Home > A Community of Faith > Archives > 2009 > October > 07 > Entry
Contagious
We’re smack dab in the middle of flu season. I can’t help but think about what I’m catching from the folks I’m around on a daily basis. I wonder what I’m being exposed to. Are they contagious? Will I catch what they have? Is hand sanitizer strong enough? These are the things that fill my thoughts…
Recently, my daughter started singing in the choir at our church. The first Sunday she was up there, I felt like she was in kindergarten in a play. We waved and smiled at her. She waved and smiled back! We were beaming with pride. Then we realized that it was being videoed and that we probably looked ridiculous, so we stopped…At the suggestion of some friends I am, however, planning to make a poster like they do on American Idol that says, “Blakely ROCKS.” It’s just one tiny poster, so what if it’s on the video. (:
I was watching my daughter and her friend sing this past Sunday morning…I thought about how their passion for Christ shines through every line in their faces. Their worship is REAL! You can see it in them. It oozes from every inch of their tiny frames.
I thought to myself…I want what they have. And I wondered if others looked at their zeal and their excitement and shared my desire. Their joy is contagious! It is pure praise. It is uninhibited worship. And it is rare!
I’m not sure I do anything that is uninhibited… Too often I am held captive by inhibitions. I am a slave to what others will think about what I’m doing. I’m too concerned with pleasing others and not worried enough about pleasing God. I was raised that you sat in church and did not speak. You were very quiet. Quiet meant reverent. The music was restricted to hymns and hymns could be found in the hymnal on the back of the pew. I think someone tried to strum a guitar once on stage and I don’t recall ever seeing him make that mistake again.
I don’t ever recall taking notes. I remember writing notes…love notes. I remember doodling. I remember being called out for doing those things. Sermon notes and journals to record notes have been a fairly recent phenomenon. So, to worship without inhibition is quite a stretch for me. There is hope though. I look at my daughter and think to myself…I want what she’s having. I want to catch what she has. That’s one thing that I hope is contagious! One thing that I hope makes it past the hand sanitizer barrier.
As I watched their unashamed praise, a smile came over my face. This is how it is supposed to be. It is supposed to be all about Him! We are supposed to lose ourselves as we completely praise Him.
If you’re looking for a biblical point of reference, take a pause when you get to David. He certainly worshipped without inhibitions…The bible says that he “danced before the LORD with all his might.” (2 Samuel 6:14)
David provided us with a good example of unashamed worship and praise before God. He did exactly what God wants us to do. He desires honest praise. He wants us to put off pretense and worldly concerns. He wants worship in “spirit and truth.” He wants the focus to be on Him and only Him.
This life is practice for eternity folks. We’re going to be praising Him and only Him. It will once and for all be about Him. Some of us need to stop looking back at things we were taught and start looking forward to where we are going and what we’ll be doing! Brace yourself, it is going to be a wild ride…and regardless of whether it is your nature or not…or whether or not we were brought up “that way”….You can be sure that one day we will praise without inhibition. You will experience pure praise and worship! My prayer is that it is not the first time.
May we be like David and keep our eyes on Jesus as we worship and not on those around us. May we catch the enthusiasm of a new generation of believers. May we allow our Youth to reteach us things we didn’t even know we needed to learn. May we raise the roof with praise before our mighty God and lose ourselves in praise to Him.
Comments
By Mike G
October 8, 2009 7:03 AM | Link to this
Great. You are so right.
By Sean Bennett
October 8, 2009 9:21 AM | Link to this
Great Blog Suzanne. How true!
By Vickie Lawson
October 8, 2009 9:32 AM | Link to this
Suzanne, I loved this one! It reminds me so much of me. I, too, was raised to sit quietly in church and just sing hymns. Worshipping the Lord is so much more! I am so glad that I learned how to really “worship” God. So glad to hear that Blakely is in the choir. I know you and Dewey are proud of her. (Waiting to read a blog about her driving soon.) :)
By Jennifer
October 11, 2009 8:41 AM | Link to this
I, too, want to worship without any inhibitions. I enjoy watching Blakely sing in the choir. She’s beautiful inside and out.
By Keith
October 22, 2009 8:53 AM | Link to this
Suzanne, This is awesome.. You are SO real and that is entirely endearing !..I want to worship inhibitionless <-word ??..anyway, I was raised in the kinds of churches like you write about here, where, as a friend of mine says……..”back then, if you raised your hand(s), someone would show you where the bathroom was. Thank you so much for continuing to touch us. -keith