Reverence for God and the things that represent His person and presence are dead or near death in many American churches and lives of those who profess to belong to the body of Christ.
In some instances reverence and respect may be used interchangeably, but they are not identical. While respect is a special regard, esteem, or consideration, reverence has a much narrower focus and rises to a higher level such as worship, adoration, awe, veneration, or devotion.
The demise of respect for authority and hierarchy
Without a doubt, the decline in reverence within the church and the lives of individual Christians is a reflection of the decline of respect for authority and hierarchy in the larger culture and has led to a general loss of civility and respect for law. The demise of authority and hierarchy is a result of the ascendance of humanism’s false definitions of freedom, democracy, and equality. These false definitions have seeped into the church and eaten away at the biblical understanding of holiness, reverence, and ultimately the fear of God.
As the evangelical church has become a cultural captive of the humanistic spirit of the world, it has absorbed humanism’s demands for a perverted understanding of democracy and equality. God has been “democratized” and is no longer the Great “I AM.” He is ignored much of the time, even in His own house. What is preached from many pulpits today is only a single-sided message that God is all-loving, kindly, non-judgmental, and tolerant. Many in the church have begun to see the once mighty Creator of the universe as little more than a kindly grandfather that is visited only on special occasions (Christmas, Easter, or when in need of a favor). For others, he is portrayed as the big daddy up in the sky, a cuddly teddy bear, or a good buddy who will see them through when they are in a pinch.
This casualness that borders on insolence has invaded the sanctuary where “God meets with His church community.” This informality and indifference in the sanctuary has extended to the manner in which Christians dress. Although there are no biblical directives for dress in the sanctuary, there are manners of dress that are at best disrespectful and at worst are sacrilegious. The position of one evangelical denomination expresses the proper approach to dress that reverences the sanctuary which represents God’s presence.
The dress of both men and women should show at least as much respect as we would expect to show in the presence of an important government leader. On the other hand, we cannot demand the same of a sinner who walks in off the street needing to find Jesus as Savior. Maturity in the Christian walk will naturally show more reverence and respect for God’s presence.[1]
To varying degrees, the profane beliefs, attitudes, and actions of the dominant anti-Christian culture have been absorbed by the church and have greatly contributed to the death of reverence.
Decline in the fear of God
It is a safe assumption that many Christians and churches do not reverence God because they no longer fear God. A. W. Tozer wrote that, “No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God.”[2] But fear is a negative concept in our modern society. And the evangelical church that presents only the soft side of religion agrees with the culture’s assessment of fear. That is why for almost two generations messages on sin, the end times, the rapture, tribulation, judgement, punishment, hell, and other “negative” topics have been banned from many pulpits in America for they don’t sell well to consumer-oriented Christians shopping for the right gospel. In their efforts to avoid the topic of fear, ministers must leave out considerable portions of God’s revelation because the Old and New Testaments speak of fear in relation to God almost three hundred times. But the Bible is explicit that Christians must have a healthy fear of God.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation… I tell you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell, you, fear him. [Luke 1:50, 12:4-5. NIV]
First and foremost, reverence is a matter of the heart. For those that love and obey His commands, fearing the Lord means that they must remain in awe and total reverence of His majesty, holiness, anger against sin, and judgment. For those of His followers who lose the fear of God, there is a corresponding loss of awe and reverence. Those Christians who have lost their fear of God generally develop a casual and sporadic relationship with Him. This strained relationship and growing separation often leads the Christian into a state of ungodliness by which is meant a loss of purity and separation from evil. Therefore, we can say that reverence begins with a right understanding and practice of “the fear of God” as taught by His word.
Reverence for the things that represent God’s person and presence
Although reverence to God must first be a matter of the heart, the depth of that reverence is generally revealed by the manner in which the Christian reverences those things which represent His person and presence. The Old Testament has much to say about reverence for God and the things of God. “Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my Sanctuary. I am the LORD.” [Leviticus 19:30, 26:2. NIV] However, many moderns say that we are not living under Old Testament law but in the age of grace. Therefore, grace has released the Christian from the strict rules and rituals required of the Israelites in the Old Testament. In other words, grace has effectively suspended many of the requirements to reverence the things of God. But this is a misunderstanding of grace.
The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat and was where the presence of God resided in the wilderness tabernacle and later the Temple. God’s presence in the Holy of Holies was separated from the people by the Temple Veil. The high priest was allowed to enter into God’s presence only once a year to offer a sacrifice for atonement of the sins of the people. No one could enter the Holy of Holies but the high priest. When Christ died on the cross the Temple veil was rent from top to bottom. The significance of the torn veil is that Jesus’ sacrifice made God accessible to all people. For those who put their trust in Him it was now possible to come directly into His presence.
In the age of grace, God’s children may approach Him directly as a child would approach a loving father. But the child must still have a filial fear of God which does not lessen or excuse the Christian’s duty of reverence for God and the things that represent His person and presence. Claims that grace is a replacement of the law is an excuse for many to bring the things of the world into the church but which clearly dishonors those things that represent God’s person and presence. Christ said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” [Matthew 5:17. NIV] The law that Christians are responsible to follow are the ethical and moral principles of the Old Testament as well as the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. These laws and teachings disclose God’s character, desires, standards, and general purposes for all people and still apply today.[3]
There are numerous biblical commands in both the Old and New Testaments which require Christians to reverence God and the things that represent His person and presence. The New Testament does not lessen or relax those standards of reverence due God. We see this continuing requirement of reverence in the book of Hebrews. “Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.” [Hebrews 12:28-29. NIV]
As we have said, a Christian’s reverence as he communes with God is a matter of the heart, but reverence is also required for the “things” which represent God’s person and presence. These can generally be grouped as reverence for places (His sanctuary), persons (people and their relationships including hierarchy), and actions/things (worship, dress, and music). It is through these things which represent God’s person and presence that Satan often attacks the church. In our modern times Satan attempts to lure the church into worldliness by claiming it must be relevant to the culture but which is merely an attempt to lessen and ultimately replace the church’s reverence for the things of God. Writing over a half century ago, our friend Tozer once again cuts through the fog oozing from the smoke machines populating evangelical sanctuaries across the nation and reveals the heart of the matter.
Those Christians who belong to the evangelical wing of the Church (which I firmly believe is the only one that even approximates New Testament Christianity) have over the last half-century shown an increasing impatience with things invisible and eternal and have demanded and got a host of things visible and temporal to satisfy their fleshly appetites. Without biblical authority, or any other right under the sun, carnal religious leaders have introduced a host of attractions that serve no purpose except to provide entertainment for the retarded saints.
Any objection to the carryings on of our present golden-calf Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, “But we are winning them!” And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love of God? To total committal to Christ? Of course the answer to all these questions is no.[4] [emphasis in original]
As the church focuses on self and its fleshly appetites, there is also a precipitous decline in attention to and reverence for God and the things of God. In Parts II and III, an examination will be made of the death of reverence with regard to three things that represent the person and presence of God—the sanctuary, worship, and music.
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] “Reverence and Respect,” The Assemblies of God. https://ag.org/Beliefs/Topics-Index/Reverence-and-Respect (accessed May 8, 2017).
[2] A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 1955, 1986), p. 39.
[3] Donald Stamps, Commentary – Matthew 5-17, The Full Life Study Bible – King James Version – New Testament, Gen. Ed. Donald C. Stamps, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1990), p. 1683.
[4] A. W. Tozer, Man – The Dwelling Place of God, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 1966, 1996-997), pp. 150-151.
