One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when King David brings the Arc of the Covenant back to Israel and he’s so incredibly excited that he can’t help but dance around in his short robe, praising God. He puts the Arc in a special tent, makes some sacrifices and gives everyone a loaf of date bread. All around a good day, right?
David’s wife, Michal (a.k.a. the previous king’s daughter), saw David while he was dancing, and she was disgusted. When David comes home, Michal already had her gloves on. I can just imagine Michal leaned up against the doorframe of their giant royal castle, casually picking at her fingernails and saying “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today” in a passive aggressive tone that would rival our modern subtweet. She then goes on to accuse David of exposing himself to all the young servant girls, and tops it off with calling him a “vulgar person.” Them are fightin’ words right there.
Shameless, David says “I was dancing before the Lord, and I am willing to look even more foolish and undignified than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes.”
Bringing it back to modern times, I was at Training Camp for the World Race last week. There’s no better time to fall deeper in love with Jesus than in the woods while sharing portapotties with 150 of your closest friends. Training Camp was an incredible ten days that felt like one afternoon and 13 years at the same time. We worshipped and learned daily, we ate off platters with our fingers, we hiked with all our gear on, we learned about each other and the stories God is writing with our lives, we forgave people from our past, we released our shame, we lived in incredible community while encouraging each other and growing together and in our faith.
I experienced a taste of what freedom looks like through God’s eyes. Not freedom to do whatever I want, or live out the life I have planned in my head, but freedom to love others no matter if they are a CEO or the homeless man outside of WalMart, freedom to grant forgiveness and embrace vulnerability, freedom to worship Jesus and make a fool out of myself.
The life I’ve been called to does not make any sense. Why in the world would I sacrifice a year of my life to use squattie potties and live out of a backpack? It’s just not what normal people do. I would like to make a formal announcement that I am not normal. My 40 squadmates aren’t normal either. Together we are living in the new normal of the Kingdom. Where we are so filled up by Christ’s love and the Holy Spirit that we serve out of our overflow. To live in this new normal you don’t have to go across the world, although you totally can. All it takes is loving Jesus and listening to the Holy Spirit.
So if you see me around, please excuse my dancing, shouting, and exposing the most vulnerable parts of myself. I’m just praising Jesus.
BONUS: Pictures I found on the internet of David doing what he does best
