So I thought I would add my two cents as someone who owes her marriage to her phone. I chose an app called Hinge because you can put more personal questions on your profile, the very first thing people see. Even your love life is for the glory of God. I think this one is really tough for optimists. I started perhaps twenty conversations, met about five guys on Zoom and went on in-person dates with two, one of which ended at the head of the aisle.
It may be odd to go from a very small dating pool to a very large one. It means that you are choosing to emotionally invest in multiple people before you find the right one. The reality is that you will likely have to explore a few dating options, whether you use a dating app, or focus on church and Christian circles, or other everyday connections.
Among the hundreds of guys on Hinge within 10km of my home who met my criteria, I came across three I knew from my personal life. The rest: I had no idea. The only other in-person date I went on went so terribly that I deleted the app for a few weeks afterwards. I had checked that he was going to church, asked him how he became a Christian, looked him up on Instagram to check his timeline matched and his name was real. And then it came to dinner on our second date, and he asked what I thought of sex before marriage.
He was really disappointed. And it was also the right thing for me to be honest. It may feel uncomfortable because usually when getting to know someone, it will take longer to get to that level of intimacy. I believe telling a solid Christian friend is important for two other reasons as well. Firstly, it will help keep you accountable. After that awful date, as soon as I got to the train station, I called my friend and cried for twenty minutes. She assured me that I had done the right thing in letting him go, and not to call him in a sudden fit of regret.
That leads to the second reason. When bad dates happen, you need a friend, who is already up to speed, to vent to. It is perfectly acceptable for Christians to explore different ways to find a romantic and marriage partner. But it can be hard being single. Regardless of their benefits, secular dating apps are not geared for a godly and humane approach to the dating relationship.
