"Yellow Teeth”

Question: Should parents allow their children to attend a dance?

1. Is dancing a sin? Is it wrong to dance?

2. Were preachers in years past wrong in their preaching on this subject?

3. Have we been taught incorrectly?

4. Do moral teachings in the Bible change?

Plan for this study:

1. “Yellow Teeth” arguments

   1. Smoking – yellow teeth – costs money – bad breath
      Big Mac – mustard – cost same – onions
      Health Problems – discolor teeth – cost money – cause bad breath

   2. Pre-Marital sex – STD – pregnancy – AIDS
      Real Reason – Sin – Adultery – Fornication

   3. Dancing – evil of darkness – hold close – alcohol served
      Today – disco lights – 3 feet apart – teen clubs (no alcohol)
      
       

2. What changed in recent years?

   1. Attitudes

      1. Toward the Bible, principles, applications

      2. Toward sin, moral and immoral

   2. Arguments failed

      1. Yellow Teeth arguments – seen as not valid

      2. Correct conclusions – for the wrong reasons

   3. Dancing has many facets
      Worldliness

      1. Christians are more like the world

      2. There is less separation, less difference, less distinction

      3. 1 John 2:15-16

      4. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, 17-18

3. Discuss – In the Bible, is dancing a sin?

1. Approved – some Dancing is approved of God (Exodus 15:20; Psalm 149:3)

   1. This “dancing” is a “jump for joy” kind of excitement.

   2. There is nothing sexual involved.

   3. You see this dancing as a team wins the championship game.

   4. Someone who won a large prize on a game show often does this dancing.

2. Dancing is not approved by God (Mark 6:22)

   1. Most dancing is some form of simulated sexual activity (dirty dancing)

   2. This type of dancing does infringe on several Biblical principles.

4. Short answer – not specifically forbidden

   1. Many moral decisions – apply principles

   2. Each home must set some guidelines

   3. Each of us has a different set of rules

5. Principles involved – words and phrases to understand and apply

   1. Reveling – Galatians 5:21; 1 Peter 4:3 (Romans 13:13 – rioting)

      1. Gill - excess in feed, nocturnal riotings in eating, drinking, dancing, singing, chambering and wantonness

      2. Barnes - Reveling; denoting the licentious conduct, the noisy and obstreperous mirth, the scenes of disorder and sensuality, which attend luxurious living

   2. Evil desire (concupiscence) – Colossians 3:5

      1. Thayer - desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust

      2. Webster - Lust; unlawful or irregular desire of sexual pleasure

   3. Lasciviousness – Mark 7:22; 1 Peter 4:3

      1. Thayer - unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence

      2. ISBE - "exciting disgust or displeasure. It evidently means conduct and character that is unbecoming, indecent, unrestrainedly shameless”

      3. Concupiscence – vs – Lasciviousness – Concupiscence is the desire for what is forbidden; Lasciviousness is the conduct that produces this unlawful desire

   4. Lust – Matthew 5:28

      1. Strong - to set the heart upon, that is, long for

      2. Easton - sinful longing; the inward sin which leads to the falling away from God

   5. Excess of Riot – 1 Peter 4:4

      1. Webster - To revel; to run to excess in feasting, drinking or other sensual indulgences

      2. ISBE - Properly, "unrestrained behavior” of any sort, but in modern English usually connoting mob action, although such phrases as a "riotous banquet" are still in common use

   6. Carousing (banquetings) – 1 Peter 4:3

      1. Barnes - It means properly drinking; an act of drinking; then a drinking bout; drinking together. The thing forbidden by it is an assembling together for the purpose of drinking. There is nothing in this word referring to eating, or to banqueting, as the term is now commonly employed. The idea in the passage is, that it is improper for Christians to meet together for the purpose of drinking - as wine, toasts, etc. The prohibition would apply to all those assemblages where this is understood to be the main object. It would forbid, therefore, an attendance on all those celebrations in which drinking toasts is understood to be an essential part of the festivities, and all those where hilarity and joyfulness are sought to be produced by the intoxicating bowl. Such are not proper places for Christians.

      2. Gill - intemperance of every sort, by eating or drinking: as gluttony, drunkenness, surfeitings, and all luxurious feasts and entertainments, attended with riotings, revellings, and obscene songs; and which are here mentioned in the Syriac and Arabic versions, and which lead to lasciviousness, and every unclean lust:

   7. Indulgence – 2 Peter 2:13

      1. Strong - sensual delight; by implication desire: - lust, pleasure.

      2. Webster - Sensual or sexual gratification

   8. Self-pleasure – 2 Timothy 3:4

      1. Barnes - That is, of sensual pleasures, or vain amusements. This has been, and is, the characteristic of a great part of the world, and has often distinguished even many who profess religion. Of a large portion of mankind it may be said that this is their characteristic, that they live for pleasure; they have no serious pursuits; they brook no restraints which interfere with their amusements, and they greatly prefer the pleasures to be found in the gay assembly, in the ball-room, or in the place of low dissipation, to the friendship of their Creator

      2. Gill - lovers of sinful pleasures, or the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season, and not God; serving divers lusts and pleasures, and not God; making a god of their belly; sensual idolaters, delighting themselves in their carnal lusts, and not in the service of God

   9. Flesh vs. Spirit – Romans 8:1; 1 Peter 4:2; Galatians 5:19-25

      1. Thayer - the sensuous nature of man, “the animal nature”

      2. ISV - (1Pe 4:2) so that he can live the rest of his time in the flesh guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God.

6. Cautions and Warnings

   1. We cannot make rules for others to apply these principles

   2. Study – Colossians 2:16-22

   3. Four Principles taught in Colossians 2:16-23

      1. Do not judge others or allow yourself to be judged (16-17)

      2. Do not beguile others or allow yourself to be beguiled. (18)

      3. Do not reject Christ as head or claim to be head in His place. (19)

      4. Do not write rules for others or submit to rules others try to impose on you. (20)

   4. Each individual (family, parents) must determine how to apply the principles for themselves.

7. Examples to illustrate:

Profanity –

1. How many bad words can one hear on a TV show before they should turn the channel?

2. How many words in a movie before one should walk out?

3. How long do you listen to profanity at work before you say something?

Stewardship –

1. Is buying – golf clubs, fishing equipment, 4-wheelers, boat and motor, big screen TV – wasting money?

2. That money could have been given to the church for good. (Matthew 26:9)

Pray – thanksgiving for food

1. Offer thanks “out loud” in a restaurant before a meal

2. Can I say a prayer silently, to myself?

3. Must offer prayer “before” you eat. (Deuteronomy 8:10)

Modest attire

1. How short is too short?

2. What is proper attire for church services?

3. When should small girls NOT wear shorts?

4. What about shorts for sports – basketball, tennis?

5. Is there a difference in proper clothing for Sunday am and Wednesday pm?

Dancing

1. Will this dance involve reveling?

2. Will dancing cause me to have evil desires?

3. Will my actions cause others to lust? (Lasciviousness)

4. Will this lead to lustful thoughts?

5. Will this dance involve riotous (unrestrained) activity?

6. Does this dance include wild partying?

7. Will carousing (drinking) be a part of the activity?

8. Will I be tempted to indulgences?

9. Am I engaging in self-pleasure?

10. Is this an activity of the flesh or the Spirit?

8. Dancing vs. attending the prom (social event)

What if a Christian makes a date, gets all dressed up, rents a limo, goes to a fancy restaurant, goes the to prom, has some punch (non-alcoholic), gets their photo made, goes to a house, change clothes, go to a move, go bowling, until morning, come home, have breakfast, go to bed?

What if a Christian makes a date, gets all dressed up in indecent clothing, rents a limo, goes to a fancy restaurant, goes to the prom, dances every dance, with many different people of the opposite sex, touching and handling each other in inappropriate ways, moving their bodies in sexually suggestive movements, after the prom they go to some home where alcohol is served, cause others to lust, are involved in other immoral and/or illegal activities?

Is there a difference?

9. Final questions

1. Is it wrong because the Bible condemns it directly or in principle?

2. Is it wrong because of the dangers involved?

3. Do society norms frowning on it make it wrong?

4. Is it wrong because of things associated with it?

5. Have they violated any of the principles of the New Testament?

6. Can two different families arrive at different decisions about this?

7. Is there a difference in attending a dance (punch and photos) vs. dancing?

8. Is dancing permitted between husband and wife?