Undignified - The Blog Post

"Your life is not a rehearsal. Don't leave it without giving it your all."
-Anonymous

I would like to take a moment and address a question that I have been asked many a time since getting involved in my church. This question, and its many variants, may help some of you reading this into understanding my mindset when it comes to worship.

The question is, "Why do I do what I do during worship sets? Why do I dance around and go crazy every single time?"

This question is pretty simple to answer, but requires more effort to understand. In other words, you have to see it from a few perspectives, but more importantly, from God's perspective.

My answer to this question is thus: I recognize who I am playing for and I know my Audience wants me to give all of my heart, mind, and soul in any matter possible in celebration of His glory.

My answer can be interpreted a few different ways. One way this can be interpreted is that I like do put on a show for people. This interpretation is not entirely inaccurate, but allow me to explain myself. Sure, I love to have fun up there and allow people, especially those experiencing Jesus and the church for the first time, to enjoy the experience with me. Not to sound selfish or prideful, but I get a lot of people who verbally compliment my enthusiasm on the stage and they tell me it is one of the main reasons they come to my church. That is great and I am glad you enjoy what you see, hear, and experience, but that is not my motivation for my worship.

Another way to interpret my response would be to look at the "recognition" portion. I say in my response that I "recognize who I am playing for." This can have a few implications, depending on how you are looking at it, but for the most part, my response implies that I, at one point or another before this moment, did not recognize who God is. We are creations of a sinful nature, destined to continuously make mistakes and come up short to the holy standard God requires in and through each of us. However, He recognizes that this will always be the case and thanks to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, He has extended His grace to us in ways that will never fully be understood by the human mind. So when I say I recognize who I am playing for, what I mean is that I also recognize this sacrifice, this grace that is granted to me, and as an act of gratitude, I am compelled to worship.

That partially answers the question that is posed, but let me bring it home for you. I believe God wants my worship of and to Him to be described as one word - undignified. I desire to be undignified in my worship to Him, both on the stage at church and throughout my week, much like King David was when they were bringing the Ark of the Lord into the city of David in 2 Samuel 6. I desire to be like David was then - dancing, singing, and going absolutely nuts with all my might (2 Samuel 6:14-15 NIV) in celebration of Jesus any chance I am able. It is in those moments of "letting go and letting God" that you experience true revelation in your life, whether you fully understand what God is trying to communicate to you or not at that time.

In a nutshell, I go crazy each and every week because I believe that God desires unhindered and unrestricted worship, both in a corporate church setting and in my personal life. I am not claiming to have the "this is how you're supposed to worship" solution as this will be different for everyone. However, I will challenge you to step beyond what may be your normal "church" behavior (going through the motions of repeating words to a song with your hands in your pockets and/or arms folded, etc.) and do what I do - go crazy for Jesus! Get yourself into some open space and give Him your all. Do something undignified in a worship setting (at church, at home, driving to and from work, etc.) and see what God unleashes in you. I guarantee that you will NEVER be the same again!