Key Bible Verse: Each person should have a personal conviction about this matter (Romans 14:5). Bonus Reading: Romans 14:3-10

Back in the late 1970s, Jeff, a teenager, was a new Christian. He came to me wide-eyed because he'd just heard that dancing, which he loved, was a sin. Was it? he asked.

Since my church had labeled dancing a "worldly" activity, I started to answer, "Of course." But something in my heart checked my usual pat answer. I shifted to what I understood to be God's position, though it was messier and less direct. I said, "The Bible really doesn't say, 'Don't dance,' but it does teach us not to act in seductive ways. Sometimes dancing is all about that; that's why some call it a sin. So," I continued, "are you planning on going dancing again soon?"

"Yes, this Thursday night," he replied.

"Well," I suggested, "when you go out on the dance floor, watch what's going on in your heart. If you can go out and have fun and not be lewd or Mr. Cool, go for it, man. If not, quit dancing."

I saw Jeff about a week later, and his first words were, "I can't go dancing anymore."

"Why not?" I asked, relieved that I hadn't made him more "worldly."

"I found myself trying to impress and hit on girls," he said. "It wasn't good."

—Ed Gungor in Religiously Transmitted Diseases

My Response: Since life is messier without added "fence rules," why is it still better?

Thought to Apply: I repudiated legalism intellectually and theologically in 1946, but … I am still wrestling with it emotionally.—HOWARD HENDRICKS (Christian educator)

Adapted from Religiously Transmitted Diseases (Nelson Ignite, 2006) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, make me aware of the cultural blinders I bring to your Word, and please keep me from becoming a modern Pharisee.

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