2 Samuel 6:14-16
Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over theLord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. The presence of God is the one place you should be able to be completely yourself. That whatever hats you have had to wear through the week, whatever masks you put on to impress people,church should be the one place you are able to just lay it all down and just be completely yourself.

We put on this dignified act when we are before God. We put on a dignified persona to impress people and  a God who was completely undignified for us. In the parable of the lost son, when the father saw his son from a distance the Word of God says the father RAN to meet his son. In the culture of those days the men wore long robes. For him to run he had to lift up his robe. He lifted what brought him dignity and in deep reckless love ran to meet his beloved son.

The Ark of the covenant represented the presence of God. As the Ark was brought in, King David danced in celebration until his clothes fell off. Scripture says he danced with all his might. David’s concern wasn’t anyone else around him, not his wife, nor soldiers nor anyone else there.The only presence he cared about at that point was that of the Lord. In the natural David had things that could possibly have made him prideful, he was a king, a mighty warrior, a talented and skilled musician. A man with many victories under his belt yet David recognized that none of these things meant anything when he was in the presence of God. He was just happy to be in his presence.

In the past I have been the prideful type of Christian in church. The one with arms folded, practically murmuring the lyrics to the praise and worship being played, darting glances around the church at those who have their arms up in full surrender in tears, or joyfully singing and dancing and rolling my eyes in disgust. Almost embarrassed for them for how silly they look. That’s the problem we have. I found myself ready to have my arms waving wildly up and belting out tunes when a Beyonce jam gets on the radio but when it was church, it felt pretty stupid.
Watch these celebrity documentaries and see fans crying and hands up when they see their favorite celebrity. But the second they walk into church they want to play the dignified card. As though they had not just been at a Drake concert the night before dancing with all their friends.
We look down on the person on stage in church or in the congregation yet they are in the presence of their God, they have been in communion with His spirit. The Bible says where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom(liberty)  we despise them and feel sorry for them for their freedom in the Lord yet we should be feeling sorry for ourselves because we are the ones still bound and imprisoned.

No judgement but the reality is we play the dignified card in front of an undignified God. We get embarrassed. Yet even on the road to crucifixion, our Savior had been stripped down and was being flogged and forced to  carry his own cross. He bore all shame so we could have no shame yet we forget this when we get into his presence and are ashamed of looking silly in front of other congregation members.

We don’t go to church to look cute and post an outfit of the day, we don’t go to seek a partner or just to tick it off under religious duties of the week, we go to be in the presence of God. An undignified God who was ridiculed for our sakes, who was stripped down so we can one day be fully clothed in garments of righteousness. A loving father who lifted up his robe to run to us his lost beloved children, A majestic humble God who set His crown aside to wear a crown of thorns for our sakes. A savior
who got off his throne to meet us because he knew we needed saving. If we only knew half the things our redeemer had to do for us! David said ‘I will become even more undignified than this!’ I pray that whenever we get into the presence of God we may always lay our pride aside and bewilling to get so consumed in his love and presence that we become completely blinded to anyone who may be watching usand open up our eyes to the reality that our God was undignified for us on the cross and here and forevermore, we should be willing to be even more undignified for Him