Dancing (or Fighting?) Together

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Dancing (or Fighting?) Together

May 29, 2022 | 0 comments

Humans were made to dance. We are created to be an extension of community as we see it in the Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. An early word used to describe this divine community was perichoresis, which literally means a dance: a dance of mutual love and honour in which each divine person moves in relation to one another. It is a beautiful dance of love. A beautiful ballet.

We are created in the image of God, and the church is called to reflect this beautiful dance. That’s what humanity was created for, and the church is to demonstrate this to the world as a sign of God’s new creation.

That is why the local church is so important to the purposes of God. It is the communal space we learn to dance together, to ‘move rhythmically and easily with one another’. As we take our lead from Jesus, ‘he keeps us in step with each other’ (Ephesians 4:11-16, The Message).

All too often the human race, and the Church for that matter, has fought together rather than danced together. Sometimes, we tried to start dancing and it ended up more like fighting. Apparently, fights in nightclubs often start on the dance floor. We have tried the vulnerability of relationships in churches, and it ended painfully. Many of us still carry bruises and wounds. And our tendency is to retreat from the dance floor, to avoid the vulnerability of relationship. But we must not reject the fellowship of the local church. Read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians to see how central it is to God’s plan. We simply need to learn to dance, not fight.

There are lots of things to learn about this dancing. If church is a school of love, then dance lessons are definitely on the curriculum. It can sometimes get messy; it might even look more like a fight than a dance at times. But if we learn, work at it, and persevere, we end up creating something beautiful to behold. Something which gives an insight into what true community is all about.  We get to put the brilliance of Jesus on display.

There are lots of things to learn about this, but here I will simply address two attitudes or mindsets we must learn to avoid and two we must learn to embrace if we are going to dance together well.

Two things to avoid

Tribal Thinking

This is sometimes called ‘us and them’ thinking. It is identifying with a tribe and excluding and even demonising others who are not of our tribe. The church has been riven with this for centuries. Paul addresses it in 1 Corinthians 3 when he challenges those who say ‘I follow Paul, I follow Peter’ etc. When we polarise into our separate tribes, we usually end up fighting. When we move toward each other in love and acceptance, there is the hope of dancing. The key is to recognise our oneness in Christ with all Christians and to honour every person we meet as someone created in the image of God.  

Binary Thinking

This is ‘either/or’ thinking. Together with tribal thinking, it develops a ‘we are right, and they are wrong’ attitude. Of course, there are truths that we must make a stand on and hold to without question. Jesus really did rise from the dead for example! But many truths are complex, mixed, nuanced and require different perspectives. Many things are ‘both/and’ not ‘either/or’. The ability to genuinely listen to someone who doesn’t see things the same way as us is so important if we are to do the dance of relationship well. And we must always hold together grace and truth. The dance involved in holding together different aspects of truth is difficult but vital.

Two things to embrace:

Rhythm

When holding together two seemingly contradictory truths, we might be tempted to try to hold them in perfect balance. But rhythm is more important than balance. Within our individual and corporate journeys, different aspects of truth need to be emphasised at different times. Sometimes we need to slow down and be still, at other times we need to move with a sense of urgency. At times, the scattering of God’s people as seed in the world may be the prophetic emphasis for the church, and at other times it might be the importance of the gathered church. If we insist on our pet ‘truth’ we end up stamping our feet rather than dancing rhythmically to the beat of the Spirit. This principle also shows us the importance of hearing the Word that is coming to us as a church at any one point, so we are moving together in response to the Spirit.

Difference

When Paul speaks about us moving rhythmically together and of our oneness in Christ, he makes it clear that this does not mean uniformity:

But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. 

(Ephesians 4:7, The Message)

Not only do we have different gifts, but we have different personalities and perspectives. We come from different backgrounds and have different outlooks. Difference need not lead to division, to fighting; if it opens us to diversity, it leads to dancing. We each bring our different gifts and angles of vision and the Spirit choreographs them, so they flow together. We simply need to take the position and posture of listening to, valuing, and celebrating each other.

If we can learn these principles and practices, along with others, and keep at them, people will begin to see the beauty of the dance.

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