It might have been a good idea to get a second opinion...

A man diagnosed with terminal cancer got some "devastating" news - he didn't have the disease after all. He's not American, but even so this incorrect diagnosis has resulted in a request for some fairly significant compensation. Basically he threw caution to the wind and started throwing money around, and is now afraid that he'll lose his house.

How attached are you to your appliances?

Where do you fit on the spectrum from not being able to stand a mine-clearing robot being gradually damaged while clearing a minefield to, closer to the other end, the Ikea approach?

What about those who work Sundays?

Lately I've been thinking a little about how the Sabbath should be observed. Hopefully all will agree that the following activity should not take place on Sunday: breaking into my car while I'm at church (as happened today). For the rest, I figured that I would just offer a few thoughts and questions - perhaps offending both sabbatarians as well as non-sabbatarians at various points in the process.

As you might have surmised from prior conversations or posts on the site, these days I group myself as a non-sabbatarian (in thought/word: whatever the environment; in limited circumstances, in action) . Yet at the same time I wonder if, by and large, enough is being done to support those unable to meet Sundays for one reason or another. If memory serves correct (I haven't looked this one up), John Calvin held a comparatively lax view of Sunday observance but at the same time he also preached on most (all?) of the days of the week regularly. Should we meet as a church more regularly throughout the week (there are a number of churches around with Wednesday or Saturday services in addition to Sunday services)? Should communion be practiced in Bible study groups as opposed to being restricted to Sunday gatherings? (Those advocating a non-Sabbatarian view of Sunday still have Hebrews 10:25 which commands Christians not to cease from meeting together).

I was hired by another company before I had any opportunity to interview for this one, but one of the coop positions that I applied for was with the police department and would have involved a 4 days on, 4 days off schedule. This is the sort of job that even a lot of people who would argue for sabbatarian view of Sunday would regard as necessary and valid. Yet, at the same time, if I was attending a church that met only on Sundays, I'd only be able to attend every other month. How should a situation like this be dealt with? Sickness is another reason why someone might miss church, and in such cases they might go two weeks without meeting up with their fellow congregants.

Some related questions (which I don't necessarily have answers to):

  1. If you observe Sunday in a sabbatarian fashion, what would you consider to be the start/end of the day? (The Jewish sabbath was sundown to sundown)
  2. Would it violate your conscience to read a Sunday newspaper? Would it violate your conscience to read a Monday newspaper? (guess when Monday's paper is prepared...)
  3. What do you think of Q&A 117 of the Westminster Larger Catechism, and its prohibition of recreation?: How is the sabbath or the Lord's day to be sanctified?

    Answer: The sabbath or Lord's day is to be sanctified by an holy resting all the day, not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making it our delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to betaken up in works of necessity and mercy) in the public and private exercises of God's worship: and, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of that day.

  4. Do you need to observe two consecutive days of rest in order to allow others to observe a full day of rest? (welcome to the wonderful world of outsourcing and the global economy)
  5. What if others choose to observe a different day of rest? I know some have argued that it doesn't so much matter what day you rest as long as you rest a 24-hour span a week. Yet, should we then all rest all days of the week as a subset of the population might regard any individual one of those days as a day of rest?
  6. Does a Sabbatarian view of the Sunday leave unbelievers with a bad view of the gospel? (This might sound like a silly example, but it's been one that I've encountered in practice in the past, and was also mentioned in a book that I'm reading). A lot of non-Christians, particularly if they're away from family for some reason, find Sunday to be a boring and lonely day.
  7. Do you browse the internet on Sundays? (there are people who work Sundays keeping things going so that you can do that) Do you use electricity/water/gas on Sundays from sources not stored up in your house the previous day? (people work Sundays to keep such things in operation as well). It seems to me as though for the most part, sabbatarians keep using things on Sunday as long as there are no workers immediately visible, even if some are involved at a distance.
  8. What if you feel too tired to do chores on Saturday, so you rest that day, and then work after church Sunday. Would you consider this acceptable?
  9. Sabbatarians generally seem to consider farmers milking dairy cattle on Sunday acceptable. How do you view industries wherein factories may require a period of days to swing back into operation following a shutdown? What do you think about NASA and time spent in space as another case?

An amusing comic

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