God always uses random things to teach me and take me back to the basics, which the most recent of these was by getting my attention through a 2 year old.
On Sunday I was serving in the tadpole room in kids church (~2-4 year olds). Even though they are really tiny human beings we model what church looks like, including worship, which is done by listening to songs on a DVD. As teachers we encourage them to dance, sing, play instruments, do whatever to worship God.
From the very first song on Sunday, one of the little boys was getting into it. He started dancing and jumping and playing his little instrument. At first I watched him and just thought it was cute. He was so happy the whole time with a huge smile on his face. It was precious, and he never stopped until the last song was over.
As I watched him though, I realized there was something different about it, about him.
This child can’t even talk yet, but his actions spoke so much louder than his words ever could. The other children weren’t doing this, but he didn’t care what they thought about him or what he looked like. It was like he was the only person in the room. He just danced for the King, and he had so much joy in doing so.
This on top of what was learned and experienced at training camp left me wondering..why don’t we do that?
We encourage children to “let it all go,” to dance and shout to praise Him, but when we go to church on the other side of the wall we stand there ever-so quietly and maybe raise our hands during the chorus of a song. You don’t see us dancing or jumping around.
Why don’t we have a huge smile on our face knowing that the King reigns, that our Father adores us because we’re his children, that our Savior has come to rescue us because He just wants a relationship with you and me, that He LIVES!?!? God created everything yet we can hardly praise Him for it!?
I left church on Sunday wondering what my problem is and the problem of the church. We start out with this child-like faith that’s so innocent and free and beautiful then something happens in between then and now that dulls us. It blurs our vision of who He really is and what He has done because if we truly understood, we’d be acting like that little boy.
He gets it.
He can’t communicate it through words but his actions speak for his heart, and I think we have a lot to learn from him. He dances in freedom. The church needs to experience this freedom.
So I have to ask, what’s holding you back? Where’s the joy and freedom in praising the Lord?
Let’s wake up and dance!
