Can we dance in the service?

[DeanZF]

<QUOTE author="daego,Sep 9 2007, 08:01 PM">

I was deeply moved by the dance - tears came to my eyes. I had never had this kind of experience before.



A sister with her partners danced when they celebrated finishing their new church and giving to God. But a pastor said in a service after that it was not suitable. He condemned dancing came from lust.

Hello Daego and welcome to ZionFireFriends. We are glad that you have joined us!



You have asked one of the more difficult questions that the church in the United States and around the world have faced. Actually, it goes back even further than that. Remember that King David's wife, Michal, was also offended by David's dancing before the Lord. She seemed to feel that dancing like that, "with those common people", was beneath the dignity and office of her husband the king of Israel. David the king had his priorities correct, however, and told Michal that if she thought that was foolishness, he would continue to be a fool before his Lord and God.



In today's world, people's concept of what is right and wrong seems to be more important than what God's Word says about things. That's true both in the church and among unbelievers. In our country, we hear that God hates divorce and yet divorce among Christians is about the same as it is for people who do not claim to believe in God or His rules of life. We hear that God says sexual union is for married people only and yet we have many children born with no earthly father to claim them, into single mother homes.



And in our world, we read in God's Word that dance is an expected way to honor Him, to celebrate Him, to honor Him, and yet we hear people say that it is of the devil or out of lust and sexual perversion! Maybe those people read a different Bible than I do!



God invented this thing called dance. We read in John 1 that ALL things were created by Him and that NOTHING exists that was not created by Him! Rule number 1 is that if God creates it, who are we to call it unclean or improper?



Not all dance is pure and noble. Yes, some dance has been "stolen" by the enemy and twisted into something sensual or even sexual. That sort of dance should not be found in our church services. I can agree with any pastor who is correcting that sort of incorrect behavior, but if the pastor sees ALL dance as incorrect behavior, I have to take that pastor to the Word of God and ask just where it is that God has condemned all dancing. In the psalms (part of God's INSPIRED Word, not man's!), we read in the last psalms that we are to praise Him with the dance. In Romans 12, each of us is told to present the entire body as a living sacrifice of worship. Our WHOLE body. And there are always Jesus' own words about loving our Lord with all of our strength, our heart, our mind, and our soul. What better example of using all of our physical strength is there than dancing before Him as David danced?



If your sister danced modestly and with a pure heart before our God, there is no shame and I feel the pastor was out of line. If the pastor incorrectly spoke to her, he spoke with the same mindset as Michal. Pray for him for revelation of God's truth, but don't dance there until there is a change of heart. To do so would be disobedient to the pastor and disrespectful. Your dancing will have to take place elsewhere, either among other believers who understand and encourage the worship of the psalms, or even at home in your own "secret place".



It's also a great aid to prayer for some people.



I hope this helps, Daego. God bless you!