Welcome to part 8 in our series on this thing called Praise Breaks.
In our last post, we finally started to look into what a Praise Break is, and what scripture people use to justify such a thing.
So, without further ado, here is the conclusion of our investigation into this thing called Praise Breaks.
Is it wrong to dance when the church gathers?
No, it is not wrong.
Psalms 149:1-5
Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion
Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Psalms 150
Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
We are told to praise God in dancing. But we must remember that the focus of the gathering of the church is for the edification of the body.
Who does praise edify? Who does praise build up? If anything we'd have to say that it edifies oneself and the one the praise is addressed to.
Since God doesn't change, He doesn't get built up to be perfect as He's already perfect. He is self sufficient. So He doesn't even need our praise or edification.
So praising God only edifies one person, the person giving the praise. And we know that when we gather, God doesn't want us to be primarily edifying ourselves.
Ecclesiastes 3:1,4
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
There is provision in every gathering of the church to praise God, and in turn, edify ourselves, but God tells us that He wants us to be focused on edifying each other.
This is why all through the bible the majority of it is teaching and preaching about God and His ways, while a minority of it is focused on praise.
Did you realise that? There is more teaching in the bible than praising. God wants us to understand that we must be edified. We must be built up in our wisdom, knowledge, doctrine, theology.
We must be drawing closer to God, and you don't do that through praise, you do that through edification.
Hebrews 10:19-25
Having, therefore, brethren, boldness for the entrance into the holy places, in the blood of Jesus, which way he did initiate for us -- new and living, through the vail, that is, his flesh -- and a high priest over the house of God, may we draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having the hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having the body bathed with pure water; may we hold fast the unwavering profession of the hope, (for faithful is He who did promise), and may we consider one another to provoke to love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as a custom of certain is, but exhorting, and so much the more as ye see the day coming nigh.
So it’s not about "dancing in church" is wrong. The issue is that there is a time and place. Even in the midst of the congregation there is a time and place. And God Himself has set the standard for the time and place.
If the church decided to hold a celebration "service" or a praise and worship "service" or something along those lines, then that's fine. Dancing in the midst of the congregation would be totally acceptable, and that is clearly shown in scripture.
I would even go so far as to say that during the praise and worship... when the music is appropriate obviously, that it’s ok to dance then as well.
When we look at 2 Samuel 6, we should be getting this from it… something good happened for all of Israel Israel
So our model should be… something good happens for that local church as a whole. The entire service is dedicated to praising God and celebrating the event. Then everybody goes home.
However, while the preaching/teaching is going on? No. To stop preaching/teaching in order to dance? No.
When you watch the many praise break videos, they are actually stopping the preaching & teaching of the word to “dance”.
And the worse part is that people are more than happy to push aside the word of God in order to “dance” (or whatever). They push aside the lamp to their feet and the light onto their path in order to “dance”. The very word that God put above His own name is made less important because we just gotta dance…
What about the Holy Spirit?
Another claim that is often made regarding those that participate in praise breaks is that it’s the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has come upon them and they just break out in dancing, shouting, or whatever. They have no control over themselves basically.
Now, the problem with this is that there is no example of this anywhere in the bible that someone can make a claim.
As a matter of fact, the bible clearly tells us the opposite.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
We are told that he Holy Spirit will be working these things in us. We will start to display these qualities in our life the more we become perfect.
The Holy Spirit will not cause us to do something different to any of these. And one of them is self-control.
So for those who say that the Holy Spirit just takes over and you have no control of yourself, you are blatantly contradicting the bible.
If you really have no control over yourself, then it’s not the Holy Spirit that is dwelling in you, but a different spirit altogether.
To try and defend themselves, the praise breakers (and their advocates) will sometimes point to Acts 2.
Acts 2:1-16
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus , and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt , and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene , and strangers of Rome
And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, ‘What meaneth this?’
Others mocking said, these men are full of new wine.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
What is happening here?
The Holy Ghost has filled the disciples. They then went out and started to speak in tongues before the many people who were in the area and people from all around started to hear and understand them in their native language.
Some people mocked them saying that they were drunk.
Why did they say they were drunk?
It’s because they couldn't understand what the disciples were saying.
Peter then spoke to those people who claimed they were drunk, in their language, saying that they weren’t drunk at all, especially how it was so early in the day, but prophesy was being fulfilled.
When you read the context surrounding verse 13 you can clearly see that the Holy Spirit was not causing the disciples to lose all control of themselves.
The only reason why the claim of drunkenness was even made was because the people who said it didn't understand anything anybody was saying, as they were speaking in the languages of all the foreign people in the area and could only be understood by speakers of those languages.
Remember what Paul said...
1 Corinthians 14:9-11
So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.
Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
1 Corinthians 14:21-23
In the law it is written, ‘With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me’, saith the Lord.
Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
What happened in acts with those few people is what Paul says can happen when people can't understand the tongues that is being spoken, which is why paul encourages us not to speak in tongues in the midst of the congregation unless we know someone can interpret for us in order for the body to be edified.
But, the fact that Paul makes it clear that they were able to control speaking in tongues means that the Holy Spirit didn't make them lose all control of themselves.
Again, no where in the bible do we see the Holy Spirit making someone lose control of themselves.
And anywhere people praise God in dance in bible, it’s not the Holy Spirit making them do it. They do it because they want to do it. They made the choice to praise God in the dance.
Now, there are places in the bible where spirits do make people lose control of themselves.
Mark 9:20-22
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
And he asked his father, ‘How long is it ago since this came unto him?’ And he said, ‘Of a child’.
And oft times it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Another thing we must note is that the bible says the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God temple of God , him shall God destroy; for the temple of God
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which isin you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Everybody's body is not the temple of God
John 14:16-17
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Now, I say all of that because… if the Holy Spirit dwells in you already, it makes no sense for the Holy Spirit to "come upon you". For something to come upon you, you can't already have it.
In the old testament, the Holy Spirit came upon a lot of people, which was a clear indication that they didn't have the Holy Spirit with them in the first place.
Because of the sacrifice of Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and never leaves. He is with us forever, leading us into all truth, bringing to remembrance the words of Christ, sanctifying us and conforming us more and more into the image of Christ.
So when someone who is part of this praise break thing, says that the Holy Spirit comes upon them, either they are not saved at all and being controlled be a demonic spirit, or they don’t have a clue what they're talking about and are confusing their emotions with the actions of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes, praise breakers will use another verse in order to make the case that what they do is because of the Holy Spirit. This is found in Jeremiah
Jeremiah 20:9
Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
The description found here is what the praise breakers say happens to them and they have to just let loose with dancing or shouting or some complete random “praise” action.
The problem is, even in the context of the entire verse alone, we can see that Jeremiah isn't talking about praise at all.
He says, God's word is in his heart like a burning fire. And he told the people that he wouldn't mention God or speak anymore in God's name but the more he tried the more tired he got from fighting the urge to proclaim God's word to the people.
That's in that one verse. But when you read the context, which starts in Jeremiah 18, you get to see what was happening in Jeremiah 20:9.
God told Jeremiah to proclaim destruction upon Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah
Then in Jeremiah 20:7, he starts to cry out to God because the things God told him to say are causing people to mock him and he doesn't want to not be liked. This is why he says he will not make mention of God or speak in his name anymore in verse 9, because it’s causing him too much problems.
So we can clearly see that when people use this verse, that they are doing a hatchet job on the text. It has nothing to do with praise, but instead the withholding of the proclamation of the word of God.
If these praise breakers were indeed feeling what was described in Jeremiah 20:9, then they would be sinning against God by responding by doing everything but proclaiming the word of God, that He told them to proclaim. They would be in disobedience… just like Jonah.
We have looked into a number of facets regarding praise breaks and the scriptural basis behind it.
We can conclude that praise breaks should not be apart of the church gathering.
The main purpose of the gathering in the first place is to hear the teaching of the word so that believers can come to maturity in Christ.
The very nature of praise breaks is to stop this process in order to perform an act of “praise to God”.
But it’s God Himself who set the purpose of the church and regulations on how the church should function.
So when we do a praise break during this time, we are actually disobeying God to do what we feel like.
And we must remember, God prefers obedience rather than sacrifice.
So, Since God was the one who told us, through Paul, that the church gathering is about edification, ministry (serving others), and striving for perfection (to be like Jesus) - then its pretty clear that anything that goes against that, even if its praise to God, is in direct disobedience to His word and will for us.
No where does God tells us to stop helping one another to praise Him. The command we are given is to do both… but usually to help one another first, and then praise Him (Matthew 5:23-24).
It’s not even like we don’t put God first in our church services. Usually, before we learn about God and grow in doctrine, wisdom, etc… we focus on Him. We call this praise and worship. All of our attention is put towards Him.
Afterwards we put our attention towards each other and seek to learn and understand the scriptures so that we can grow to full maturity.
By going through the scriptures, we know that the Holy Spirit isn't making anybody move their legs frantically. Since the fruit of the spirit is self-control, either they are doing it themselves, or they are being controlled by an unholy spirit(s). Either way, we know from the bible's description of the Holy Spirit, that He doesn't do that.
If, however, the church decides to hold a day of celebration to God, then they have the liberty to praise and worship Him in dance, food and drink. They can do that, but not at the expense of the teaching of the word of God.
There is a time for praising God. There is a time for dancing. There is a time for shouting. In the middle of the sermon is not that time. And if your church promotes, encourages, allows, or even puts up with that - I suggest you find another church.
God did not invest thousands of years to inspire the writing of 66 books for them to be shoved aside for dancing.
This is not Billie Jean. Your path will only be illuminated by His word.
So if His word is truly a light to your path… if you truly live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God… if you truly believe that God has set His word above His name… then you will clearly see why praise breaking pales in comparison to hearing, meditating on, reading, and studying the word of God.
How backwards are we, that the very word of God that the prophets and apostles, even Jesus Himself, died for (because they proclaimed and taught it), we don't even consider important enough to not praise break in the middle of it being preached or taught.
We need to repent, and put the word of God back into the place of authority where it belongs. We need to go back to where we stopped obeying the bible, and pick up the cross again.
We are supposed to be denying ourselves and crucifying our flesh daily. Submitting ourselves to the word of God and allowing our minds to be renewed by it.
Amen.
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