Dancing in the church?

Happy children so easily dance. Couples in love so easily dance. Filled with joy, I can easily dance, but in my home when no one is watching. If joy is expressed in dancing or at least twirling around to music real or imagined, why do most congregations frown on it?

My question is stirred by Tozer’s thoughts on what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God. He says, “The Spirit will make the believing child of God generous, but He will never make him foolish! He will make him happy, but He will never make him silly! The Spirit will warm the inner life of the Christian’s being, but he will never lead him to do the things that would cause him to hang his head in shame afterward.”

When I mentioned dancing as worship, my husband reminded me that David did it. His wife rebuked him for it, perhaps because his garments flew up and exposed him, but David said, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord.” (2 Samuel 6:21)

The New Testament passage for today describes some expected results of being filled with the Spirit:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:15–21)

Tozer says we must display the “loftiest fruits of the Spirit of God with the Spirit Himself in control of our emotions and our affections” and that our emotional life ought to be in His control. Reading this put all sorts of things in my mind. I’m a conservative worshiper and might raise my hands or tap my toes, but I think of African churches, Pentecostal worshipers, others who are more demonstrative. If it seems they are merely ‘attention-getting’ that is one thing, but even in our church of mostly conservative worshipers, some seem wholly devoted to God with more emotional movement than most others. It raises the question: who decides what is appropriate?

To say our “reason is sanctified” and some are “swept from their mooring in the Word of God” by their worship style can be totally subjective. Who can determine “mental poise” or “common sense” from an “hypnotic influence”? Do any of us address one another in psalms and hymns? That might be considered abnormal too?

Bible study reveals that dance was a common feature of Old Testament religion. The psalmist even says, “Let them praise his name with dancing.” (Psalm 149:3) However, there is little said in the New Testament. Jesus referred to dancing when celebrating the return of the prodigal but there is no dancing in worship. Some Jewish sects demonstrated devotion with dancing or swaying, but all the early church writers condemned it. This was probably because of the current culture where dancing had become a debauched pastime and was practiced by heretical groups.

This changed during the Middle Ages. While the Reformers did not favor it and Pietism thought it sinful, the Puritans allowed it if done to the glory of God or for edification or as a recuperation from labor. In the Russian Orthodox Church, dance demonstrated ecstatic experiences in worship.

Historic churches viewed charismatic congregations as either a way to contain those enthusiastic in worship, or a threat that would draw these people away. I’ve been in a few of those charismatic congregations and my sense of it is that some are deeply involved in worship and their expression of it, and some are merely drawing attention to themselves by their movements. Again, this is highly subjective.

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Jesus, I realize I cannot know the hearts of Your people like You do. What I observe could be 180 degrees from what is actual. For me, the answer is not to judge, but to know the voice of Your Spirit and follow it. Others may be doing the same, or they may not, but as Your Word says, if they belong to You, then it is Your responsibility to bring them to where You want them to be. Their attitudes and actions of worship might not seem reasonable to me but any judgment I make must be according to Your grace and the illumination of Your Spirit, not about personal preference. Keep my heart and my worship yielded to Your will.

A “second childhood” is a good thing

The small daughter of a young family in our church often goes into the aisle while we are singing. Oblivious to everyone around her, she gracefully dances to the music in what I see as an offering of praise. 

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. (Psalm 149:3–4)

I cannot say if this little one senses the pleasure of God, but it appears so. Besides, the rest of us sense His presence as we worship so she may feel it and not know how to describe it. Instead, it makes her want to dance.

How does God feel when He watches her? Because her sweet worship is precious in my eyes, I imagine that His heart overflows with joy. 

Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:14)

Today’s devotional reading focuses on the comprehensive love of Jesus for all of His children. It says that there is no part of our interests which He does not consider, nothing concerning our welfare that is not important to Him. He rejoices when we are joyful; He weeps when we are sad. He wants us to come to Him like children.

Not everyone thinks that God cares about every detail in the lives of His children. One of our Christian friends laughs at the idea of praying for a parking spot, but the Bible says “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23) and “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30). Why then would anyone suppose that God does not care about the mundane details of our lives?

For many years God has been teaching me to rely on Him for all things, to pray about everything, even the details. This is partly because I, like a child, often don’t know what I am doing, but also because He loves me. He cares about me like a father for a child and, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13). He wants me to experience His blessing in everything, even the small things.

This child at church, like any child, has her moments of wilful and stubborn disobedience. She says NO to her parents, fights with her siblings and resists help when she needs it. Am I not much like her?

Why do I resist my Father? Or just forget to ask Him for help? Isn’t it because my heart is fiercely independent and selfish? I am proud and determined to do it myself, forgetting that this is not a grown-up way, but the way of an immature child.

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Father, Your love never stops, even when I act in unthankful and undeserving ways. When I resist You, You scoop me in Your arms and whisper words like, “Just ask me” and “I’m here for you.” How amazing that You should care for me even when I resist You or fight with You.

Thank You for the example of worship in small children. And thank You also for reminding me that Your love covers every part of my life, that You even take pleasure in me! Help me grow up and stop acting like a little brat. Instead, help me worship and serve You with the trust and abandonment of an obedient child.

Solemn worship?

The church I attend is a denomination that onlookers would dub as “strict” in that its members don’t drink or dance, at least in the sense of parties and drunkenness. Since my former life before Christ involved dancing and an alcoholic spouse, abandoning that lifestyle is not a problem for me. However, I’m convinced that Christians need to carefully consider what the Bible says about these things before lumping every form of both into the category of sin.

For instance, I attended a writer’s conference in Chicago where a young woman worshiped God in interpretative dance. The music and her movements offered a celebration of creation and the Creator. It was a stunning presentation.

My fingers keep wanting to type ‘performance’ instead of presentation, but after reading a section in Recalling the Hope of Glory this morning, I know that is not the correct term. Author Ross is talking about the celebration of redemption in Exodus 15, a song that Moses and the people of God sang after crossing the sea in their escape from bondage in Egypt. The chapter begins with, “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD. . . .”

Their celebration was inspired by a great act of God, which Ross says is the first criterion that makes this joyful “party” different from a secular celebration. Their music and words communicated that God was being praised, so it was not a performance. That means that those involved were not admiring the singers and musicians, nor giving them applause, nor critiquing their performance (how often do these things happen in today’s churches), but all were focused on God and worshiping Him.

Verse 20 says, “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.”

As the others celebrated and praised God with song, these women celebrated with dance. Their actions also fit the above criteria. Moreover, this was a dance as Ross says, “consonant with purity and righteousness (not distracting or suggestive, and not mixing the sexes).”

Again, the worshipers were caught up in worship, not in the dance or the dancer. This dance was spontaneous, and even though the one I saw was a prepared ‘performance,’ it too was genuine in that the dancer and those involved were filled with praise to God.

We attended a church in California whose choir seemed to perform spontaneously each Sunday. We know that they practiced, but it didn’t seem like it. Each time they sang it was an outburst of joyful praise in response to God as He was proclaimed in the other parts of the worship service. This too sits in my memory as how music and voice can be worship not performance.

In any church the worship team could be ‘performing’ rather than worshiping. I suppose if they did that, the congregation would find worship more difficult. I suppose the worship team could be filled with a sense of the glory of God and the congregation, or at least some in it, were not caught up with that same praise and more inclined to view those up front as performers, even be evaluating them. However, when the worship team is filled with a love for God and the desire to praise Him, the effect can be utterly amazing in a heart that is also ready to focus on the Lord and bless Him.

When that happens in my church, the music and singing take second place to the Spirit of God. He not only motivates those leading the worship, but also fills me with joyful praise—and sometimes I even feel like dancing.