Bethany Dillon said it this way. “You are all I need when I’m surrounded. You are all I need when I’m by myself…” The constant in that line of the song was all she needed was Jesus. The situation didn’t matter. Just the fact that she was with Him. This song sort of fits with this post more than I thought when I was thinking about it in my head. I suggest you go and at least read the lyrics. Anyway, back to the story at hand…

Over the past few weeks at The Word at Shaw there have been a lot of cool things happening. We have new people coming. People are getting involved in many different ways. Women’s ministry had their first meeting this past weekend. Lots of good stuff. One of the things that is still just waiting to take off is a dynamic worship experience. I sit during the week like a head coach or an offensive coordinator trying to draw up the best scheme for the week that will fit with the rest of the service and help people worship the Creator. I’m reading a book right now by Ron Jaworski that looks at seven pivotal moments in football history that changed the game. If you love football, you MUST read this book. But I like it because it takes you into the minds of these football innovators. As I was reading this morning I thought how much I feel like that during the week. It also made me think of how frustrated I get when all that planning happens and the execution fails in my mind based on all the prep work.

But then a service like this past one happens and kicks me back into reality. I was really frustrated after Wednesday’s rehearsal and promptly changed the whole set Thursday morning. It hadn’t worked. Sunday morning’s run through was marginal at best in my mind. So I was ready to just push through and chalk this one up to a busted day for me. But before the service started I took some time alone and thought about what I was really there for. Worshiping God. This wasn’t my show or an audition. This was me doing what I love to do. Inviting people to worship with me. The beauty of that concept is this. I should already be worshiping. Meaning that if no one else shows up I’m already doing what I need to do. I thought back to some of my most memorable personal worship experiences-the ones in my living room when I’m by myself just me and God. I look up and I have been sitting there just playing for an hour when I only meant to sit there for 3 minutes to work something out in my head. I couldn’t care less who came into the room or stood there to watch me. I was celebrating with my creator. It reminds me of the passage in 2 Samuel when the Ark was brought back to the city of David. Verse 14 says “And David danced with all his might…” As you read further you read about how he didn’t care who was watching or what he was wearing. He even got criticized for the whole thing. But that didn’t stop him.

I believe that we as a people get so image conscious and people focused that we forget to truly engage with God. “What if someone hears me sing?” “What if I don’t know this song?” “Can I raise my hands?” “Why is he raising his hands?” It takes you 12 minutes to fight through these thoughts in your head and then you’ve basically thought away the whole song portion of a worship service. I think we have to have what I like to call a “shower mentality” to worship. We always talk about how people sing in the shower mostly because no one is there to hear us. How awesome would it be if we worshiped full out like that on a regular basis? Do you think that it might even enhance the worship service? One of my favorite worship leaders and “mentors from a distance”, Paul Baloche said at a conference I attended last year that it’s so easy to lead worship in a room full of worship leaders. They get it. They sing and they hold nothing back. One reason is because we generally know the songs. Also, there’s something amazing about being in a room where EVERYONE can sing. But I believe ultimately it’s because we know what we are hoping to have during a worship service and we can finally do that when we’re all together. It’s refreshing. So I wonder what would happen if this week you went into your worship experience and “danced with all your might” and worship like no one is watching…

Okay, so the title was a BIT much, but at least you looked at it.

I was reading about my friend David and ran across the passage in 2 Samuel 6 when David was dancing before the Lord as they brought the Ark back to Jerusalem. This struck me in a couple different ways. The first thing that stood out was that Michal was upset that he was doing that and called him on it later, but we’ll get to that. The other thing was the completely uninhibited worship that David gave to the Lord. Now, I’ve read this passage many times, and I’ve always taken notice of it. But as I look through the redefined filter, I see something that excites me. Yes, we have heard it mentioned that David danced out of his clothes, or that he didn’t care who was around because he was dancing to the Lord. I think what made me take notice today was that David was free. That freedom came, however, after some teaching.

I recalled that David and his men, some 30,000 of them were already celebrating as they were bringing the Ark back. There was a little break in the action when Uzzah reached out to touch the Ark because the oxen slipped. When he was struck by God, David got mad, then scared and wanted nothing to do with the Ark. After 3 months of seeing someone else receive the blessings of the Ark, and I’m sure there were some conversations with God, he realized that the Ark was good and he must complete the mission at hand: getting the Ark back to Jerusalem. David’s understanding of who God REALLY was and his plan for the covenant brought magnificent freedom in the heart and soul of King David.  It was THEN that he was seen dancing in his underclothes. I think you really have to be dancing hard to dance completely out of a layer of clothing!

So what am I saying? True worship and true joy come from understanding. Yes, they were already celebrating before, but it wasn’t until after Uzzah died and that time in between where God showed himself through the Ark that the Israelites realized how much they had to celebrate about. We can watch other people worship and even have a basic understanding of what it means to worship ourselves. But true, unfiltered, ‘naked’ worship comes from a deeper understanding of the God who loves us so much that he sent his son to die in our place so we wouldn’t have to. That’s a reason to jump up and down and dance with all our might. And when you’ve completely stripped away all the hindrances between you and God, you can experience something so powerful and you won’t care what you look like to others. People will approach you about how your worship looks, just like Michal did to David. But you will stand firm in knowing what God has done for you. I love David’s response to Michal in verse 22. “I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes…” He was basically saying, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Are you willing to be naked in your worship before God? Are you willing to take your worship to a new level? That really means that you have to listen to God for a better understanding of who He is and what He has done and wants to do in your life. Let Him begin to redefine your worship and you’ll start to strip away some of the ugly things that stand between you and him.