Sermon Audio Archive

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

  

FROM: 6/23/02 Radio Program

Question:

Is it wrong to dance? What does the Bible say? My doctor recommended exercise and said dancing was good exercise.

Answer:

While we do not find a verse in the Bible which says "thou shall not dance," there are several principles involved which show us that dancing ought to be something we stay away from. First, consider Galatians 5:19 which discusses the "works of the flesh." Among others mentioned is "lasciviousness" (licentiousness / lewdness). This word is defined as: "wanton (acts or) manners, as filthy words, indecent bodily movements, unchaste handling of males and females, etc." (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, p. 79-80). If this is not an accurate description of most all dancing today, I don't know what is! Husbands, what would you think if you saw a man rubbing against and fondling your wife as is expressed in much of the dancing today? Wives, what would you think if some strange woman started rubbing against your husband? (These same questions could be asked in relation to parents seeing their children groped and rubbed by other children on the "dance floor.") Truthfully speaking, were it not for the music, many men would be arrested for handling a woman in the ways that are common in various dances. There are also many other indecent bodily movements associated with dancing, that ought not be a part of the life of a Christian.

Let us also remember that dancing is dangerous in another way. It is dangerous because it can pave the way for other sins. It can cause lust on the part of one or both people dancing, besides those who are watching them dance (Matthew 5:27-28). Many times, people go to such places, and then "pair off" (if you will) for adulterous acts (Hebrews 13:4). It is common to have the drinking of alcohol (I Peter 4:3-4), and other wicked things associated with dancing.

The best thing you can do is stay away from such activity. Remember, "bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (I Tim. 4:8). Friend, there are all kinds of exercises you can do for health purposes: walk, run, use weights, get some type of "health machine," etc. Such activities are productive, and will provide you with the exercise your doctor suggests. Might I suggest you try some of these things, and stay off the dance floor.

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