(I Thessalonians 5:22) “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”  I Thessalonians 5:22 is one of the most important passages for us to remember in our Christian lives.  To voluntarily remove ourselves from just the appearance of all evil is to make ourselves remote from a lot of things.  We see the kids taking hold of the latest fashion in WWJD jewelry.  The WWJD abbreviation stands for “what would Jesus do”.  We know what Jesus would do in a lot of cases because we have scriptures to show us.  For instance when Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew chapter four.   (Matthew 4:1-10) “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”  Notice that Jesus told Satan to depart and if you’ll read on in verse 11 Satan did just that.  So what would Jesus do?  He would not follow temptation.

    To abstain from all evil gives us some thought.  There has always been a great discussion on dancing and whether or not the scriptures condemn such an act.  There was once a young lady who stated that she wants book, chapter, and verse for these issues instead of the traditions of the Church.  Well, to the true Christian at heart they realize that I Thessalonians 5:22 covers this subject fully.  Yet there are still those that remain in doubt that God condemns such an act.  Let us look at some further proof.  (Galatians 5:19-21) “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”  To some this passage may not be clear so let me make it more clear.  By inspiration Paul writes that lasciviousness will keep us from inheriting the kingdom of God.  Lasciviousness is by definition tending to excite lustful desires.  Have you ever been to a dance that has those whom are not beautiful in a physical sense dancing with the popular crowd?  I bet not.  As a matter of fact, for those parents that allow their children to go to dances and say that dancing is not lustful, would you let your spouse dance with another woman?  I am not suggesting that all dancing is wrong, yet those dances that parents allow children to attend surely are tempting them.  (I Peter 2:11) “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”   If the passages mentioned in this article are not enough to show that dancing is dangerous and sinful then the problem is not with the proof in the scriptures, it is with the person who is not leading a faithful Christian life. 

    Some say that dances are fine, and the teachers are there to moderate.  Let me suggest that the teachers that parents are so trusting in are normally not Christians and they teach such things as Homosexuality being a valid lifestyle.  Does this teacher sound like someone who has enough morals to attend to the safe keeping of a Christian child?   “Abstain from all appearance of evil."
 

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