"MORAL ISSUES CONFRONTING CHRISTIANS"

Dancing

INTRODUCTION

1. A moral issue that often confronts Christians today is dancing...
1. Especially in its modern and popular forms
2. Involving unmarried couples
2. Increasingly popular is what is called "dirty dancing"...
1. Sexualized dancing, also known as freak dancing or grinding
2. Overly suggestive grinding, rubbing and groping between dance partners
3. Prompting some public schools to adopt policies against it
3. But is "dirty dancing" the only kind of dance that is wrong? In this lesson, I wish to...
1. Explain why dancing in general is unbecoming of those who call themselves Christians
2. Address commonly raised objections by those who seek to approve of dancing

[Our study begins with a close look at...]

1. THE SIN OF LEWDNESS
1. LEWDNESS CONDEMNED...
1. As a work of the flesh - Ga 5:19 (NKJV)
1. Translated "lasciviousness" in the KJV, ASV
2. Translated "sensuality" in the ESV, NASB
3. Translated "debauchery" in the NIV
4. Translated "licentiousness" in the NRSV
2. As that which defiles a man - Mk 7:21-23 (NKJV)
2. LEWDNESS DEFINED...
1. The Greek word is aselgia, defined by Thayer as "unbridled lust...wanton acts or manners: filthy words, indecent bodily movements, unchaste handling of males and females"
2. Anything which excites the lust of the flesh (words, bodily movements, unchaste handling) is therefore sinful
3. Of course, this applies to the stirring up of sexual desires outside the bond of marriage
1. The Bible allows sexual expression, but for those who are married - cf. He 13:4
2. The excitement of lust between those not married is sinful - Mt 5:28
1. It is wrong to lust for another person
2. It must therefore be wrong to arouse lust in another person

[Having defined the sin of lewdness, one must now ask: "Does popular dancing arouse the lusts of the flesh, and therefore qualify as lewdness?" My reply would be yes...]

2. THE SIN OF DANCING
1. NON-CHRISTIANS RECOGNIZE DANCING AS LUSTFUL...
1. "The popular teen-age dances of the mid 20th century have no set steps; the dancers respond spontaneously to the beat of the musicians. The degree of satisfaction attained by young people 'twisting' or 'shaking' to the blare of amplified music in dance halls, further enlivened by psychedelic lighting, is different from the pleasure derived by their elders waltzing to the 'Blue Danube' - but it is only a difference of age and time. Fundamentally, both age groups are enjoying the pleasure of dancing in their own way...The end product is doubtless the same - physical pleasure in the activity of dancing and sexual awareness of a partner, whether embraced or half-consciously observed." - Encyclopedia Britannica, "The Art Of Dance", Vol. 5, p. 455-456 (1979 edition)
2. "...The social dance has usually been the result of joint physical exuberance and sex stimuli..." - Collier's Encyclopedia, "Dance", Vol. 7, p. 683 (1964 edition)
3. "Another motive for the dance is the sexual motive - the dance has always been used as a means of expressing sexual desire and as a means of wooing...We find this same sex motive in the modern ballroom dance, which has now degenerated into dull and stupid forms, but it is a legitimate opportunity for contact." - Dance We Must (1938, reprinted 1950), p. 6 (from a series of lectures given by Ted Shawn at George Peabody College For Teachers)
4. "All ballroom dancing in pairs looks toward intercourse. In this respect the Puritans were dead right....The development of no-contact dances has come about because one doesn't now need a social excuse to embrace a girl, but as an excitant it need not involve contact at all - in fact, dances like flamenco or the twist are far more erotic than a clinch because you aren't too close to see one another. At its best this sort of dance is simply intercourse by remote control." - The Joy Of Sex, Alex Comfort, p. 162 (1972)
5. The Roman orator Cicero says: "No man who is sober dances, unless he is out of his mind, either when alone or in any decent society, for dancing is the companion of wanton conviviality, dissoluteness, and luxury." - New Unger's Bible Dictionary (1988)
2. COMMON SENSE TELLS US THAT DANCING IS LUSTFUL...
1. What would be your reaction if you saw an entire dance floor with people of the same sex dancing together?
1. If dancing was morally neutral, with no sexual overtones, there would be no reaction
2. But most would be shocked, suspecting they had stumbled into a "gay" dance
2. Listen to what is simply common sense:
1. If we would expect such a dance to be an expression of "gay" sensuality...
2. ...how can we deny that people of opposite sex dancing together is an expression of heterosexual activity?

[Both common sense and the testimony of people in the world confirm that dancing is an activity which has the arousal of sexual desires as its main appeal. Should Christians be making provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts? Not according to Ro 13:14. But almost invariably, those who desire to dance or allow their children to dance raise objections...]

3. COMMONLY RAISED OBJECTIONS
1. "DANCING MAY TURN ON OTHER PEOPLE, BUT I DON'T REACT THAT WAY..."
1. For the sake of argument, let's assume that some people either:
1. Do not have strong sexual urges
2. Have grown spiritually(?) to the point they can keep their urges under control
2. The dancing under consideration involves two persons
1. Even if one is not so affected, the other may be!
2. In which case, the "spiritual" person becomes a stumbling block to the other person, an instrument for the other person's indulgence in fleshly lusts
2. "I CAN'T CONTROL WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK..."
1. We can't force a person to think right, but that is no reason to tempt them to think wrong!
2. We have a responsibility not to contribute to one's moral delinquency
1. We must not be a stumbling block - Ro 14:13,21; 1Co 8:13; 10:31-32
2. Otherwise we fall into grave condemnation - Mt 18:6-7
3. "HOW CAN ANYTHING WRONG GO ON...IT IS TIGHTLY SUPERVISED...?"
1. Bodily actions may be well-supervised, but no one can supervise the inward thoughts
2. Chaperons can inhibit only what happens on the dance floor...
1. What about afterwards...on the way home?
2. When there is no one to restrain expressing the desires that were aroused during the dance?
3. Ann Landers: "When you turn a guy on, he can be awfully hard to turn off."
4. "DANCING IS GOOD EXERCISE..."
1. There are alternative forms of exercise that do not excite the lusts of the flesh
2. Are you willing to become a stumbling block to others, just so you can get some exercise?
3. Isn't that rather selfish?
5. "DANCING IS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE..."
1. There are four categories of dancing mentioned in the Bible
1. Religious dances of the Old Testament - Exo 15:20-21; 2Sa 6:14
2. Expressions of great rejoicing - 1Sa 18:6
3. The play of children - Job 21:11; Lk 7:32
4. Passionate dances, like that of Salome, before King Herod - Mt 14:6
2. Do the first three categories justify Christians engaging in the modern dance today?
1. No, for these are nothing like what is being discussed in this lesson
2. There is no trace in the Bible that men and women danced as couples
1. "While the mode of dancing is not known in detail, it is clear that men and women did not generally dance together, and there is no real evidence that they ever did. Social amusement was hardly a major purpose of dancing, and the modern method of dancing by couples is unknown." - Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia Of The Bible, "Dancing", Vol. 2, p. 12 (1977)
2. "Social dancing, as we now understand it, was almost, if not altogether, unknown in ancient times..." - Hastings Bible Dictionary, p. 550
3. "Women seemed generally to have danced by themselves...Of the social dancing of couples in the modern fashion there is no trace." - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Games", p. 1170
3. In fact, dancing in the form of mixed couples did not exist before the 12th Century A.D. - "There is no evidence of couples dancing together, however; that was to happen much later, probably in Provence in the 12th Century." - Encyclopedia Britannica, "The Art Of Dance", Vol. 5, p. 452 (1979)
3. The only thing close to the modern dance today that is mentioned in the Bible is the dance of Herodias' daughter, Salome (and look what happened!)

CONCLUSION

1. Shall we dance? There are two things we can be sure of...
1. It is wrong to lust in our hearts after others - Mt 5:28
2. It is wrong to conduct ourselves in any way as to excite the lusts in others; that is lewdness, which is condemned as a work of the flesh - Ga 5:19-21
2. That popular dancing involving unmarried couples is condemned, can only be denied...
1. By those ignorant of the Scriptures
2. By those hardened by the deceitfulness of sin
3. Again, let me read what others have said:

   "Because of its physical appeal, dance lends itself to erotic purposes and has been practiced to these ends by both sexes." - Encyclopedia Britannica, "The Art Of Dance"

Let us also remember the words of Paul: