(See more gorgeous paintings like this at Art of the Covenant!!!)
Have you ever taken the time to see what the Bible Says about dancing? I have a friend (Kyle) who did, he shared a very interesting thing that He found in the Hebrew Scriptures about dance, that was not accurately translated in our English versions in his article at New Heights Dance.
I find it very interesting that some Christian religions "outlaw" dancing not only in their meetings, but also in their lifestyles! This practice is far from what The Bible illustrates!! Now, I do understand the concern for inappropriate dance and even dance used for evil - that too is real. It is very important for us to distinguish and the difference...like everything in this life...right??!!! (Kyle will be touching on that in Part 2 of his post, so be sure to check that out too!) However, to turn away from rejoicing and worshiping in this way, because of what 'the twisted ones' have done....well...it robs His people of what is rightfully theirs! (That is, to go before The Father and worship him in unity, freedom and rejoicing with their whole being!!) It seems to me to be just another one of those nasty lies that has snuck its way into some Christian RELIGIONS.
SO instead - rejoice and be glad! Dance before your King like David danced - with passion and full admiration getting lost in His goodness, truth, mercy and grace!
Shabbat Shalom,
7 comments:
Shalom Pamela,
Great post, it's kinda like what came first the chicken or the egg? Of course we see that dance has been used for evil, but where did it originate? Scripture definitely talks of those who dance before YHVH.
Shalom,Moira
Thanks for the post!
whole heartily agree :o)
Thing is, even in places where appropriate dance is going on, one can not be too passionate or too open.
I know this from painful experience. and these are places that say dance is important to them.
Abrianna,
I am sorry, it sounds like you have had unpleasant experience.
What is "appropriate" certainly is subject to one's opinion isn't it?! I suppose we all have them. It is wise to always consider our brothers as more precious than ourselves in any gathering of people. We wouldn't want to cause a brother to stumble. This is another expression of worship...loving our brother.
Ideally, we can come together with pure hearts and minds to worship together...if that is not possible with a group of people....there is nothing stopping us from worshiping in dance when we are alone!
The issues that were brought to me were not ones of my modesty. Other peoples modesty yes, but not mine.
I was not talking about dress modesty in my response. I was talking about the bigger issue of performance versus worship. I thought worship should be the most important thing. Isn't that why it is called "worship dance"? Others were focused on the performance and it got to the point where I did not want to dance any more.
I was tired of the tears, sleepless nights and stress of wondering if I was going to hear that mistakes were made. And there were a few times I was called to task after service was over (same night) to be told I had not done it correctly. Doing it incorrectly meant I was not doing it exactly the way it had always been done before.
Sometimes there were big changes, that had not been made by me, but the person before me. Even though I was following the person before me, somehow all these changes became my fault.
Other times it would be little things such as I paused too long, I added/deleted a step, etc...
Those were the things I was talking about. I stopped dancing in that place and eventually left because all the noise was interfering with my ability to worship. How wonderful it was when I went to a place where it was okay to make mistakes and they did not expect perfection. Breath of much needed fresh air for me.
Abrianna,
Hmmm that's funny. I didn't say anything about dress or "modesty".
I think my comment applies even after further explanation. :-)
Again, I am sorry you had a sour experience. I hope you have forgiven them, to prevent bitterness/offense seeding itself. I am glad you found a place where you could worship with ease!
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