It’s an interesting question, but one that has been asked, in one form or another, by several people. Last week, we published a blog post that celebrated God’s desire to win glory for Himself. Admittedly, this concept of seeking glory for oneself can sound far from good and virtuous—selfish even. However, when God who seeks glory for Himself, it is a very good thing. We’ve pulled up an article from the BLB FAQ archives that addresses this subject.
(The following is adapted from the Blue Letter Bible FAQ pages)
Question:
Isn’t God prideful to demand that we worship him?
Answer:
Often, in my youth, I thought smugly to myself, “Sure, God’s big and perfect and everything, but isn’t it rather arrogant of Him to send us to hell for not worshipping Him?” It was an honest question. Ignorant to be sure, but honest just the same. So then why is it okay for God to require we revere Him? It may be best to look at the reasons behind why the same would be wrong of us.
The sin of pride is only a sin because it involves raising the perception of our value above that which it truly is. For man, this is a fairly common event; we are constantly elevating ourselves in our own estimation. We, being corrupt and petty, have an almost insatiable appetite for valuing ourselves more highly than we ought. And this is impossible for God to do.
God, being the non-metaphorical model of perfection cannot be better than He is. In fact, nothing can—for one cannot improve upon perfection. Since God is perfect, there is neither anything wrong with His acknowledging such nor any reason He should not require our worship.
God is infinitely worthy of both our honor and glory. He is the only being who deserves our praise. For Him to allow that anything else can be praised in His place would demonstrate Him to be less than perfect. It would be as if He were to say, “Yes, I truly am the only thing in all existence that is worthy of exaltation; but ‘No,’ I do not mind that you exalt a reddish-brown brick over Me.” Now that would just be silly, wouldn’t it?
For these reasons, we do not call God arrogant or prideful when He demands worship.