I just finished an amazing week of camp! I was counseling a group of seven amazing young women who are just about to enter seventh grade. On the last night of camp, we decided it would be fun to surprise the group of sixth and seventh graders with a "Super Secret Epic Dance Party" in the building we call "The Koinonia Center" where we normally have our morning worship. To get the kiddos ready for what they thought was a wrap up worship, we decided to have a bit of a devotion. I was appointed to lead the devo for about 60 kids- One of my co-counselors thought it would be fun to talk about dancing, so the first thing that came to my mind was King David.
I started out by telling them the story of David dancing half naked in the streets to express his love for God… Here is sorta how it went:
"So, you have all heard of King David, right? Well there is a story in the Bible about King David where he went completely bonkers for the Lord. He woke up one day, went outside of his palace, and began to dance! Somehow, I'm not quite sure how, but somehow… He ended up in his underwear. Many people were not impressed, but he went on to say 'I'll become even more UNDIGNIFIED than this. You may say it's foolishness. But I will leave my pride by my side and become even more undignified.' You see, David was not ashamed of his God or his faith. He went all out to praise God. And my challenge to you, when you go home tomorrow, is not to go back to the ways that you praised God before you came to camp, but to be undignified for the Lord! People are going to notice that there is something different about you and they are going to be curious. They are going to ask you why you are doing what you are doing, and they are going to want to know more. Some people may not be happy with you and some may think you're completely nuts, but there are going to be some that want what you have. They will ask you what the big deal is. And I encourage you to share with them the story of David. Tell them why you are praising God the way you are. Tell them about your faith, about your God, about what He did for you. Some will listen, and some will shut you down, but don't let that stop you. Whatever you do, don't let that stop you! You are all so important in the body of Christ, and every little bit counts."
From there we started walking to where the dance party was… We stopped halfway there and said a quick prayer asking for God to help us become undignified and unashamed. And at that dance, you know what they did? I bet you can guess… They were so on fire for the Lord! The Holy Spirit filled that place like you wouldn't believe!!
I guess you could say that they learned a little bit about what it feels like to praise God with all that they are. Today, they went home, and I have been praying ever since last night that they would go home and reach out to their communities. For some reason, I feel like they will!
