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Vacation

Vacation

The story is told of four couples who rented a summer house for two months. Each couple in turn took their two-week vacation there and kept the combined thirteen children of the four families with them. One of the couples was bragging about this clever plan to a friend when the friend said “I don’t think two weeks in a cabin with thirteen kids would be much of a vacation.”

“You’re right ” was the reply. “Those two weeks were absolutely terrible. The vacation was the six weeks at home without the children.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》

"SHALL WE DANCE?"
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. When one becomes a Christian
everything takes on a new perspective:
 
 "Therefore
if anyone is in Christ
he is a new creation; old things
 have passed away; behold
all things have become new." (2 Co 5:17)
 
2. This also applies to certain social activities...
 a. Which before we may have considered harmless
 b. But now understand may not be proper for Christians - cf. 1 Pe
 4:2-3
 
3. One such activity is dancing...
 a. Especially in its modern and popular forms
 b. Involving unmarried couples
 
4. What is wrong with dancing? In this lesson
I wish to...
 a. Explain why dancing is unbecoming of those who call themselves
  Christians
 b. Address commonly raised objections by those who seek to approve
 of dancing
 
[Our study begins with a close look at a word not familiar to many...]
 
I. THE SIN OF LASCIVIOUSNESS
 
 A. LASCIVIOUSNESS CONDEMNED...
 1. As a work of the flesh - Ga 5:19 (KJV
ASV)
 a. Translated "lewdness" in the NKJV
 b. Translated "sensuality" in the NAS
 c. Translated "debauchery" in the NIV
 d. Translated "licentiousness" in the RSV
 2. As that which defiles a man - Mk 7:21-23 (KJV)
 
 B. LASCIVIOUSNESS DEFINED...
 1. The Greek word is aselgia
defined by Thayer as "unbridled
 lust...wanton acts or manners (including) filthy words

 indecent bodily movements
unchaste handling of males and
 females"
 2. The English word lascivious is defined "exciting sexual
 desires; salacious"
 3. Anything which excites the lust of the flesh (words
bodily
 movements
unchaste handling) is therefore considered sinful
  a. Of course
this applies to the stirring up of sexual
 desires and sensual pleasures outside the bond of marriage
 b. The Bible recognizes the place for sexual expression
but
 limits such to those who are married - cf. He 13:4
 c. The excitement of lust between those not married is sinful

 condemned by Jesus in 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 lasciviousness
one must now ask: "Does
popular dancing arouse the lusts of the flesh
and therefore qualify as
lasciviousness?" My reply would be yes...]
 
II. THE SIN OF DANCING
 
 A. NON-CHRISTIANS RECOGNIZE DANCING AS LUSTFUL...
 1. "The popular teen-age dances of the mid20th 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)
 
 B. 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?
 a. If dancing was morally neutral
having no sexual overtones

 there would be no reaction at all!
 b. But most would be shocked
suspecting they had stumbled
 into a "gay" dance
 2. Listen to what is simply common sense:
 a. If we would expect such a dance to be an expression of
 "gay" sensuality...
 b. ...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 put on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make no provision for the
 flesh
to fulfill it lusts."
 
But almost invariably
those who desire to dance or allow their
children to dance raise some objections...]
 
III. COMMONLY RAISED OBJECTIONS
 
 A. "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:
 a. Do not have strong sexual urges
 b. Have grown spiritually to the point they can keep their
 urges under control
 2. The dancing under consideration involves two persons
 a. Even if one is not so affected
the other may be!
 b. 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
 
 B. "I CAN'T CONTROL WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK..."
 1. Just because we can't force a person to think right...that is
 no reason to encourage them to think wrong!
 2. We have a responsibility not to contribute to one's moral
 delinquency
 a. We must not be a stumbling block - Ro 14:13
21; 1 Co 8:13;
 10:31-32
 b. Otherwise we fall into grave condemnation - Mt 18:6-7
 
 C. "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...
 a. What about afterwards...on the way home?
 b. When there is no one to restrain expressing the desires
 that were aroused during the dance?
 3. As stated by Ann Landers: "When you turn a guy on
he can be
 awfully hard to turn off."
 
 D. "DANCING IS GOOD EXERCISE..."
 1. There are many alternative forms of exercise that do not
 excite the lusts of the flesh in yourself or others
 2. Are you willing to become a stumbling block to others
just so
 you can get some exercise? Isn't that rather selfish?
 
 E. "DANCING IS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE..."
 1. There are four categories of dancing mentioned in the Bible
 a. Religious dances of the Old Testament - Exo 15:20-21; 2 Sam
 6:14
 b. Expressions of great rejoicing - 1 Sam 18:6
 c. The play of children - Job 21:11; Lk 7:32
 d. 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?
 a. No
for these are nothing like what is being discussed in
  this lesson
 b. 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
 c. 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...
 a. It is wrong to lust in our hearts after others - Mt 5:28
 b. It is wrong to conduct ourselves in any way as to excite the
 lusts in others; that is lasciviousness
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...
 a. By those ignorant of the Scriptures
 b. 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:
 
 "The night is far spent
the day is at hand. Therefore let us
 cast off the works of darkness
and let us put on the armor of
 light. Let us walk properly
as in the day
not in revelry and
 drunkenness
not in lewdness and lust
not in strife and envy.
 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make no provision for the
 flesh
to fulfill its lusts." (Ro 13:12-14)

──《Executable Outlines》