Bow Down And Worship

Living for a number of years as a left-of-center Catholic, I ran in some different circles of varying beliefs. Some of my friends were non-believers with no interest in exploring the metaphysical. Some were secular humanists concerned only with the material world, while others were environmentalists and New Age spiritualists sympathetic and interested in Jesus, but only in an esoteric sense. Other left-of-center Catholics I ran with had Marxist and anarchist leanings, concerned with the plight of the oppressed. I was content with this melange of diverse groups, as it did not limit me to keeping company with a bunch of stiff conservative squares afraid to think outside the theological box.

I remember at one point making the case--I don't know where I picked it up--that Jesus was constantly 'pointing the way to the Father,' and did not in fact encourage or desire his followers to worship him. He was "a way, a truth, and a life," one path to the Father. Of course this is ridiculous, as the earliest Christian believers worshipped Jesus as the Son of God and Divine. Scripture recounts the magi "bowing down and worshipping" the child Jesus (Mt 2:11), the disciples worshipped Jesus after he saves Peter who was sinking in the sea (Mt 14:33), as well as worshipping Jesus after his resurrection (Mt 28:17).

In my experience, the reluctance to worship Christ as the Son of God--our Lord and our God (as St. Thomas exclaimed)--is due to the fact that it crosses a line. It is a stumbling block for those who may admire Christ as prophet and teacher from afar (or even up close) but will not submit to His rightful authority. You can "believe in God" but as is commonly stated, "even the demons believe in God." To worship Him as Lord--an act offensive to modern sensibilities--is another matter altogether. 

Worship delineates belief. It draws a line in the sand between causal observer/detached critic, and devoted follower. It is also, in many ways, an affront to the high-brow self-congratulatory egocentrism of modern man. To worship is to, in many ways, humiliate oneself at the feet of another (I use the term in the pious sense, not the pejorative, as humiliation is a recognition of the great divide that separates us from our object of worship). It also makes us incredibly vulnerable, as we sacrifice our will on the altar of the one we worship. One of the temptations of Christ in the desert was Satan offering all the kingdoms of the world "if you will bow down and worship me" (Mt 4:9), and would he have, it would have been end game.

Although we think of worship as an assent of our will in subjugation to the Divine, something we offer to God as His due (and usually imperfectly so), we can also meditate on what's behind the curtain for the sake of humility, to see what kingdom-level worship looks like. The Book of Revelation offers an incredible sneak-peak at the Christ the King's majesty in Heaven that is at a whole other level--never-ending, perpetual worship that never stops, never quits:

"And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."" (Rev 4:8)

Worship is dangerous. The object of our worship needs to be correct, lest we end up like the Romans who "exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever" (Rom 1:25). Worship the wrong thing, and your life suffers deformity of spirit. Worship the right thing--and, conversely, offer right worship--and you open yourself up to transformation via subjugation.

Christ the King is worthy to be worshipped.  He is not some impersonal deity that cares nothing for us while demanding we grovel. God took on flesh for us; He loves us more than we can fathom, and we should "cast our cares on Him, for He cares for us" (1 Peter 5:7) in exclusive confidence. But, to be sure, you are stepping over a line when you worship Christ as God. There's no turning back, and those who had until that point affirmed your modern sensibilities will shun you and scoff, guaranteed. Pay it no mind., and have confidence that you are fulfilling the great command to "Worship the Lord your God, and Him alone serve" (Deut 6:13).