Happy Friday Washington Cathedral!

I'd like to start this blog by sharing a delightfully giggle-worthy video about leadership with you. Take a look:

First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy - YouTube

Official transcript at https://sivers.org/ff --- If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement happen, start to finish, in under 3 minutes, and dissect some lessons: A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he's doing is so simple, it's almost instructional. This is key ...

www.youtube.com

I hope that gave you a good laugh like it did for me. I love that someone is just taking a video of this guy dancing by himself with no inhibitions- full of joy just by himself. It's so infectious that someone else comes to join him. The two are dancing with complete freedom, unconcerned about anyone else and then they get another person to dance with them. And then another, and then a crowd. The person narrating the video says, "And now we have a movement."

I've seen this video a few times shown as an example of leadership and as encourages you to do in the video, to have the courage to be the first follower- but I want to focus on the crowd, and this "movement" part. 

There was something so infectious about the freedom in which this person was dancing that when someone came to join him, it gave other people permission to experience the joy of dancing freely as well. 

That is following Jesus.

Jesus' love is infectious. The presence of Jesus is freedom. When we follow Jesus, we get to experience that freedom. The type of freedom that makes you want to dance like David did in 2nd Samuel. SO let's go back to the "movement" part of this. When we worship God together- whether that be through singing, serving people, praying together, and even dancing together, we are not only following scripture- when Jesus says in Matthew 18, "where two or more are gathered, there I am also"- we are giving each other permission to experience the very presence of Jesus. Freedom. Joy. Healing. Peace. That's a movement of God. 

So I say to you, dear friends, yes, individual spiritual practices to connect with God are important. BUT don't you want to experience that type of freedom together? That type of permission to encounter God? I will tell you, I do. 

On Sunday Pastor Mark Nsimbi will teach more from Acts 2 about this type of spiritual aliveness, together in Jesus. Join me in listening to him and worshiping together. 

Chelsea Maitland

P.s. And I'll see you tomorrow for dinner at 5:30pm at Rockin' the Dream!