I don’t dance. I don’t polka, don’t waltz, don’t do the bump or the frug. I don’t do the electric slide or the moonwalk, either. I’ve seen people country line dance and I have no interest in it. To me, line dancing looks like some bizarre adaptive PE class or something. The bottom line is that I don’t dance.
It’s not that I have anything against it, necessarily. I just don’t look good doing it. Have you ever watched a rhino dodge bullets? If you have, you’ve seen me dance! If not, imagine it and you’ll laugh out loud. I know I do. I’ve never figured out how God could get any glory out of a spectacle like that, so I don’t dance.
Church music has come a long way since the Gregorian chants. Years ago I went to Dallas, Texas, for a worship seminar and saw all kinds of dancing and heard all kinds of music. There was one guy that just kept spinning around and around as soon as the music started. I kept a pretty close eye on him because I was waiting for him to blow groceries all over the worship band. He never did, and I must admit I was kind of disappointed.
Now, before I go any further, let me explain that I am all for being excited in church. For too long the church has been, well, kind of dead. We’ve all been in services that were about as exciting as watching paint dry. And if God touches your heart and you want to dance, by all means cut a rug! Do the holy boogie all over the sanctuary.
Just don’t expect me to or look down on me because I don’t.
The great thing about God is that He’s not “one size fits all.” Take it from a fat guy, one size doesn’t fit all. It might fit most or even almost all, but nothing fits everybody.
God didn’t take away my individuality or my sense of expression when I became a Christian. There is no holy cookie cutter making all of us the same once we meet Christ. Thank goodness.
I am the third generation of ministers in my family and we are all different. My grandfather had a different preaching style from my uncle, and I have a different style than either one of them. Is one of us right and the others wrong? No, we’re just part of the Body of Christ.
Paul told the church in Corinth, “I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, ‘I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body,’ would that make it so? If Ear said, ‘I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head,’ would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. (1 Corinthians 12:14 18 MSG)
Can you imagine life without a nose? Or what if you didn’t have ears? How would you wear sunglasses? God knew what He was doing when He designed our bodies.
He also knew what He was doing when He designed the Body of Christ. Each of us is different, yet we are all still part of the Body. I don’t want to be the same as you, and Lord knows, you sure don’t want to be the same as me!
So the lady who called me an “example of ignorance” in church once because I wouldn’t hop around just didn’t understand. She may have been rude, but she just didn’t understand. I may not dance or hop, but I am still part of the Body of Christ. I may be a part that doesn’t move, but I’m a part nonetheless.
Not shining up my tap shoes.... Jerry
