29: Your Church Isn’t a Temple, So Why Call Your Gatherings Worship?

Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog dedicated to inquisitive

Bible students exploring Biblical truths that might not be fully explored in typical sermons or Bible studies.

I'm Eddie Lawrence. As in prior episodes in this series, in this episode we're going to examine another

Greek term that's sometimes translated as worship or serve and try to understand how it does or does not relate to Christian church gatherings.

The New Testament never refers to Christian assemblies as times of worship, yet modern church practice makes worship the primary aim of our gatherings.

What did the word worship mean in the context of the New Testament? Do the original Greek words translated as worship align with our modern practices?

Back in podcast episode number 18, we interviewed Dr. Tom Wadsworth. His research challenges our assumptions about what it means to worship

God, especially as it pertains to our church gatherings. In this episode, we're going to examine another one of these worship words, and the

Greek word for today is liturgio. It's translated as worship or serve, but as we're going to come to understand, its

Biblical connections to the temple reveals a more precise meaning that is rooted in priestly service.

In the New Testament, liturgio and its cognates, or its related words, appears 15 times.

One notable example is in Luke 1 .23, where Zacharias completes the days of his service, liturgio.

Earlier in the passage, Luke specifies Zacharias' task as burning incense in the temple, consistent with the term's priestly connotation.

Another instance is Hebrews 9 .21, where liturgio describes the priest using blood to sprinkle the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship, and that term translated worship is liturgio.

Liturgio is usually translated as serve or minister, but in a few places, such as this verse in Hebrews, it's rendered as worship.

One interesting aspect of liturgio is that lexicons do not use the word worship to define it.

Dr. Wadsworth notes, In addition to the word worship being a rare translation of the term, the word worship does not appear within the analyses of any of the liturgio terms in BDAG, where its primary definition is to render special formal service of cultic or ritual responsibilities.

The word worship is also not found in the analyses of the liturgio terms in Lou and Nida, Liddell and Scott, or Moulton and Milligan.

I. Howard Marshall observed that liturgio is used cultically, that means in a religious context.

It's used cultically of the activities of the Jewish priests and of angels.

So what is its connection to the temple? The Septuagint, which is the

Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, provides essential context for understanding this word.

It's found about 150 times in the Septuagint, and it predominantly describes the duties of priests and Levites in the tabernacle or the temple.

For example, Aaron must wear the robe whenever he ministers, liturgio, and its sound will be heard when he enters or exits the sanctuary before the

Lord, so that he will not die, Exodus 28, 35. Men from 30 to 50 years old, everyone who is qualified to serve liturgio in the work at the tent of meeting,

Numbers 4, 3. These duties include offering sacrifices, burning incense, setting out the showbread, and lighting the lampstand.

Notably, Chronicles uses liturgio to describe the Levite service, including their musical ministry.

These activities, which are deeply tied to the temple rituals, underscore the priestly essence of the term.

In the New Testament, liturgio retains its priestly undertone, but often shifts to metaphorical usage.

While the writer of Hebrews uses the term literally to describe priestly service in the temple in Hebrews 8, 9, and 10,

Paul frequently employs it figuratively. For example, in Romans 13, 6, the

Bible refers to civil authorities as liturgioi, or ministers of God, emphasizing their role in God's order.

In Philippians 2, verses 17 and 30, Paul uses liturgia to describe sacrificial service, likening the ministry of fellow believers to priestly acts.

Interestingly, liturgio often overlaps with the term diakoneo, which means to serve or minister.

It's where we get the English word deacon from. In Acts 12, verse 25, and Acts 13, verse 2,

Luke uses these terms interchangeably to describe the ministry of Barnabas and Saul.

Similarly, Paul applies both terms to describe the relief efforts for the

Jerusalem church. So why does liturgio not mean worship?

Translating it as worship is problematic. In modern English, worship usually implies congregational singing, prayer, or other corporate acts of devotion to God.

However, the biblical context of liturgio focuses on service, particularly priestly ministry.

The mistake of equating liturgio with worship likely stems from its etymology and later church traditions.

The term derives not from a word which means work of the people, as some scholars have claimed, but from litos, which means public, and ergon, which means work, originally referring to public service.

While the English word liturgy traces its roots from liturgio, the

New Testament writers did not use it to describe Christian assemblies.

Let me repeat that. The word liturgio was never used by the

New Testament writers to describe Christian gatherings. Translating liturgio as worshiping misses the mark, as it suggests corporate assembly rather than the priestly or ministerial activity implied in the

Bible. Liturgio and its related words describe priestly service, whether literal or metaphorical.

The Septuagint uses the term to describe temple duties, but the New Testament writers expand its scope to include various forms of ministry from Paul's evangelistic efforts to the sacrificial acts of believers.

Understanding this word as priestly service and not as worship clarifies its biblical significance and prevents the imposition of modern or ecclesiastical meanings onto the ancient texts.

The bottom line is that liturgio does not support the modern notion of worship as the central focus of Christian gatherings.

In fact, the New Testament never describes church meetings in terms of worship, but instead it emphasizes service, ministry, and mutual edification.

Thus, worship is not only an inadequate translation of liturgio, but also distorts the

New Testament's emphasis on service, ministry, and mutual edification as the true purpose of Christian gatherings.

In the next episode, we'll examine the sebo word group that is occasionally translated as worship.

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope this episode has deepened your understanding of Scripture.

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