How Important
is Reverence?
By Dr. Richard J. Krejcir
Are you Reverent, is this Relevant?
Psalm 89:5-18; Proverbs 1:7, 29: 3:5-9; 2 Corinthians
7:1; Ephesians 5:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Peter 2:13-14; 3:15a
VERY! Reverence is an aspect of adoration, it is the
true response that leads to worship to all that come before God. It is
recognizing and honoring the authority of God with awe and fear because He is
God, and He is more awesome than anything or anyone--period. It also means
respecting people, not just because of their position and authority, but as
brothers and sisters in the Lord, regardless of their personality, and knowing
He loves them too!
Hatred, disdain, disloyalty, and contempt are the opposites. With these attitudes, we
will flee from God’s love and precepts, ignore His call, and just do our own
thing. We will have no fear of God; we will do as we please, thus placing us on
a path of chaos, strife, and destruction. We will have no desire to serve Him,
or do the right thing, outside of obligation. We will miss out on true intimacy
with Him, destroy relationships, hinder growth in ourselves, others, our
church, and miss out on the process of maturity, as well as the wonder of His
plan.
Proverbs tells us that the fear of God is the
beginning of wisdom. This type of fear is not being scared, or fearful of
what will happen, nor is it distrust or terror of God. Rather, it is reference
and awe that fuels our worship and faith. It is the understanding of the wonder
and majesty of our incredible God, who transcends time and space, and who is
bigger than the entire universe He created, yet, He personally knows and loves
us with deeper and more love than we could ever comprehend. In the Old
Testament, the stipulation put to the Jews was that they follow their God and
stick to the covenant. The covenant we have now is grace; the stipulation is
that we accept it by faith. The growth of our fear (awe) is the response to His
majesty. Reverence is taking the incredible knowledge of His majesty, and
applying it to our lives, so we will walk with confidence in our Lord, and
operate with respect to Him, and to the others whom He knows and loves.
Reverence leads to worship because we can acknowledge
whom God is, and respond in the only way we can, to
surrender our will to Him and worship Him! As His created being, saved by His
grace from a destiny we created and deserved, we have an obligation to give Him
all of our honor, all our praise, and all our adoration. This is the reason for
the primary purpose of our saved lives--to give God the glory that is rightly
due Him. Why must we? Because He is the Holy, Sovereign, the Creator (Duet.
7:21; Neh. 4:14; Psalm 48:1; 86:10; 95:3; 97:2;
145:3; Dan. 9:4; 1 Cor. 13:12; Heb. 12:28,29)!
The Bible plainly tells us that we are to show
reverence to God and to the things that represent His person and presence (Heb.
12:28,29). Most Christians will say, yes, to
the first part, to fear and respect God, but do they do so with one another?
What about the things and stuff that represent God, such as stained glass,
icons, pews, and the church lobby? Many Christians today do not believe that
church facilities need respect. Yet, God’s Word tells us, "Observe my
Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD" (Lev.
19:30, 26:2). This passage is referring to a tent where God’s sanctuary
was set up, not the great
Reverence is a very important character regarding how
we relate to both God and others. Reverence and respect have
similar meanings. However, reverence has more of the meaning
of worship, and pertains to God. We used to call our ministers,
"Reverend" as a means of respect. However, we do not worship them,
only God. Ministers are God’s representatives, and to a degree, all Christians
are included in the doctrine of the “priesthood of the Believer.” But, most
people no longer call their pastors, reverend, no longer do
children respect their parents. Often they even call them by their first names.
We mock our church leaders; ignore their advice, while our churches run down
into dysfunction and irrelevancy. We need to be respectful to all people,
whether we agree with them or not. We need to recapture the respect of parents
and authorities, something that has eroded, and caused so much rebellion,
creating strife, dysfunction, and chaos in our society (Rom. 12:10; 1 Peter
5:5).
When we grow in maturity in the Christian walk, we
will naturally show more reverence and respect for God’s presence. This mindset
must also transfer to how we deal with His creation, with people, and with what
represents Him.
We do not wake up one day with Character. When we do
have it, others will see it, may even point to it, or be discipled
from it.