Christ Sanctuary: Can Christians go clubbing?

Comments:

I would say if you can do it with that freedom and motivation and awareness of yourself then that’s good. But the other side of the coin is the “weaker brother” situation (Rom 8). You might have to be careful about other Christians who can’t go clubbing without being vulnerable. There may be times you need to cut back on your freedom for the sake of a weaker sister who can’t go out without guilt, or sexual feelings or overindulging in alcohol or who is simply not able to handle seeing what others are doing. If someone hasn’t experienced that scene before I would want to protect them from it. It does seem extreme to make a blanket ruling that Christians can’t go clubbing. It might be better to teach Christians what to be cautious about as you have done. But as you say we don’t know the context of the pastor’s comments.

# posted by

Tracey : May 24, 2008 5:48 PM

If she is a mature Christian and can go along with these principles that's fine. I do not know her well enough to say she may go clubbing. It takes a very strong and mature Christian to be able to go clubbing and not fall morally. It takes one who is secure in Christ and in herself, one who is not looking for comfort or "love" in the wrongs sense. Because I do not know her I will not say she may go. I would rather err on the side of caution. The implications of a sexual fall is far far too great for this matter to be taken lightly. I believe the preacher she heard is not being legalistic. I believe he is not being narrow. He must be speaking from having to counsel many many many first-hand situations of deep regret and sorrow. It is not worth it. Even when one thinks that one is strong, amd spiritually mature, I believe the risk is far too great. There are enough predators out there for us to take the side of caution. So I would say unless she has actual concrete strong support of people who will be looking out for her while she is there, she should think really hard about going.

The question is not "Can Christians go clubbing?" We are free to do anything wholesome. We are no longer bound by "laws" or rituals. So the question is not "Can Christians go clubbing?"

The question rather is "Is it wise for me to go clubbing?" "Will Jesus be honoured by my being there?" "Will I be a good testimony by my being there?" "Will I be safe in such a place?" These, rather, should be the questions she should be asking. If she can answer "Yes" to the above, I will give her my own blessings to go there.

# posted by

Andrew : May 25, 2008 8:11 PM

In response to this question abut clubbing. What an interesting one, I would love to have a chat to them about this issue. I imagine all that will result from that comment is their young people feeling bad about going clubbing when there is nothing to feel bad about, provided (as you said) they are going with good intentions and have consumed limited/nil alcohol. I will pray that God would reveal to you what He wants you to take away from that talk, and in the mean time offer a more detailed (albeit a little biased) view. Firstly, was that view the subject of the sermon? Or was it just a comment chucked in there as an example of Christian living or something?

here goes,

I have been reading some stuff on the internet, and the general consensus is as i expected, no. I have been thinking about this recently myself, although I went last night. There are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Intentions for going? just for fun, awesome, let dancing get the endorphins running
Dancing style? Not doin the bump and grind, but just going for a boogie with some mates? Great
Sober/only had a couple of drinks brilliant
Wearing clothes that do not reveal too much cleavage/leg? Excellent
Not trying to get the attention of the boys and responding to their looks/occasional 'brush' past you, good. A big stumbling block for most Christians going clubbing is that they go when they are feeling 'frisky'. this can cause problems at the best of times, never mind when you are surrounded by people who have dressed up specifically to attract you to them, and are trying to dance with you. I would advise never going to the club if you are feeling particularly vulnerable in this respect. I never do, it's not worth it. Even if you will not 'do' anything with them, what's going through your mind?
How secure are you and how secure is your understanding of Christ's view of you? It is not advisable to go clubbing if you are not comfortable with how you look comparative to other girls, or if you are bothered by the fact that other girls may be getting more attention from the boys. God protects us in these places, be thankful that guys aren't giving too much attention to you :)
Going clubbing going by the example I have set here, i believe, is an excellent testimony to your Non-believing friends. they see that Christians are not boring, they do have fun together, you do not have to get drunk or 'hook up' to have a good time. they see you value yourself, that you are worth more than a one night stand. Once they get to know you more, they are also less likely to get ridiculously drunk themselves, and take home boys. I have seen thins change in behaviour of some friends of mine. Also, you can look after them in instances when they do get totally sloshed, I know I would rather look after my drunken friends that some random guy, however much i might resent looking after them at the time! you can ward away sleezy guys from them, and then sober drive for them too, you can be a servant while you are clubbing! They can also see that you are not judging them, they are not accountable to anyone, so why wouldn't they get sloshed and look for guys? I used to! But, like I said, they can see we don't need to do all that to have a good time. Just like Jesus didn't.

One tip, many of the songs they sing are about loving a member of the opposite sex... it is very easy to turn this into worship, change a couple of the words around in your mind, sing it to God.... you can even do it charismatic style in a club, everyone's got their hands up! And you are worshipping our Lord!! I did this plenty last night. I do find it difficult to sing along to particularly grotty songs though, i usually get a drink of water when those songs come on, go to the bathroom or just dance instead of sing to the words... that is one of the only things i don't like about clubbing. Think of the song tina turner, simply the best, or a more recent one, 'from Paris to Berlin', is like the best clubbing worship song ever! or 'put your hands up in the air' or 'my love' by JT with a few word changes is also a great one. there are many more. watch me next time we go together... usually when the lyrics for a song say 'i love you' or something, I ussualy point to the ceiling or something to acknowledge I am saying it to God. Which is funny, because God is omnipresent... He is everywhere. If we acknowledge that He is right there with us, and pray in everything we do - (look up 1 Timothy 2:8, excellent verse for this example.) You can feel closer to God than many other times throughout the day, it's to loud to talk to your friends the whole time, why not talk to God?

ok, i think i have given you enough to think on. I think, truly, it takes a Christian who really understands these principals, and genuinely wants to keep to them to be able to go clubbing in a God honouring way. My guess is that many (including my self at times) stumble with a few of those points listed, and therefore shouldn't go clubbing, for the sake of their own relationship with God. This is what (I hope) the preacher was talking about. I think it would be dangerous for any pastor/preacher to condone clubbing without some serious teaching to go with it. Clubbing under the guidelines above does not compromise our faith. I think the best advise really is to pray before, during and after clubbing. Asking God to purify your heart and mind, to help You to be solely centred on Him, pray for your non-Christian friends, that they might see Jesus through your actions and that will result in a change of their actions.

# posted by

Kirsty : May 31, 2008 4:44 PM

Loved your thoughtful comment Kirsty. I agree with Andrew too that its not the question "can Christians go clubbing?" and I liked that his answer was personal " is it wise for ME to go clubbing?", which Kirsty touched on to. Must surely depend on where you are in your walk etc.

I too thought it would be great to go out clubbing with friends as a student, to show Christians weren't boring. What I found though after I stopped getting drunk was that it WAS boring!!! I must have needed the alcohol to actually enjoy it, so Ididn't even enjoy it once I stopped drinking (again, another personal decision to do with 'is it wise for ME to drink?' ... at that time in my life the answer was no!).

Anyway, I think Kirsty's guidelines are really practical and good for people who do enjoy it!

Along the lines of blanket statements put out by churches, when we were young students, one well-known student church had a policy that you couldn't be in student leadership if you lived in an all-gender flat. I remember being quite shocked that they didn't trust their student leaders to make that decision themselves... some of you may not know that Travis and I flatted together for about two weeks before I found somewhere else to go... we had organised the flat the year before then become romantically involved in the holidays. Fortunately Pastor Andrew didn't exclude us from any leadership activities!!!

# posted by

Kelly : June 11, 2008 1:56 PM

Wow i think there has been many amazing things said in this conversation. All i would probably be looking at for myself are two things; in what way does this bring glory or honor to the Lord Jesus and what is my heart looking for when i go to do this?
I think it is a hard one, because dancing is awesome. But then to watch precious souls all around you getting wasted and throwing their hearts and body's into strangers hands, it is a very painful reality that many people with whom we are
sharing the evening (with no intent to reach out..possibly with no availability to reach out) will cross over into eternity without Christ. the lost and hell bound are sharing our dance floor.
of course, it is true that the same situation occurs being at the supermarket or driving down broadway ave.

do we go out led by the Spirit? willing to reach out to whoever.. with the willingness to stop and speak to someone about Christ if the occasion arose..and would we let it arise..would we be available as we should be in any other contaxt of life?

Also, for me at least, i know that in the past it has been my habit, and sometimes unconscious drive, to find my value (my own "specialness"...."am i lovable?") in how beautiful and attractive i seem to be. i am not saying necessarily that girls go out to dance simply with the goal in mind of getting attention, but i would say that in the clubs the atmosphere definately promotes sexual attention towards women and we are just people after all, can we honestly say that this has no effect at all on our soul or our "friendship with the world"?.

dont get me wrong, i like to have fun!! yup i do. But i don't find it all that fun when i know the spiritual reality for the people around me. when we are in the world, we are the light..let us burn bright for Him and be His available servants, in any context He has called us to be in.

Yeah.. i think i am rambling a bit now. In conclusion, from my own experience i have not found the clubbing scene to be particularly beneficial in terms of being a witness.

# posted by

Amy : May 28, 2009 12:04 PM

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