DANCING, Gal 5:16-24

Introduction:

1. Discuss phone call with mother wanting me to talk about dancing...

1) Comments she made--

1. She wasn't real sure what to tell her child about it.
2. She told me other parents were unsure why there was so much opposition.
3. She also told me that there were some parents who just didn't care.

2) It was that 2nd comment that prompted this lesson.

1. Practicality; kids (and all of us) need answers; a place to stand.
2. Scripturally; 1 Peter 3:15

2. SOME OBJECTIONS TO THIS TYPE OF LESSON

1) "They just don't want us to have any fun."--nobody enjoys fun as much as I do.

1. Look around at summer youth series, etc.--who is doing most of the laughing, etc.--preachers!
2. Sign in my office--"Are we having fun yet?"

2) "They are so old that they've forgotten what it is like to be young."--WRONG

1. I still remember peer pressure (I still experience peer pressure).
2. I also still remember what was on my mind at the "Mistletoe Ball."
3. I also still remember that I did not marry the girl who invited me to the dances, but the one whom I invited, but would not dance!!!

3) "They don't want us to be popular."--Consider the following article entitled, "Marks of a Disciple."

It's as if [Jesus] said, "I'm not looking for crowds; I'm looking for disciples." Jesus often drew a crowd, but He was not interested in attracting a lot of followers. He was looking for disciples. From Scripture we discover there are three primary characteristics of a true disciple...

1. A disciple will openly acknowledge his relationship with Christ. Denying yourself, taking up your cross daily to follow Him involves a number of things, but one thing it always means is being willing to be identified with Jesus even when it's unpopular.
2. Obedience to the Word of Christ is the second mark of a disciple. jesus made it clear in His story of the wise builder and the folish builder that obedience is necessary for stability (Mat 7:24-27). The difference between the two men was not that one had more knowledge or that one faced more difficult circumstances, it was that one chose to obey the Word and the other did not.
3. Disciples characteristically bear fruit in the work of Christ. There are two types of fruit-bearing. We are to manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our character and also to bear the fruit of influence in the lives of others. The supreme aspect of Christ-like character and the most significant mark of our discipleship to Him is love. ["Marks of a Disciple," by Lorne Sanny in Discipleship Journal, Volume 61, Jan/Feb 1991, pages 24-27]

4) "He's a little late on this. We are now dealing with drug abust, etc."--I know and if we'd dealt effectively with dancing, swimming, etc., we might not be dealing with them.

3. ALL OF THE ACTIVITIES WE CAN ENGAGE IN ARE IN ONE OF 3 CATEGORIES...

1) Those that positively promote spiritual growth and welfare. EXAMPLES: studying the Bible; prayer, personal work, etc.

2) Those that neither promote nor weaken us spiritually. EXAMPLE: If Donna and I decide to take a drive this afternoon (we are old folks; our kids are both gone now; we are supposed to do things like that!).

3) Those that definitely promote temptation and spiritual weakness. EXAMPLES: Going to a "joint," or to a party involving drinking, etc.

4. IN WHICH CATEGORY IS DANCING?

1) Nobody would argue that the purpose of a dance is to get people closer to God! IMAGINE: the price of admission being a memory verse, a Bible study going on during the breaks, and a prayer between each song.

2) So that leaves us with only 2 alternatives...

1. Many believe there is nothing wrong with it.
2. Others believe it is wrong.

DISCUSSION:

I. SOME ARGUE AGAINST DANCING BECAUSE OF ALL THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.

1) CONSIDER: school years are times when we develop interests in things we may want to continue for a long time.

1. I didn't wait until I was 45 to start enjoying playing baseball, basketball, etc. It wasn't so much the exercise, but the companionship, fun, etc. All through my life (as long as health allows) I can go to a ball field, basketball court, golf course, tennis court, etc., and keep doing this.
2. If you develop an interest in dancing, where are you going to continue that?

2) Mention all that surrounds dancing. ILLUSTRATION: Article in Memphis Paper.

II. A BETTER ARGUMENT IS THAT IT IS CONDEMNED IN THE BIBLE.

1) Discuss how it is difficult for us to understand how people cannot see the logic of...

1. A cappella music. Discuss various "arguments." Bottom line is that they've decided what they are going to do and don't want to be bothered.
2. Baptism FOR remission of sins. Discuss "arguments." Bottom line is that they've decided what they are going to do and don't want to be bothered.

2) If it can be shown that dancing is condemned explicitly in the Bible then we must conclude that those who continue to practice it (or allow their kids to) are going to do what they want to do and don't want to be bothered--and they have a problem other than dancing!!!

3) Three places where dancing is condemned in the text (Gal 5:16-24)...

1. Lasciviousness (KJV & ASV); debauchery (NIV); lewdness (NKJV); sensuality (NASV & McCord). Thayer: "wanton (acts or) manners, as filthy words, indecent bodily movements, unchaste handling of males and females, etc." Somebody please give me a better definition of dancing!!!
2. Revellings (KJV & ASV), revelries (NKJV & McCord), orgies (NIV), carousing (NASV). Strong says the word is "...used generally of feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry." Other sources talk about its association with dancing.
3. And such like "All of these defintions sound like a drunken party. All we want to do is dance." Anything that looks like any of the other stuff is condemned.

Conclusion:

1. Usually we are asking: "Why can't we do this or that?"

2. 1 Peter 3:15 has others seeing a difference in us and asking US, "Why?"

3. ILLUSTRATION: When the unsinkable Titanic sank, warning after warning had been sent to tell them they were speeding into an ice-field. But the messages were ignored. In fact, when a nearby ship sent an urgent warning, the Titanic was talking to Cape Race about the time chauffeurs were to meet arriving passengers at the dock, and what menus were to be ready. Preoccupied with trivia, the Titanic responded to the warning: "Shut up. I am talking to Cape Race. You are jamming my signals."

4. ILLUSTRATION: It is a dangerous thing to be an imitator. Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his famous essay on self-reliance says, "Imitation is suicide." This means, I believe, that if you try to be anyone other than yourself, you kill your own personality and you actually kill your own soul. I sometimes think we ought to bring a bill into Congress changing our national symbol from the eagle to the buffalo, because we are more like the buffaloes today than we are like the eagles. The eagle is a powerful bird. He flies alone. He rises up with authority into the sky. He is master of all he surveys. he is an individualist and was selected in the old days from among the rest of the birds to be our symbol. But the buffalo was never alone. He always ran in a herd with the rest of the buffaloes. And, friends, I call to your attention that the buffaloes are gone from the open range, but th eagles are still here. The lesson is clear: Any nation that becomes a nation of the herd ceases to produce great figures. If ever th eidea comes to your mind, "Don't be different, because people will think you are peculiar," remember what Emerson said: "Imitation is suicide." If you try to imitate someone else, you become second-rate. All great thinkers are people who dare to be themselves. --Norman Vincent Peale.

5. I've had unpleasant experience of talking to those who got tired of having signal jammed and who ran with the crowd (or let their kids do that)...

1) Now their is an unplanned pregnancy or some other problem.

2) Now they see wisdom of being "different."

3) Now they see danger of some activities they thought were so cool.

4) Now their hearts are breaking--and so is mine.

5) I prefer never to have that experience again.

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