The Wading Pool

What do you think when you see people dance? What do you think when they let their hair down, throw their inhibitions to the wind, and make an absolute idiot of themselves in public? What do you think when you realize they don’t care what anyone else thinks…they’re just dancing for joy? I don’t know about you, but that little kid there looks like he’s having an absolute ball.

What do you think when they do it for God?

I ask this question because it’s on my mind. There’s a story in I Samuel 6 about King David bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. As it was brought in. “Then David danced before the LORD with all his might” (1 Samuel 6:14). Thing is, his wife was none too pleased. In fact, she despised David for it (6:16). I love David’s reply when she confronted him with it:

“It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD.
And I will be even more undignified than this” (1 Samuel 6:21-22)

Here is a king, dancing with all his might in front of his people, looking, to all outward observers, like an idiot. Yet, was he worried? No. Why? Because he danced not for them, but for God. He was so filled with joy that he did not care what he looked like, he was just praising God.

Now, this is on my mind because when I look at many of the people in church, there is no joy. They are anything BUT undignified. Shoot, many of us won’t even lift our hands! That’s something I myself struggled with for years, until I realized it was nothing but me being afraid to surrender. Plus I think I worried more about what others thought than what God thought. I think there’s a lot of that today in the church. I think we’re scared of what people will think if we just worship. Will they think we’re a nut? A fanatic?

I’m not saying we all need to run down the isles and do cartwheels, a la John Belushi in Blues Brothers. What I am saying is that I, personally, have had enough of not lifting Christ high. I’ve had enough of half-hearted worship and empty motions. Whatever form my praise takes, I want it to be completely open, and completely honest. I pray that I will be willing to become more undignified than this for Christ, for He gave all for me. The least I can give is a little of my pride.

I want to dance with the joy of that little boy in that picture.