Praise Him In The Dance

Introduction

Throughout the Bible, there are accounts of God’s people dancing before Him. The men and women, young and old, all worshipped God in the dance. Dance was very much a part of the Jewish culture. They danced for victories in battle, to offer praise and thanksgiving for the harvest, and even to welcome family or guests to their homes. Dance was without question an essential part of their worship unto God.

Marvelous Dance Ministries is a ministry called by God to restore biblical dance to the body of Christ. Our primary purpose is to assist congregations with the establishment of liturgical dance ministries. I have the privilege of ministering in the dance at churches of all denominations, and I find that in many churches, dance is a form of entertainment and not an integral part of worship. The dance ministries in the church today for the most part consist of members who joined the ministry for every reason imagined except for what God intended. For reasons such as to lose weight or because they were great dancers in the world; surely they must be called to the ministry of dance, and the biggest of all is to be seen by man.

Everyone is commanded to dance, but everyone is not called to the ministry of dance. There is a difference. The people who are commanded to dance are the ones God is referring to in Psalms 150:4. This is the congregation as a whole praising and worshipping God in the dance for His mighty works and according to His excellent greatness. This does not require skill, it only requires obedience. The people who are called to the ministry of dance are anointed by God, with the ability to skillfully bring the words of a song to life through expressive  movements and to prepare the heart of man to receive the word of God. Without this anointing, the person is merely doing dance movements and therefore burdens are not removed and yokes are not destroyed in the lives of the people.

Churches can assure that they have people in the ministry who are called by God by first appointing a leader over the dance ministry. This should be someone whom God revealed to the leader of the church in prayer. Secondly, conduct an audition. The audition will give the dance leader the opportunity to see the skill and character of the people auditioning. The dance ministry should consist of praise dancers who are skillful in the dance. However, there are people who are called to the ministry of dance with great potential and need to develop their skill through training. God will reveal those people to the dance leader during the auditions. Although technical skill is important, the praise dancer must understand that their main purpose is to present their bodies as living sacrifices to God so that through them, He may be glorified in the lives of the people on earth. A praise dancer must live a life that is holy and acceptable to God. The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance should be the characteristics of a praise dancer.

The function of the dance in the church is twofold. The primary function is for the congregation to praise and worship God. The other function is of the dance ministry as part of the praise team during praise and worship.  While searching the scriptures, I found some reasons why the people of God danced, and compiled them in this book, along with some of my personal experiences of dancing before God. I pray that it causes a spirit of dance to rise up within you, and that you make dance a part of your worship at home and at church. I’m sure you will be able to identify an area in your life where you need to put dance. So let us find our rightful place in the dance, whether it’s in the dance ministry or in the congregation. Let us praise and worship the Lord of the dance, Jesus Christ. He is worthy, isn’t He?