The Undignified and Unpredictable Worshipper

Stop!  Wherever you are, take the next five seconds off of work, the kids, or your busy schedule.  Stand up, and show off your best dance moves!  No, really, get up and dance like a good Baptist should!

Seems a bit undignified, a little improper for the workplace...and it might be.  But, undignified and unpredictable should be key characteristics of us as worshippers.  Look at the story of David bringing home the ark of the covenant (2 Samuel 6:12-16).  As he worships in an undignified manner, God is certainly pleased.  True worship forgets what others think.  Sometimes, it even makes others uncomfortable.  I mean really, what if people just broke out in dance for God?  I personally would be a bit uncomfortable.  For five seconds Wednesday night I asked the kids to stand and show off their best dance moves.  Some participated.  Others just kind of stood there looking really awkward.  They were too concerned with what others thought.  But in that moment, they were the ones who looked out of place.  I mean if 15 out of the 100 kids are going bananas with their best dance moves, that overshadows the other 85 who are just standing still in place.  Our worship carries this same weight.  True worship doesn't care about others.  It's not concerned with rules and regulations, tempo, or genre.  True worship is shown in undignified love and affection for God.  Or flip to Luke 15 and read the story of the Prodigal Son.  The father bounces out of his rocking chair on the front porch when he sees his son off in the distance.  Instead of waiting for him to return, he runs after him so that he can embrace him ASAP!  A king and a father in ancient culture coming unglued in undignified forms of affection.  That is the essence of the undignified worshipper.  So, now that you've read this go ahead and actually stand up and bust out the most convincing 5 seconds of the water sprinkler ever seen!

True worship isn't just undignified, but it's unpredictable.  It grows out of spontaneous encounters with Christ.  Read Mark 14:1-9.  The woman's worship happens in an unscripted encounter.  She is free to respond to Christ in a way that is deep, is intimate, and unpredictable.  It's a beautiful and gripping scene. We, the church, are God’s bride.  We’re not meant to have a dry and predictable relationship.  It’s a divine romance full of life and energy.  True romance is never predictable.  It cannot contain its instinctive responses to the one it adores.  People in love do lots of crazy things.  They do things that probably embarrass the people around them.


William Barclay says it this way, “Love does not stop to nicely calculate the less or more; loves does not stop to work out how little it can respectably give.  With a kind of divine extravagance, love gives everything it has and never counts the cost.  Calculation is never any part of love.”


Give everything as you worship!  Be an undignified and an unpredictable worshipper.  Embarrass your kids and family and break out in an unscripted and undignified life song that is written and played in response to the God who got up from his seat and chased after you!