IS DATING BIBLICAL?

As I enter into the room full of youths, I quietly find a seat at the back of the back, after greeting my Pastor who I saw seated a few feet away from me, so as not to disturb the flow of the workshop going on.

I was listening with amazement to some of the responses that a few youths gave to the question “Is dating biblical?” I simply smiled at some of the responses. Well you should have been there, they were simply funny.

First I don’t think I ever came across the word ‘dating’ in the bible. It could be there and I might not have noticed though. Please let me know where it is if you have come across it. Second, some of them don’t even actually know what the word meant! You could deduct that from their responses that they thought they knew but do not. Ah yes! Back to the koko of the matter…………

The thing is as I sat thinking, Pastor asked someone to call me. I looked his way and he pointed to the front of the hall, and I thought “I hope he is not saying what I think he means”. Then I go to him and he says “go and answer that question”. I was surprised!

Anyway I go the front give my answer starting with the meaning and making everyone realize that as long as we live within the confines of the meaning of the word nothing is wrong with dating and that dating can be fun. You can take your dad out on a date or a friend of the same sex. Basically dating is just going out and having a nice time. Then I get home and go into the dictionary for the meaning of the word date and I am floored…. Aside from time at which things happen or is about to happen; a meeting; and make an appointment with, the dictionary also gives the meaning of date as ‘go out together as sexual partners’. So I realize that they are not off the mark at all since they look at it from that perspective and so I begin to wonder.

If dating were to be biblical which of the meaning would it encourage? Going put as sexual partners is also a meeting and it’s an event as well. So I wonder myself and then as I go into the word I realize that the most applicable biblical context would be meeting with friends or family without the sexual additions.

So if the dictionary tells us that dating is going out as sexual partners the what would courtship be?