Is It Wise for Single Christians to Use Online Dating Apps?

Is it wise for single Christians to use online dating apps? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We pray that you had a wonderful weekend. This is the program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. You can watch Adriel live right now in the studio on our YouTube channel, and you can send him your question through YouTube. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, Adriel, here's an email from one of our listeners. This is from Yvonne, and she says, Why are so many churches making their sanctuaries darker and darker looking? Since churches adapted to COVID by having online services, it seems they've used this as a means to draw in young people. It actually feels they are more interested in doing that than in working with the people they have in the sanctuary. Our worship minister says the current darkened atmosphere is necessary for online screening.

What do you think about this? The worship service and of course a lot of people, you know, when they hear that word worship, their minds immediately go to the singing portion of the service. The whole service is worship. It is a worship service, not just the music. But I have noticed that for many churches during that time, let's dim the lights, light some candles, you know, let's make it this sort of intimate, quiet experience. And I think part of that is this sense that worship, that musical portion of the singing, the service is supposed to be like your own special time. You and Jesus, that real intimate moment, you're connecting with God.

The problem is actually worship, gathering together the church is not about me as an individual and Jesus and giving me this special experience of Jesus and worship. It's about the body of Christ being summoned to the Lord through his means of grace, through the preaching of the word, through the ordinances that he's given to the church and together, we're singing and worshiping the Lord. As Paul says in Ephesians 5 verse 19, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so even the singing, when we're gathered together, we're doing this for the sake of one another. We're addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It's not just addressing God in a quiet room, in a dark room, this kind of moment of intimacy, my personal time with Jesus, my private time with Jesus, even though I'm in the church. No, we are the body of Christ. I think we should have the lights on. What we're doing when we turn off the lights and we light the candles or whatever is we're communicating that we think this is really about the private time with Jesus, but that's not what corporate worship is.

And so that's my view. And I think we really need to recover this sense of the importance of the community of faith. Everything for so many Christians is just about me and my personal experience, my personal relationship. And of course, we all have to have a personal relationship with Jesus, but it's not private.

It's not me by myself. We have that personal relationship with Christ in the context of the community of faith, which God calls us to be a part of. And so thank you for that email. Yeah. And that question and appreciate you raising it.

And maybe we'll get some, some follow up from some of our listeners on the broadcast, if they turn the lights back on, which we have to see if they do that. Yeah. Yeah. They do some on a power bill. If you think about it, that's right.

Yeah. Maybe. I mean, some of these churches, you just need to start giving more to the church so they can start paying the electricity that that might be the issue. And so maybe, yeah, Bill, maybe it's saving on the power. You know, we've always thought the candles were more of an ambiance thing, but really, it's just know the electricity.

It costs a lot these days. So it could be, it could be. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open right now. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, give us a call. Here's the number. It's 833.

The Core will be taking calls for the next 15, 20 minutes or so. 833-843-2673. Let's go to Diana in St. Joseph's, Missouri. Diana, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Yeah. Thanks for that question. I think you're referring to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, where, I mean, Paul is bringing this rebuke against the Corinthian church, a Christian church. He says, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? That's verse 9.

Don't be deceived. Either the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. So the list is actually a lot more extensive than just those two things, homosexuality and drunkenness. And here, Paul is calling the Corinthians not to be characterized by those things anymore.

Why? Because he goes on to say in verse 11, such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

In other words, you used to live in this way. This used to be who you were apart from Jesus. Your identity was characterized by these things, but now you have been united to Jesus Christ by faith. Now, that does not mean that we won't struggle at times with sin, that we won't feel those temptations that we felt maybe before we had confessed faith in Christ and had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

We will struggle. And every day as Christians, we continue to sin against the Lord in thought, word, and in deed, but we don't identify ourselves with the struggle. We identify ourselves as those who are alive from the dead in Jesus Christ through faith and holy baptism. This is what Paul says in places like Romans chapter 6. So Paul here is saying, look, don't be characterized, you Corinthians, don't be characterized by these things anymore because God has delivered you. God has redeemed you.

But we do say, Diane, oftentimes on the broadcast, sometimes I think people are looking for a real simple answer. You know, if you're a Christian, that means you're not going to have these struggles and that's evidence that you're saved. And if you do have those struggles, then you must not be saved.

I don't think that that's the case at all. I mean, the people of God, it's very clear from the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, that the people of God redeemed by the Lord do have intense struggles at times with the flesh. But we're confident that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, God doesn't leave us in that struggle, that He's at work in us, sanctifying us.

And so we trust in Him and we seek Him. And those who have faith in Jesus, genuine faith in Jesus Christ, even if they have struggles, are indeed saved. But then there are, I think, many people who have deceived themselves who say, oh, yeah, I'm sure I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus. But the reality is they don't really truly embrace Christ by faith. They just want to continue to live the way that they want to live. They reject the gospel. And I think we have to take it by a case-by-case basis and address individuals wherever they are and say, hey, this is what the word of God says to you.

And so, Diana, that's how I'd approach this question. Just to give you a chance to follow up, are you talking, would you say, just about a believer who is struggling with these things or somebody who is maybe professing faith in Christ, but they live a lifestyle that's totally contrary to the gospel? Yes, exactly. That's exactly what's going on.

Okay. Yeah, and so when that's happening, when it's somebody who professes faith in Christ and they're living in a way that's totally contrary to the gospel, I think this is where church discipline is important, where we have to heed what Paul said earlier in 1 Corinthians 5, where he says in verse 9, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters, because then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one. So there Paul is talking about, you know, this is not just the struggle that individuals have with sin, but someone who calls themselves a brother, calls themselves a Christian, and yet they're characterized so much by the ways of the world.

Well, do you actually really believe this? And this is where the church needs to come in and where church discipline needs to happen. We need to call individuals to live in light of what they profess to believe. Diana, thank you for your question and may the Lord bless your day.

So, Adriel, just a follow-up question for you based on what you just said. How then should we view gay-affirming churches who are telling people, yes, you can be a Christian and yes, you can live a homosexual lifestyle? I think we should view those churches as dangerous and a threat to the souls of the people that are going to those churches. And I say that because any quote-unquote church that is telling you, yeah, it's not a big deal for you to continue to live in ways that are in rebellion to God, that's not a church, right? I mean, you can call yourself a church, but if you're just rejecting God's word outright, then what you're doing is you're leading people astray.

You're leading people to perdition. And over and over again in the Old Testament, one of the things that characterized the false prophets was that they said, peace, peace, where there was no peace. They didn't point out the sins that were killing the people of God. In fact, they confirmed them in their sins.

And God has some pretty harsh words for the false prophets in the Old Testament, and I think he has harsh words for those churches today that have rejected his law and those so-called ministers who are telling people, oh, it's fine for you to continue to live in your sin, whatever it is, and God's not going to judge you. That could be homosexuality. That could be greed, right? I mean, we don't want to just limit it to one thing. That could be drunkenness, whatever it is, but we're called to repentance, not to revel in our sins.

So well said. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open.

If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, we would love to hear from you. You can call us for the next 10 minutes or so. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. We receive a lot of calls from listeners who ask about the assurance of salvation on this program, and we actually have a free resource on that topic that we'd like to make available to you today. Yeah, it's over at corechristianity.com, and it's called Nine Ways to Know You Are Really a Christian, and as Bill said, it is completely free.

It is one of the most frequent questions we receive on the broadcast. How can I know that I'm saved, that I belong to Jesus, especially for those of us who have sensitive consciences, struggling with sin, sometimes feeling cold and apathetic towards the things of God? What do we doubt? Was I really converted? Do I really have Christ living in my heart? Well, we want to help you understand what the Scriptures say about this, and we want you to have assurance through Christ and through the gospel.

So get ahold of this resource. It's again called Nine Ways to Know You Are Really a Christian, and it's yours for free over at corechristianity.com. This is really a pivotal doctrine in understanding it is so necessary to living a healthy Christian life with confidence and with joy. So we'd encourage you to get this resource for you or maybe someone you know who is struggling with this whole idea of assurance of salvation. Go to corechristianity.com forward slash offers and download Nine Ways to Know You Are Really a Christian. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Well, we do receive voicemails here at Core Christianity. You can call us anytime, 24 hours a day. Leave your question for Adriel.

And here's one that came in last week. Hey, Pastor Adriel. I have a few questions pertaining to quote-unquote Christian dating. The first question is, what is your opinion on Christians being on dating apps? In my opinion, they're made for fulfilling fleshly desires. Curious to hear your thoughts on that. My second question would be, what is appropriate boundaries during the dating process?

There's the sister in Christ in the scripture, and so, I mean, I wouldn't kiss my sister on the lips. So I guess I'm just kind of curious what you think is appropriate boundaries physically during the dating period. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, the dating apps thing is pretty new.

I mean, I'm a millennial. I'm still a younger pastor, but I think I got married to my wife before the whole dating app thing was a big thing. I'm kind of glad for that, frankly, because I do hear that a lot of times these apps are just like you said. I mean, it's about the fulfillment of the desires, gratifying the desires of the flesh. Now, of course, I've heard about Christians who met their spouse, their husband, or their wife on Christian dating websites and whatnot, so I'm sure there's the equivalent of something like that on a Christian dating app or something like that. So I don't want to just totally rule it out, but I think you just have to exercise wisdom, and that goes for both of your questions. You have to ask yourself, what's the purpose here? Is this just something I'm using to look for gratification, to gratify the desires of my flesh? Am I looking for a spouse or am I looking for someone to, you know, I mean, a lot of these apps are hookup apps, and I think that's the concern is just the accessibility in terms of fulfilling our sinful desires, and this is where I think we have to be very wise and cautious and not give any provision to the flesh, and this is exactly what Paul says in the New Testament. That goes also for appropriate boundaries in dating relationships.

You can just exercise wisdom. I think a lot of times people are looking for, you know, tell me how far I can go before it's bad, it's sinful. The Bible is very clear that fornication is a sin.

Does that mean that you can't kiss the person that you're dating? No, I don't think so, but again, I think that you have to exercise wisdom. The Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 13, verse 13, Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. We need to have a scorched earth policy when it comes to temptation. Wherever we find ourselves, you know, being tempted or falling into temptation, we just need to give no provision to that.

Don't go there. And so I think in a dating relationship, you know, you want to get to know someone, their character. As a Christian, you know, their commitment to Christ, you want to grow in your friendship and in the relationship. In that way, you want to be careful that you're respecting each other, honoring each other, that you can have a clear conscience before that person and ultimately before the Lord.

And so again, that requires wisdom and prayer and attention, you know, care and attention. And so I don't want to just say, well, here's, you know, here's the line. But certainly fornication is a sin and you want to make sure that you're not giving any provision to the flesh.

And so if the thought is like, hey, we're dating, we're not married, but let's go on a trip together and we can, you know, stay in the same room. I just think that's foolish. That's not wise. And so again, don't give any provision to the flesh.

Be wise and honoring each other. Thanks for your question. Great counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Pamela calling in from Arkansas. Pamela, what's your question for Adriel? Pamela, are you there? Oh, yes, yes, I am.

Thank you. I had a question regarding the prevalent practice today of people accepting tattoos. And I know that the book of Leviticus forbids any cutting in the flesh for the dead. And I think that was originally why the practice began hundreds and hundreds of years ago. But I never heard this addressed by any of the pastors that are on the radio that listen to so often. Also, of course, it's addressed in the Second Commandment without any, you know, exceptions to, I'm sorry, I'm trying to read some of this, any exceptions of graven images, which seems very bizarre that people are putting these images on themselves now. But anyway, I would like people to know a little something more about it. And I would appreciate if you would maybe expound on this a little. Of course, the origins come from very pagan cultures, and they were never done for good reasons.

Yeah. Pamela, hey, great question. So what does the Bible have to say about tattooing? And a lot of times people who just say, well, the Bible is against tattoos, they're totally forbidden, will appeal to Leviticus 19, verse 28, that talks about not making cuts on your body for the dead or tattooing yourselves.

God says, I am the Lord. Here specifically, though, in the context, it is, you know, setting the people apart from their pagan neighbors who would practice these pagan rituals that involve tattooing this idolatrous worship. And God says, don't do that. Now, there are certainly some things that we just should not tattoo on our bodies. You mentioned the Second Commandment, not making graven images, not depicting God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And I think a lot of people, I mean, I've seen tattoos where people are getting images of God. And I would say, though, that that's not something that you should do because of the Second Commandment. That doesn't mean, though, that all tattoos, I think, are necessarily bad or evil or sinful.

I think, again, this is an issue of wisdom and prudence. And so you have to ask yourself the question, you know, a person who's getting a tattoo has to ask themselves the question, what am I doing here? And, you know, can I do this and still bring glory to God? Or is this something that goes against his word? And I wouldn't say that just because someone is getting a tattoo that that's necessarily going against the word of God because we really want to understand those prohibitions in places like Leviticus 19 in their context.

And so when most people get tattoos today, they're not doing it in the same way that Israel's pagan neighbors were. So we have to factor that in. But again, I would say this is an issue of Christian liberty, liberty of conscience.

And we just have to exercise wisdom as we think about these decisions. And so, Pamela, thank you for that question and appreciate the call. Thanks, Pamela. Appreciate you being a regular listener to Core Christianity. Let's go to Spencer in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Spencer, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, sir. Mine has to do with 2 Corinthians 5, 10, the judgment seat or Bema seat of Christ. Will these rewards be for all times to come on into the new heaven and the new earth time? And for those with few rewards, will they have another chance to possibly earn rewards or not? And if not, will they, you know, have eternally, will they be eternally living in a like a tiny dwelling compared to someone's, another Christian, his mansion estate who received many rewards past the millennial kingdom with the time of the new heaven and the new earth.

Yeah. Hey, Spencer, thank you for that question. Rewards in heaven. So 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

And so you had a couple of questions there. One, you know, do we have another opportunity to earn more rewards once we're in heaven and maybe in the new creation? Well, I don't think that there's any indication of that in the New Testament.

This is related to the final judgment, which is a once for all event. But then the other part there is, well, then does this mean that some people's experience of heaven is going to be kind of lame? You know, you're in the studio apartment in heaven and other people are in the three bedroom, two bath or 10 bedroom, five bathroom mansion, you know, on the heavenly lake, if you will.

Well, I don't think that that's the case either. I know that for all of us, right, we're going to experience God's glory, perfect joy. We're going to be perfected in holiness in the presence of the Lord as soon as we die. And then in the new creation, when we get those resurrected bodies, it's going to be, again, joy, worship, glory. So we don't know entirely, you know, what these heavenly rewards are going to look like and to what extent they're going to improve upon, if I can use that language, our experience of heaven and the eternal state in the new creation.

But I don't think that anybody is going to be bummed out in heaven that they missed out, you know, on the bigger mansion. You know, we have to make sure that we recognize too that a lot of that language is giving us this sort of figurative picture of the new creation that we're looking forward to. But I don't know that it's necessarily the case that, you know, each one of us is going to have this particular special mansion that was, you know, based on, you know, its construction was based upon how good we did here on earth. Those are things that the Bible is just not clear on. And so there is a judgment. We are going to stand before the Lord. We are going to be rewarded for what we have done in the body, whether good or bad. We know that we're going to enter into life through the free justification that we've received in Jesus Christ. We've already been justified, so we're going to hear the words well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master. But then in terms of the glory of heaven, no eye has seen nor ear heard.

It hasn't even entered into our minds the glory of what the Lord has prepared for us. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-The-Core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.