Is Miming in Church Biblical?

Sisters, come on in and grab a cup of tea. Let's talk about ... Mime, is it a ministry? Is it wrong to allow them to perform in the church?

I am a very creative person and I am always trying to find ways I can use my God given talent to uplift the kingdom. Someone asked me if I would be interested in joining the ministry of mime.

Well, I never thought about Mime as a ministry. I grew up in a traditional Baptist church that would not even allow children to touch the communion table unless you wanted to have a private meeting with the Deacons and Deaconess.Today my church and many traditional churches are changing trying to keep it young members. They have so many new and interesting ministries.

I was asked to join a Mime Ministry at another church. I never heard of such a thing so I asked the person to explain the ministry to me. I was told mimes use the art of movement and gestures to win souls for Jesus Christ. The person said I would be part of the praise and worship team. Everyone wants to be a part of something that evangelize your faith to others. Right? Ummmmm, I thought. I need to explore this art form more I said. Then I started my search.

This art form is now called Gospel mime, a combination of the ancient, wordless mime art form that dates back to ancient Greece, and many claim or say its an evangelical tool. My personal concern is the history of the art form which originated from the Roman and Latin mime or pantomime performers. According to historical data, mimes first performed burlesque type shows that told a story through gesturers and ballet type dances. However, these stories tend to focus on erotic scenes.

Well the things I found out did not rest positively with my spirit, not at all.

First, I don't want to paint my face white. The faces looks like I am looking into the eyes of a crazy person. I am serious it seems like a state of craziness. Whitefaced seems too close to "blackfaced" actors of long ago. My ancestors suffered from that whole era of blackfaced. I recently even seen red faced mimes who were quite scary and questionable. The redfaced normally represent the Enemy or boggie man character.

Have you ever seen Mime Minstry in the word? I couldn't find anything. If you know of some scriptures please share. Then I decide to do some research on the subject. Oh my, the history is awful and surely not Godly.

The Greeks and Romans promoted the art for of mimes. The Greeks used mime to showcase stories to their gods which were sexual in nature. When Christians were persecuted under Nero and Domitian they used mime to make fun of Christians. The mime actors even clowned baptism and showed an actor being crucified. All this was to degrade the Christians of the time.

The mimes were used to dance and dramatize stories for the gods. Gay men and bisexuals women painted their faces to hide their identity as the partake in sexual presentations on stage. What!!!! Oh no, why are Christian leaders allowing Mimes on our alters? This is so not right.

Can we as Christians use something that originated out of evil be changed into something good? Can we Christianize mimes? But didn't God say to go out and speak to all nations. Shouldn't we use different styles and techniques to reach people?

After the fall of the Roman empire, the Christian church showed great opposition to the often indecent associations of Mime, and excommunicated all performers, and closed down all the theatres.
Today many churches have embraced this art form of miming and many call it praise and worship.

What does the word say about all this? After researching I decided...I would have to pass on this "new" artform; however, I am not comfortable calling entertainment Praise and Worship. It seems wrong, if it seems wrong then the Holy Spirit is whispering a simple answer, NO! I am praying on how I can use my artistic gifts and talent in a manner to build up the kingdom.

The Greeks loved plays and like performances, but not one apostle used a “performance” to share the Gospel. We have to be careful what spirits we are encouraging on the alter of the Lord.