I’m not stating anything controversial when I say that the fundamental purpose of any human being is to worship God. Men, women, children… people of every tribe, nation, tongue, economic, and political pursuasion are born to worship the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are other privileges and responsibilites that flow out of God’s gift of life, but worship is preeminent, that is, it is of first importance. And it is of last importance, as well. Literally all of humanity past, present, and future will worship God either out of fear and love or out of compulsion at the end of the age.

Which makes the fact that very few Christians actually know why they worship the way that they do problematic if not very troubling.

And I’m not talking just about Protestants, either. Ask your average Catholic or Orthodox follower of Jesus why they do what they do in their worship services and you are likely to get a bewildered look or some sort of extemporaneous conjecture on the reasons behind the forms in their weekly and seasonal liturgies. The same holds true for most clergy. A number of ordained church leaders might be able to explain elements of their tradition’s liturgies, kick-out dates and originators of certain styles of worship, or even direct you to their denomination’s manual for public worship, but there are scores that could not even link how they weekly lead God’s people in worshipping Him to tradition let alone the Bible.

The truth is that worship is of first importance, and thankfully, God has not left us wondering what constitutes worship that He will receive from us i.e. what is proper worship.

To riff on a popular phrase used by fans of Rene Girard, “It’s all in Leviticus, man!”

Whether or not you have heard this terminology before, Reformed Christians, that is, Christians who walk in tradition of John Calvin, have long referred to the regulative principle of worship. Though there are variations on the specifics of the concept, simply put the “RPW” recognizes that 1) God has in fact revealed in the Bible how we are to offer pleasing worship to Him and 2) it is of utmost importance to conform our liturgies to His will. Yet many if not most Christians today could not tell you where in the Bible their worship practices come from or where they should come from.

Thankfully, we live in an age that Holy Spirit has been so pleased to lead the restoration and reform of the Church’s worship through men like James Jordan, Jeff Meyers, and Peter Leithart just to name a few exemplars. There are countless others scattered throughout history that have been used in similar ways and shared the same views and thus these men are not innovators. They are simply keen readers of Scripture who recognize what the Bible tells us about worship, particularly how the book of Leviticus is the Biblical manual for worship in every age.

If you agree that God reveals what is pleasing to Him in worship (and you should) and you likewise know that offering proper worship is a human imperative (and you should) you still might give significant pause at the idea that Leviticus is not only relevant to but imperative for the worship of God’s people throughout all of time. There are reasons for that, among which is most likely that you have been taught (wrongly)—as many of us have—that while Leviticus is Scripture it also 1) describes a primitive and inferior form of salvation that only applied to Israel prior to the coming of Jesus (e.g. Dispensationalism), 2) was fulfilled (in the sense of rendered null and void or no longer applicable) in Jesus, and/or 3) is part of the so-called “ceremonial law” that simply pre-figured Jesus’ saving work. While there are aspects of these statements are true, e.g. the Old Testament saints looked forward to the fulness of salvation we have in Christ, the substance and force of such statements is both false and dangerous. The New Testament does not contain a new manual for Christian worship because it assumes and refers to Leviticus. To miss this fact and to ignore the truth of Leviticus is perilous because it rejects God’s clear revelation of what our worship ought to look, smell, and sound like in Christ Jesus.

Without dragging you through an exhaustive treatment of the hermeneutics (interpretation theory) of covenant theology or a lengthier treatment of the various aspects in which Leviticus informs and shapes Christian worship, I will leave you six requirements for all Biblical worship contained and two suggestions for what to do with them. The right ordering of these elements is important, the timing of which I will discuss in the future.

1. We worship God when He calls us, not simply when it is convenient for us.
2. We repent of our sins and receive His cleansing to enter into His holy presence (NT embodiment of the Levitical sin offering).
3. We ascend into the throne room of God through singing Psalms, hymns, Spirit-songs, and the various ministries of God’s Word (NT embodiment of the ascension offering, often called the “whole burnt offering” in English translations).
4. We express our submission to God and honor Him as our covenant king with our tithes and offerings (NT embodiment of the tribute offering).
5. We feast with Him and with one-another at the Lord’s Table or Eucharist (NT embodiment of the peace offering).
6. We are commissioned to descend from His throne room to do His good will.

So what should you do with all this?

First, I encourage you to commit to worshipping the Lord as He would have you worship Him. That is probably going to begin with asking more questions regarding what the Leviticus and the rest of the Bible teach about worship, but it will end with concrete and daily practices. Covenant with God to give Him what is pleasing to Him.

Second, in love and honor press your elders or pastor or priest to explain the Biblical rational for your church’s weekly liturgy. If they can’t do it, encourage them to find answers, and hold them accountable for doing so for their and your good. And if they refuse to do so, be willing to peaceably find a church that commits to worshipping our Triune God the way He has commanded us to.