In 2012, a new craze swept up the world and captivated millions of hopeless singles trying to find love or even a nightly fling. These singles also include many Christian males chasing after the “one” that God has made for them.
Many of them swiping left and right with sweaty fingers anxiously waiting for the right one to bless their phone screen. In my opinion, Tinder has completely changed and molded the dating environment that we experience today. With Tinder, people can now find hundreds of suitable partners within a hundred mile radius and at various ages all from just one app.
A quick Google search led me to find that, “As of late 2014, an estimated 50 million people use the app every month with an average of 12 million matches per day. However, to get to those 12 million matches, users collectively make around 1 billion swipes per day.”
With all these users and swipes, how can you rule out the possibility of a true Godly love? This is the question I am currently wrestling with. I wrestle with this because Tinder can be harmful, especially for male Christians trying to live the life that Christ set out for us. Tinder is often times used for sweaty sinful hookups and this adopted dating concept can often influence lonely Christian men. As Christians, we cannot let Tinder change us or redirect or minds to earthly desires. Tinder can be a place full of dangers, but being aware of these dangers is the first step to a healthy Tinder process.
If Tinder makes you sin, then get rid of the app immediately. Matthew 5:29 states, “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” I will repeat, If Tinder makes you sin, then get rid of it. This lesson reminds me of a business lesson I learned early in my college career. I still remember sitting in my uncomfortable chair being drilled with the concept that “My input equals my output.” This idea also rings true from a Christian perspective.
As Christian males we have to be constantly working on our hearts and protecting ourselves with the armor of God. The consistency with God will only strengthen your heart and through this, your actions will also show God's love. If we do this then apps like Tinder can be controlled and can actually be a great resource to find the Christian woman of our dreams, maybe. An app like Tinder has many dangers, but we can also look at this specific app as a place that needs the Lord, a mission field if you will. This different angle can show us that God can make the ugliest things beautiful. This can be backed up by the history of many of the Holidays we celebrate today in our society. Many of our cute family holidays were actually derived from Pagan worship, but we changed the concept and made holidays about Christ. I will again repeat, God can make the ugliest of things beautiful.
As a single Christian, I often struggle with the idea that my singleness is actually some type of disease, where I am not worthy of love. I believe this mindset is brought on by the push of the young Christian environment to get married at an early age. As Christian men, we have to be content with being single. If we are not content with our singleness, then we will never be content in an actual relationship. We have to be able to love ourselves before we can truly love another. Chase after God with all of your heart and he will reward you in return. Men, if we are doing this and truly believing in our Lord and Savior, then our patience will be rewarded and, I believe, can be rewarded on an app like Tinder. If we reflect Gods light, then we will attract the right people. There are over 50 million people actively using Tinder. With this being said, we can assume that there are good, God-fearing Christian girls looking for a true Godly love and one looking for you. So men, be patient and maybe just maybe with the right Godly mindset, you can find the Godly girl of your dreams.
