July 14, 2008
Dance in the Bible | Dance In The Church - Misconceptions about Dace Ministry
Let’s address some common misconceptions about Dance Ministry:
- Some say dance was not done in the 1st century church as a form of worship, therefore it should not be done now.
Scripture teaches us in Psalms 150 to celebrate God or to praise Him. It does not matter what century we live in or whether it is in the worship service or in our homes. I personally think that some believers have their own hang ups with dance in the church and that is something they will have to workout for themselves. If leadership in the local church has no problem with it and everything is done decently and in order, then who can contest it?
The following is what the Bible teaches us about praise and about dance as vehicle to bring forth His praise:
We are to praise God
Where? In his sanctuary
Who should praise Him? Everything – every creature
Why? For His mighty acts and according to his excellent greatness
How? With the sound of the trumpet, with the paltry and harp, with the timbril and dance, and with instruments.
Some other biblical expressions of praise are:
Declaring of thanks (Heb. 13:15)
Clapping hands and shouting (Psalms 47:1)
Singing praise songs (Psalms 9:11)
Psalms, hymns, & spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19-20)
Making a joyful noise (Psalms 98:4)
By lifting our hands (Psalms 134:2)
By being still (Psalms 4:3-5, 46:10)
By being loud (Psalms 33:3, 95:1-6)
The Praise Dancer’s role in the Body of Christ is simply to edify, comfort and encourage the saints (1Thess. 5:11). When we dance we demonstrate, declare, and make known, through movement the truths of God, His mighty acts, and His promises. (Please read this)
2. Another misconception is that dance has spiritual authority.
It is important to understand that Dance in itself does not have power or spiritual ability. God can use anything to carry out His will, but the things (people, methods) in themselves do not have any power unless the truth of God’s Word is attached to it and if it is anointed [set apart for His use - and we know that we are anointed because God has anointed us with the Holy Ghost who is the Spirit of truth (Acts 10:38)]. (More on this click here)
In scripture we find that God used many things (Mosses staff, a donkey, a fish net that Jesus told Simon to use to launch out into the deep, the pots that the widow used of which the oil was multiplied in 2 kings ch. 4., pillars, alters, and the objects in the tabernacle). These things or objects were effective and played significant roles in worship and in carrying out the will of the father because they were anointed and set apart for holy use. The key here is that these objects were set apart. Being set a part implies that the object has no other usage. Like these objects, our lifestyle must have no other usage but to glorify the father. We must be sold out to Jesus! If not we will not be effective in our ministry. Understanding this truth will help us not to fall into the misconception of thinking that the power are in the things or objects themselves. Thinking that the power is in the objects themselves is dangerous because we can then begin to make idols out of objects and people. We can begin to worship them and put our faith and trust in those things instead of in the power of God – and we can do it without even knowing it.
So if we think that the source of power is in the dance or in the objects, in our case the person dancing, then we make the power of God of no effect. We are all vessels and anything God chooses to use are only objects, but when it is energized by His power through our OBEDIENCE to His Truth (His Word obeyed habitually in our lives), then our dance is made alive and powerful having spiritual substance and impact because of the anointing (the process by which we are set apart for God’s use).
With that said it is important to understand that, for some most of us, our talent of dance is a natural gift from God. Now that we are born again, we use this gift or our talent to the glory of God. However, this is not to be confused with spiritual gifts that are given to us upon conversion (Rom 12:6). Scripture teaches us that “all things were created by Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16) and that includes our natural abilities and talents. NOW that we are His (1John 3:2), we use those abilities for His glory. NOW, when we dance we are praising the Lord and we are serving or ministering to one another and encouraging each other with a natural talent that God gave us NOW coupled with our spiritual gift which brings substance (the knowledge of the Truth of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and every action and work empowered by the Holy Ghost) to our dance.
It is very important to understand that if there is no TRUTH there is no ANOINTING (we are anointed with the Holy Ghost who is the Spirit of truth -John 16:13), and if there is no anointing, then there is no spiritual impact. If there is no spiritual impact we are just performing.
On guard with the Word,
Sonia Kong, PDCM
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