A Testimony of Being Weird - worshiping unashamed

There are certain moments in life where when you experience them, you know without a shadow of a doubt that you will remember that moment forever. 

While in Germany on our mission trip, there were a few moments like that, but there was one in particular that I want to share with all of you. It marked my heart and the way that I worship; it challenged my expectations and dared me to be unashamed of the gospel - I hope that it does the same for you.

While we were in Berlin, I think it was our second day there, our leader Caleb had forgotten the speaker that we used for ministry back at our hotel, so we had to wait for an extra hour-ish to start our dancing and skit music like we had planned. Our team was already a bit overwhelmed by what we were doing, and we were beginning to get discouraged. By the time Caleb had come back, we were going to have a bit of a break from cold evangelism (just straight-up conversations) and eat lunch. But before we did that, he decided that we needed some time to just worship and pray together. 

Keep this in mind, we are in the middle of the most famous square in Berlin; there were tons of people from all different walks of life around us, different nations, different languages, and different views on God. But, despite that, I connected to the Bluetooth speaker and began to play some good old Maverick City.  We then began to pray for each other as a team, to worship with arms raised in the middle of this square, or just sit in God's presence. 

I went over to pray with a leader for a while, but after praying with her for a bit - I turned around to see the most beautiful thing. There was a young German couple, maybe in their twenties, surrounded by our team and crying as they all prayed over them. Both this young man and woman had tears streaming down their faces as our team prayed powerful prayers over them... not knowing what to pray, but just to pray. 

Later on I was just looking around and taking in the things that were happening before me when Caleb looked at me and said, "I've never seen that happen before." Granted, he works full-time for European Initiative and he's constantly leading teams all over Europe. He said, "Within seconds of us starting the music, they came over and broke down in tears. They didn't even really know why, but they knew that they needed to come over."

Within that same timeframe when we had the music playing, there were other student missionaries stationed in Germany that came and spoke with us. Along with a teenage girl who left her friend group to ask us what we were doing when she heard the music playing.

"I've never seen this happen before." Those words stuck with me. To think that the people who came to speak with us had no clue who we were, they didn't know what we were doing, but they felt the Holy Spirit (whether they knew it was him or not) drawing them to our team. 

Sometimes I can forget that we don't have to be doing anything flashy, say any kind of extraordinary prayer, or be some kind of "super Christian" for God to use us. Sometimes we just have to be willing to be weird. To go into the world UNASHAMED of our God, unashamed to worship him in the most unlikely of places, unashamed to pray for those around us, and unashamed to look different while doing it. (But we're called to be different, right? To look different, to act different... so why should we be surprised at the results when we're simply obeying what God has already called us to?)

I was just reading Acts recently where Paul and Silas were thrown into prison and were worshiping while there, and after God had sent the earthquake to free them, the guard who was there got saved. And not just him, but his entire household. Now, it may have just been Paul and Silas's worship that drew the guard in and made him question who they were, but to think that the whole time they were worshiping, the Lord was stirring something in that guard's heart - preparing him for what was to come in the next few hours. And because of that, his entire household got saved and baptized. 

What would it look life for all of us to be unashamed today? Maybe to listen to that worship song on your lunch break with other's around? To pray in front of other people, or ask them how you can pray for them? To live unashamed is to know that no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing the Holy Spirit is working in you, through you, and around you. You just have to be willing to take a step, say a prayer, or encourage the person that God places in your path.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.