Thursday, August 16, 2007

Too Busy on Sunday to Take the Kids to Church?

The discussion about Bible School and Sunday School made me think of what I wrote on this blog awhile ago about people working on Sunday.

If we (Christians) think it is too bad that so few people are attending church, then we might want to think about how our own personal behavior contributes to the need for workers on Sundays. What does keeping the Sabbath holy mean in this day and culture?

In my community, it is especially common for the teens to be working on Sundays. For years there was a line about confirm the students and never see them again. Well, if the young people are indeed working on Sundays, they aren't developing a church going habit and they are not helping with the Sunday School.

6 comments:

  1. Good point.

    My late mother and I used to do a lot of chore-running/big-box-store shopping after church on Sundays, but it was so tiring and invasive of the recreational/restorational aspect of Sabbath that we finally said, "No mas!" Taking a "shopping Sabbath" really improved our quality of life. My partner and I also, whenever possible, eschew shopping and "busy-ness" on Sundays; and we've revived the venerable institution of home-cooked Sunday dinner in our home. It does make a difference.

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  2. By the way...how are things with you?

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  3. I try to plan not shopping on Sundays. I like the time at home, perhaps doing something with family. But lately I've gone to the grocery store after church. It is 1/2 block from the church.

    My skin biopsy yesterday went OK. I'm not too worried.

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  4. That's the part people don't seem to get. They complain about stores being open on Sunday, and then go shopping after church. Or they complain about Little League scheduling games on Sunday - and then miss church to take their kids to the game.

    Its easy -- Just stop.

    Didn't know you were sick, but have added you to my prayers.

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  5. I have a couple kids working on Sunday but my biggest grip is JO sports (Junior Olympics). I have girl starting 7th grade in JO Volleyball and I haven't seen her in church for months. She starts confirmation in fall so decisions will need to be made in that family.

    On a different note: I had a senior high girl quit a job because they would not give her Sundays off, but the down side is that she still didn't come to worship much after that.

    What do you do?

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  6. this is really good and true! sorry I haven't been around much lately, either.
    it reminds me of the two versions of keeping the sabbath: in Exodus, we keep the Sabbath because God rested, but in Deuteronomy, God tells the people to keep the Sabbath because they were slaves in the land of Egypt. If they took a day off, then their wives and children and servants and cattle could take a day off too. It was a matter of justice.

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And what do you think?