Our last Sunday in Prague, during the church service there
was a little girl who started to skip around the room as the worship band
played and the people sang. My initial reaction was, “Where is this girl’s
parents? Who is letting her run around? This would not be happening at any of
the churches I’ve attended back home.�
Then, it hit me…. Why not? This little girl is full of joy
and is enjoying the music so much that she is worshiping by gleefully skipping
around the room. She is free from the judgments of others and able to
experience God in her own way without fear. God is not looking down from heaven wondering who is
responsible for keeping this girl in her seat. Perhaps, He is looking down to
see who is responsible for instilling fear in the rest of us. Honestly, I wish
that I were in a state of innocent obliviousness to the judgments of others.
This year, there have been times in worship that God has
called me to dance and to sing with all my heart. I’m not so sure how well this will go over when I return to
the land of the “frozen chosen�. I’m not sure I will have the guts to walk
alone in the freedom I’ve found this year. Where is the balance between acting
freely and conforming to expectations and what is deemed acceptable? Do I have
the confidence to worship like a fool? Truthfully, I’m not sure.
Before the World Race, I was the one in the front pew who
swayed back and forth during worship and sang like I meant it. This alone has
gathered attention and comments from others. Positive comments, but still, the
feeling of being watched and judged is there. I’m sure I’ve been watched and
judged during worship amongst the World Race community, but I don’t feel alone
in it when there are others boldly stepping into freedom. In this community, it
is deemed acceptable to worship God in ways I’ve never imagined before:
everything from waving banners and skipping around to sharing prophetic words
and speaking in tongues. The Bible speaks about all these things, so why aren’t
they a part of the American churches?
Why do I worry about standing out if I were to worship freely?
