“Never give a sword to a warrior who can’t dance.” – Old Celtic Proverb

 

I woke this morning with this old saying running through my mind. I first read it back in 1990 in Robert Bly’s book “Iron John” and then in 2006 in John Eldredge’s “The Way of the Wild Heart.”

 

For me it means never be so consumed with the battle at hand that you forget why your fighting. Jesus said “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” -John 10:10 Life is meant to be enjoyed. And it can only be fully enjoyed, completely engaged in when our lives are tethered to The One who created life. But often those of us who are saved find ourselves not enjoying life. We are filled with anxiety, burdened with cares, overcome by the world or our own religious systems we create to keep us on the straight and narrow.

 

I’ve been  a minister of the Gospel for 20 years now. I have been in about every type of church you can imagine. What has floored me is the lack of joy I have found among the brethren. I am Baptist by practice, and Baptists usually don’t dance. It’s mostly because we have been trying to stifle young passions, and I understand that. But believe me, Jesus danced. His Jewish heritage demanded it. Dancing is an expression of joy, and wether you dance or not, you need to experience and express joy in some way.

 

I read about Jesus turning the tables over in the temple and I know He is a warrior. I read about Him at the Wedding in Cana, being derided but the Pharisees and Sadducees for being a winebibber and a glutton and I know He was a dancer. A  joyful person who laughed a lot and smiled more often than not, who probably played pranks on the disciples and told a lot of jokes. Its not that those things are missing from the Gospels, its that they are not emphasized as the Gospel writers had a job to do – deliver a message about Who Jesus is, what His doctrine is, and what He accomplished during His earthly ministry.

 

I think one of the reasons we have so little joy is we are so afraid of failing. We build fences around our lives to keep righteousness in and sin out. The problem is, when no one is looking (not even God, we reason) we start finding ways around, over or under the fences. We see a failure as irredeemable, unforgivable, un-Christian.

 

Wanna  know a secret? come close, I’ll whisper it.

 

We all fail.

 

We all have to at time come back to our Father and ask for forgiveness. The possibility of failing should not keep us from living lives of joy. The firm knowledge that when we do fail God will forgive us IF we come to Him in faith should encourage us to experience Joy. This knowledge is never a license to sin, never an excuse to  venture down the dark alleys of our minds. I met a preacher once who told me he believed in the Eternal Security of the believer, but would never preach it. I asked why. He replied that knowing your eternally secure would only encourage most Christians to keep on sinning! So the Truth is subject to the limitations we put on God’s Grace.

 

Fight your battles. You’re supposed to. We are called to be Warriors for Christ. Stand for the Truth, take the slings and arrows of the world and volley back love and grace and truth. but don’t let your fear of failing rob you of Joy.

 

And then, however your expression of Joy takes form, physically, within the heart, alone or among friends and family…

DANCE.