The Implications of Dating an Unbeliever

I've seen a great number of young Christians and church-goers show a great interest in dating a young girl or boy who is not a follower of Jesus Christ. When I encounter this situation, I will invariably offer my opinion on the wisdom of such a situation, and usually, I am ignored and treated like a big jerk. So with this post, I do not seek to lay out the wisdom in not dating unbelievers (although there is much wisdom there). Instead, I seek to ask a question that gets to the root of the issue.

How important is Jesus to you? Is He the central focus of your life? Do you make a habit of reading the Word so you can learn about Him? Does the Bible inform all of your decisions and opinions? Or is Jesus just an add-on in your life. Is Jesus like the stereo in your car? It is always on and blaring. You turn it down to talk on the phone or if other people are in the car. But if the radio stops working, the car continues to function just fine. The ride just isn't as much fun and you have to find other ways to distract yourself. (Ok, maybe that analogy limps a little.)

So if you want to date an unbeliever, ask yourself what is your motivation. What is making you want to date someone who doesn't have the same core convictions and probably has a lot of values that are antithetical to your own? Why date someone who is unable to encourage you in Christ and point you toward Him? You're answer should reveal to you how important Christ really is to you, and hopefully will tell you if dating an unbeliever is really the right choice.

Passing Along Biblical Values to the Next Generation

Bob Kauflin had some great thoughts about how we can worship in a way that passes our Biblical values along to the next generation regardless of musical tastes.

Asaph and his descendents were purposeful and intentional in passing on the practice and understanding of musical worship to future generations. And their focus was unmistakeable: “God is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” They took seriously the command to proclaim that truth to coming generations.

How seriously do we take the command to tell the coming generations what we know of God and worshiping God?

How many of our thoughts about music and worship revolve around what we like, what we prefer, what interests us, and what we find appealing? And how often is that attitude passed on to the next generation, who then focus on what appeals to them?

I suspect this may be one of the reasons churches develop separate meetings for different musical tastes. In the short run it may bring more people to your church. But in the long run it keeps us stuck in the mindset that musical styles have more power to divide us than the gospel has to unite us.

How do we pass on biblical values of worship to coming generations when we can’t even sing in the same room with them?

Read the whole thing here.