LET'S DANCE!

Dancing With The Stars.  Flash Dance.  So You Think That You Can Dance.  Dirty Dancing (Havana Nights).  Glee.

Over the past couple of decades the subject of dance and dancing has been a topic of conversation in our culture.  And listening to some people, you would think that dancing had just been invented, but in reality dancing has been popular for a really long time – dating back to the earliest records of humanity.

As a kid I remember watching my mom sway to the subtle melodies of Glen Miller and then sitting entranced as Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Danny Kaye and numerous other greats glided across the dance floor in countless movies that forever have left their imprint upon my mind.

And over the years there has been no shortage of dancing greats like Anna Pavlova,  Mikhail Baryshvikov, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, James Brown, Bob Fosse, Gregory Hines, Paula Abdul, Michael Flatley, Michael & Janet Jackson, MC Hammer, Julianne Hough, and Beyonce. 

Dance styles and names have become iconic in our culture, like the Waltz, Charleston, Cha Cha, Polka, Twist, Funnky Chicken, Disco, Moonwalk, Worm, Macarena, Texas-Two-Step, Krump, and the more recent Gangnam and Harlem Shuffle have left their stamp upon the heart and soul of America.

Dance is a type of art that involves movement of the body, often rhytmic and to music. It is performed in many cultures as a form of emotional expression, social interaction, physical exercise, non-verbal communication, and also spiritual worship. 

The Bible tells us that the Israelites danced when David reclaimed the Ark of the Covenant after it had fallen into the hands of their enemies … 1 Chronicles 13:1-14 [MSG]

“They moved the Chest of God on a brand-new cart from the house of Abinadab with Uzzah and Ahio in charge. In procession with the Chest of God, David and all Israel worshiped exuberantly in song and DANCE, with a marching band of all kinds of instruments.”

And as the Israelites pondered the goodness and greatness of God, they were called to dance in joyful celebration … Psalm 48:10 -12 [MSG]

^9-10 “We pondered your love-in-action, God, waiting in your temple: Your name, God, evokes a train of Hallelujahs wherever It is spoken, near and far; your arms are heaped with goodness-in-action.

¹¹ Be glad, Zion Mountain; DANCE, Judah’s daughters!  He does what He said He’d do!

^12-14 Circle Zion, take her measure, count her fortress peaks, Gaze long at her sloping bulwark, climb her citadel heights—Then you can tell the next generation detail by detail the story of God, Our God forever, who guides us till the end of time.”

Christians should respond to God in a similar manner … passionately, creatively, and emotionally as we consider all that He has done for us through His son Jesus. 

Paul wrote in1 Thessalonians 4:1 -2 [MSG] … “One final word, friends. We ask you—urge is more like it—that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited DANCE.”

My prayer for you would be that the words “Christian Living” would be the next famous dance craze and that your name would be placed in the Dancer’s Hall of Fame because of your commitment to that art.