Uninhibited Worship

Many of us are familiar with the story of David dancing naked in 2 Samuel. While this may seem like a problem for many of us in the context of corporate worship, we must understand the heart behind this. David even said that he would become even more undignified, the point being that his worship to God was uninhibited. As a worship leader, complete uninhibited worship is one of my desires. Many other worship leaders would agree. However, when we consider what uninhibited worship is, do we really desire that? How many of us actually play a role in hindering uninhibited worship through our rigidity. It is perhaps subconscious, but we do it, nonetheless. My goal here is not only to advocate for uninhibited worship but also to support the argument that in the kingdom of God, uninhibited worship is absolutely necessary.

What Is Uninhibited Worship

We must first define uninhibited worship. By its very definition, uninhibited worship has only one focus, namely that of the glory of God. Pleasing him must be our focus if our worship is truly to be uninhibited or unhindered. Uninhibited worship does not necessarily mean wild and crazy, although it very well could. Uninhibited worship simply means an unwavering desire to love and obey God without restraint in the corporate and personal worship experience. We abandon all other desires except his desire. This is uninhibited worship.

Reasons for Uninhibited Worship

Is uninhibited worship biblical? Is there really a purpose, and if so, what is it? These are certainly questions we must ask. In answering these questions, I would like to give four reasons for uninhibited worship.


Worship Must Be Uninhibited Because It Is a Response to an Uninhibited God

We serve a God who is uninhibited. He is not limited by man’s desires or creations, and because we serve an uninhibited God, we must be uninhibited in our approach to worshipping him. Do not hear what I am not saying. I am not saying that particular aspects of worship such as order and liturgy are inherently bad. We must, however, always be open to the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit. God is uninhibited, and so must be our worship.

Worship Must Be Uninhibited Because God Is the Central Focus, Not Us

God must be both the subject and object of our worship. Humanity is not. In the modern church, we often glorify the lost and the culture more than we glorify God. All of us are likely guilty of this to some degree. If God truly is the focus of our worship though, we must abandon our desire with what others think of us and our desire to please people and run fully to pleasing the Lord. If we are concerned with people, our worship is inhibited.

If Worship Is Inhibited, We Are Guilty of Idolatry

The previous point brings me to this point. Inhibited worship equals idolatry. This is because we are literally placing other things or people before the desires of God. This is such a small thing to be considered idolatry though. How can this be? We must realize that idolatry can be simple or magnificent in scope, but no matter how big or small it is, any time we place something as priority other than God himself, it is idolatry and it is wrong. If our worship is inhibited, it is idolatry.

Worship Must Be Uninhibited Because There Is Freedom in Christ’s New Covenant

We are no longer under the Law. We are now under grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. With the New Covenant comes new freedom. This freedom should not be taken for granted, and in fact, we should always be mindful of the fact that we have a response to this freedom. We are certainly free from sin and free to holiness, but we are also free in our approach to worship. If we worship in inhibition, we do not properly take advantage of the freedom we have under the New Covenant. We are free to uninhibited worship now, and we must act in such a manner.

Conclusion

Uninhibited worship is crucial to our act of worship. God is the only one worthy of abandoning all selfishness and thoughts of anything other than him. He is jealous and demands our complete respect and reverence, but part of that reverence may include a full and total departure from any thought or concern other than him. In this, we must be constantly aware of his leadership and guidance, particularly as worship leaders. God is worthy to be praised and honored, and we must take part in sharing his story without regret, realizing that his glory is always the issue. When we realize that, our worship will truly be uninhibited.