There is a video currently circulating the internet that has become so quickly popular that it even caught the attention of the news media. This video shows a wedding ceremony in which the wedding party attendants danced their way to the altar instead of in the usual orderly procession. As you might imagine, responses to this are quite varied.
- Some might say it was great, a unique way of having fun at their wedding. Who are we to criticize? It’s their wedding after all. It’s their day; let them conduct their wedding in the way they choose.
- Others simply think it's funny. This is probably due to the mere absurdity of it or the fact that most people wouldn’t dare attempting this on their own wedding day.
- Some might say that it’s about time. The old-fashioned, traditional way of conducting a marriage ceremony is old hat. Why get married under the sounds of a pipe organ while somberly marching towards the altar. The Bible never says “Thou shall get married in this prescribed manner.” The way in which we get married is simply culturally informed.
Even though my own initial response was not far from those described above, the more I considered it, the more disturbed I became. I think it’s true that marriage ceremonies are culturally informed. But what stands out as most troubling in this case is that this is what our culture is now producing. Despite the criticisms, those “old-fashioned” ceremonies were crafted with one intention in mind: to elevate marriage to it proper place as a holy institution established by God himself. There’s a reason why these ceremonies have been conducted with formality, seriousness, and solemnity. This is the intensely sacred moment when two people commit to each other for life with vows before a holy God. It is not to be taken lightly or flippantly—certainly not in dance club style!
As God’s people, we need to be wary of the cultural impulse to minimize and degrade the sacrosanct institution of marriage.
