, "I alone am to be worshipped," as if He’s all ego.

Let me try to put it this way. Your mama isn't demonic when she insists that you obey her and respect her. She knows that obedience and respect are pretty important parts of getting by in life, and they are not only appropriate behavior but also worthy character traits. Besides (in the case of most moms), she deserves it. She loves you, works hard for you, and cares about you.Sometimes when you were a child, your mama had to get right in your face and say very sternly to you, “You have to obey me!” She’s not being mean or egocentric. But You're a toddler and ready to cross a busy street. Your mom screams bloody murder, runs to you as fast as she can, grabs you roughly by the arm, and reams you up and down the wall to never do that again, and how you have to listen to her and obey her—she basically blows you away. It's because she knows the real danger of disobedience. You cross that street, you're dead meat.

But when God demands your praise, respect, love, and obedience, you wonder why he requires it. In the same way as in the previous example, He loves you, works hard for you, and cares about you.God knows the danger of disobedience. He's no rock star seeking adulation, but he knows the forces against you and how destructive they are. He knows that if you go any direction other than his you will be ruined and destroyed, and severely so. Acknowledgement of the truth in Him is the only path to life and meaning, and He knows it. His call for worship is the only way you will ever find what life is really for and about, and how to be spared from the awful things that threaten you.

God demands our worship not out of egotistical self-centeredness, but out of concern for us. He wants to save us from the pain and suffering of bad decisions, the wrong direction in life, and harmful behaviors.

So the third part of this is, because of the relationship I am privileged to have with God, I recognize that every thought I have, every attitude of my heart, and every action I do is essentially an act of worship: recognizing and rehearsing all of who God is, and giving all of myself to him. Why does God need that? That part is what I need. It's only right, given who he is and what he has done.

God demands our worship because He really truly is worthy of it. Secondly, he has earned it in buy our salvation with his own death. Third, it’s a need I have to get the focus off myself and off of so many things in life that would try to be the wrongful object of my worship. And lastly, God requires my worship because it’s my only path to life. Any other path will lead me in the wrong direction.