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How Can You Be A Devout Believer and Go To A Night Club?
By Grace Badillo, President
Dancing With Grace Productions, Inc.
No matter what your belief system of God or denomination of Christianity may happen to be, many devout believers of their particular faith are “appalled” by even the idea of a believer going to a night club or dancing period. We all know there are all kinds of bad things that happen in the world, but if we are honest, we have to admit they happen everywhere and not just at night clubs. Many legalist believers use two main excuses which I have responded to after each one listed below. First I will state that I am a believer in Christ Almighty and it is not my job to “change your mind” but in faith, point out the truth that so many are not willing to state or defend for fear of ridicule.
Excuse #1:
Night clubs serve alcohol and evil people go there: I will try to keep this answer short; as I know I could go on for years on this one! What kind of drink did Jesus turn the water into at the wedding he attended in the bible? Did he turn it into Gatorade; how about coffee which is also a stimulant? No- He turned it into wine. Do any of you believers think that Jesus himself made something to serve to others that he would not ingest himself?
It says in the bible not to be a drunkard, but never, not to drink. There is no extra commandment that says,” JUST IN CASE, DON’T DRINK ALCOHOL EVER OR GO ANY PLACE WHERE ALCOHOL MAY BE SERVED BECAUSE ONLY EVIL PEOPLE GO THERE”. How in the world can people of faith be effectual if we are not allowed to be GOOD EXAMPLES in a place where there may be people being bad examples? Did Jesus hang out at the synagogue every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday? No. He was on the streets with prostitutes, beggars, tax collectors and degenerates; this alone could have given the impression that he was doing “wrong”, but did that stop him from setting a good example? NO.
If you have a problem with alcohol being served, then you should FAST alcohol every time you go out to dance. When someone asks you about it, you can say you don’t drink and set a good example.
Excuse #2:
Dancing is a sin and incites people to lust and it says you should avoid inciting people to lust in the bible.
There is not one place in the bible where it says that dancing is a sin. There are many examples in the bible of dance being used in good ways and only a few in bad ways. What does this prove? That dance, like anything else, can be used for good or evil. It is we HUMANS who pervert the beautiful things God creates. I am now writing a book called Is Dancing A Sin, due out in 2012!
It does say in the bible that one should not make someone lust after them, but is a father daughter dance at a wedding inciting people to lust after them? Is it their intention to incite lust? No it is not. If someone lusts after the father or daughter, the sin is not in the dance, but in the person lusting. Yes, many dances seen on mainstream television are so sexually explicit and are supposed to be salsa or cha-cha-cha, but this is only one example-A BAD EXAMPLE. Why do churches only assume that since there are bad examples they should win out? Why can’t we be good examples in anything and everything so that people can choose for themselves which to do? While the churches scream “NO” to just about anything remotely entertaining, Satan creates thousands of options for our youth and adults to explore. If youth groups would teach CHIVALRY THROUGH DANCE (which can include manners, respect, modesty, hygiene, music choices (right from wrong) and dance), when they are faced with the HUMP AND BUMP options of today’s dancing genres or half naked Latin dance, they will choose to find a more respectful and modest crowd because they felt comfortable in church respecting and being respected. Learning what options are out there in church and what to watch out for is much more helpful than just saying no and leaving the little lambs to their eventual slaughter.
As you can see I am very passionate about this subject. I am so tired of students being told by their pastors or parents that that their dance hobby or where they are going to dance is the pathway to hell. It is through my dance ministry that thousands of people have found the loves of their lives, achieved healthier bodies, met lifelong friends, gotten off anti-depressant and anxiety medications, stopped planning to kill themselves, repaired their relationships, stopped drinking heavily, started nonprofit work for the first time, received salvation & received Godly advice. I am a real FLAWED HUMAN BEING, and I admit that without God I could do nothing, but my creative students who happen to be believers deserve the truth; I am not afraid to say it.
Churches that create “new commandments” imply, through legalism, that the believer can earn their salvation and this is impossible. If we believe the word of God, salvation cannot be earned; it is a gift from God. Believing doesn’t have to mean you serve another God other than the one true God. These churches are setting themselves up as pseudo-Gods, making life as a believer an experience of acceptance through works; they accept you if you don’t do certain things they frown upon or do certain things they accept as “good”. If you happen to attend a church that forbids drinking alcohol or dancing, please pray about finding a new church and remember:
God is much cooler than they portray him to be! Pray about it and if you are led then remember: Watch your back and I’ll watch yours for you, dance without pride and instead humility, be safe, be around good people, and set a good example! Dance doesn’t have to be a sin unless we make it one.
God Bless You and Thank You For Reading This!
Grace
Have an opinion? Email Grace today at grace@dancingwithgrace.com
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