A couple of weeks ago you may have noticed some letters to the editor that were written by Dad. In the course of a single week he and I had heard about several events in the community that were scheduled to be in direct competition with church services and programs on Sundays. We both decided that it was time to act, because the issue of remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy is obviously something that is a big deal to God (it's in the ten commandments, after all!) So, we began to write letters and talk to various leaders who were in charge of planning such events. The response, it seems, was that most people had no problem with us declaring that there should not be events scheduled on Sundays. The response that I heard quite often was, "Good for you! I'm glad you're standing up for this."
As I've had a chance to reflect on this issue a little bit more, I came to a realization. Ultimately, we as individual Christians are to blame for the fact that organizers are scheduling events on Sundays. Think about most of the things that are scheduled on Sundays--sports tournaments, fundraisers, practices for various community and school activities. What do all of these things have in common? They are all events that depend on getting a group of people together. Why do organizers schedule events on Sundays? Because it works! Our schedules have gotten incredibly busy, and trying to find a time when a group of people can all get together is difficult. What organizers are finding out is that people are willing to skip church or forgo youth programs in order to attend these events. They schedule events on Sundays because the competition for time is not nearly as fierce--and it's a competition they are often able to win.
Let me pose a question to you--what would happen if everyone who claimed to be a Christian vigorously adhered to the 5th Commandment? How many of the people who attend these events claim to be Christians or part of a church? If we all followed God's command to keep the Sabbath holy there would be very few people who attended these events! If all the Christians stayed home (or went to church), there would be no benefit to scheduling things on Sundays.
Lots of people are glad that Dad and I were willing to take a stand on this issue--but I suspect that most of those people also think it's a pretty self-serving stand. I hope that we all, as Christians, recognize this as a real problem in our society in general and in our community in particular. What we need to understand is that the problem is not just with the people scheduling the events--far too often we send the message that competing with church is not a big deal, because we support these events. So, if you recognize this as a problem let me challenge you to stop being part of the problem, and start being part of the solution. Take a stand, not just with your words, but with your time and your actions. Whether anyone else likes the stand you take or not, God will be pleased by your faithfulness to His commandment.
