Worth and worship

Yesterday I reflected on the complex proposition that the Bible offers, that we are on one hand totally depraved, corrupted by sin in all areas of our lives, yet also made in the image of God and, in God’s eyes, worth being redeemed. I know that this idea is one which may offend a typical Calvinist position, and I am wary myself of how far we push it. But the alternative position is an odd one: we emphasise how unworthy we are of God’s grace (which we are) to the point that we potentially argue it was idiocy for God to redeem us. God has sacrificed everything for our redemption; surely He would consider this to be worthwhile?

But I want to look more today at what our response should be. Self-esteem teaching would say, “Let’s focus on our worth. Let’s tell ourselves how wonderful we are in God’s eyes.” This, I think, is missing the point. It simply makes an idol of self and uses God’s redemption as a means to further worship that idol. In actual fact, it misses the point altogether of redemption.

So what is the purpose, then, of redemption? Is it forgiveness of sins? Is it payment of the price of our sin? Yes, and yes. But more. Redemption salvages us from the scrap heap, not so that we can feel good about ourselves now, but so that we will never stop praising the one who salvaged us. If I view my redemption purely in terms of what it does for me, I will pretend to worship God but will essentially only be worshipping myself. If I view redemption in terms of the way that it brings me into relationship with my creator, then I either need to fall on my knees worshipping Him or I don’t really get what was so wonderful about redemption in the first place.

God did see us as worth redeeming; but this should be a humbling thing to realise, not a boost to our self-esteem. And, in the end, if we truly get what God has done for us, we will be consumed in adoration of Him.

Tim Keller, who is one of the 21st century’s foremost analysts of misplaced worship, has noted that, in Old English, the word “worship” came from “worth-ship”. That is, when we worship something, we acknowledge its worth and act in response to this. In other words, he says that to worship something is to treasure it.

When I treasure something, I longingly look at it, for example, in the store window and think about how great it would be to own it. I ponder its virtues, talk to my friends about how great it is. Then I go out and buy it.

Worship is treasuring God: I ponder his worth and then do something about it—I give him what he's worth. (Tim Keller, 1995, Changing Lives Through Preaching and Worship)

In the end, what we are worth matters far, far less than what God is worth. And realising that, and responding to it – that is worship.