Public Display of Affection
I still recall the first worship song I ever heard, because it was the first song of the first real worship service I had ever been a part of. The song was, Our God is an Awesome God. It was August 1998 and I was 20 years old. At the time, words like worship, praise, repentance, or salvation were not a part of my vocabulary. I wouldn’t have known how to use them in a sentence when it came to Christianity.
I was visiting my big brother for a couple weeks and he took me to the youth group he was leading at the time. I had never been to anything like it. I remember looking around during that first worship service and taking it all in. I saw teenagers lift their full arms and hands into the air, singing, and being excited. My mind was thinking, “This isn’t like any concert I’ve ever been to. If they can be passionate about this, I bet they’d love Aerosmith.” I was just comparing it to what I had lived up to that point; little did I know the power of worship at that time.
As that first Wednesday night came to an end, Our God is an Awesome God was played again to close out the service. This time, I found my lips moving along with the lyrics. It was easy to sing because it didn’t have a lot of words.
The following Wednesday rolled around and was supposed to be my final week visiting my brother and attending youth group (spoiler alert – after what happened that night, I never left). I don’t truly remember what my brother spoke about (sorry bro) but I remember the altar call he gave. Once again the band playing Our God is an Awesome God softly in the background. It was as if God was speaking to me, not my brother. Something began to stir in my heart. It was beating really fast. Tears began to stream down my face and I lifted up my hands and arms! As my brother proceeded with the altar call, my feet took two large steps forward and my sister-in-law prayed a prayer with me. For the first time ever, I felt the love and acceptance of Jesus and I have never been the same since.
I believe from that moment on I was forgiven. All I had to offer Him that night was my sin-stained life, yet He took it and washed it clean. He took it like He took the widow’s penny and treated it like it was gold.
To this day, this is the reason why I worship like I do. Why I display such affection for Him and to Him. Why I let myself get undignified for Him. I raise my hands! I jump around! I clap and sing really loud because I love Him, but more than that, because He loved me first. He loved me IN MY SIN! I’ve never been more grateful for anything like I’m grateful for my salvation, for His forgiveness, for His love.
This little true story from Luke 7:41-47 sums it up nicely.
“Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.
“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
Everyone around this woman only saw her sin, so they tried to call her out to Jesus. Like he didn’t know about her. The thing is, the pharisees didn’t know who Jesus was, not like the lady who had just been forgiven of her sins. All she knew was that her gratitude was great and she wanted to worship Him by bowing at his feet! She didn’t care who was watching.
Public displays of affection (PDA) are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. Intimacy doesn’t have to be what we initially make it out to be in our gutter minds. Intimacy is a familiarity or a friendship. I’m familiar with Jesus, because I spend time with Him every day. He knows everything about me – the good, the bad, and the ugly. I feel connected to Him and supported by Him. I can be emotional around Him. I can bring all these aspects together in worshiping Him. It centers me and brings all the focus of my thankfulness to Jesus. All the stress or worries melt away in those moments. It’s just me and Jesus together, in worship – a public display of affection.
There’s an Elevations Worship song called, My Testimony. I’m going to end this with a line from that song…
Still, the miracle that I just can’t get over
My name is registered in heaven.
Yeah, my praise belongs to You forever.
If you’re willing to show some PDA, then come sit with me and my friend Jesica next Sunday at church. Let’s worship our Savior with the intimacy He deserves!