Our Lord’s day practices require consideration and sometimes qualification. Even so, the following ammendments will be of no avail if you haven’t read the previous post on first day activities.
First, I am not saying we must do each one of the first day activities every Sunday in order to properly observe the Lord’s day. There are no commands for proper protocol or procedure of worship services like we conduct today. There are no instructions on the right order of service or how much time we should spend on any particular part of the service.
Unlike Israel’s itemized, formal, and systematic Sabbath and temple worship in the OT, there is considerable freedom for Christians as we plan our time together. My point in identifying the three categories of first day and group activities is that we should use the same raw material even though the shape of our Sundays may be different from the first century church. The style our clothes may not match, but they should be cut from the same cloth.
Second, I am also not saying that we can’t do anything else other than these things on the Lord’s day, either when we’re at the house of worship or our own homes. Like I just said, believers have a measure of liberty as a Body both gathered and scattered on Sunday. We do not want to create a “can nots” list and add extra-biblical burdens like the Jews did to the Sabbath.
But I am saying that we should be careful about what we do on the Lord’s day. For some that does mean they should stop certain Christ-dishonoring pursuits. Others need to incorporate more of the corporate. I am also saying that the various activities we looked at, though not commandments for corporate worship per se, are all profitable as they clear the way for us to comprehend Christ’s worth and provision and salvation and instruction on His day.
The bottom line is that we benefit from setting aside an entire day every week to be reminded that we need God! Starting with the apostles, then the early church fathers, through the Reformers and up till today, the consistent practice of the church has been to observe the first day of the week as a special day for Christians to gather and worship.
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I like that, a reminder WE NEED GOD! I’ve never really thought of Sunday’s like that. I’ve see it as a day of refreshment or a time of encouragment and growth… but I really like that… a reminder we NEED GOD! Thanks SKH! I think that will help my view of Sunday’s!
I am going to pick on you in my first ever blog post… you stated “For some that does mean they should stop certain Christ-dishonoring pursuits.” What does that have to do with Sunday? Are there certain days that Christ-dishonoring pursuits are just fine? I am not trying to nitpick; this really is a significant issue: are all pursuits on Sundays that aren’t inherently sinful acceptable? Or is there a “higher-level” code of conduct expected on Sundays?
I am overwhelmed. Wow. What can I say? dernbers is no longer a lurker. Welcome, friend.
Alright, by way of picking nit back a bit, you may have made your first ever comment on a blog, maybe we could even say you “posted” your first ever comment on a blog, but unless you wrote about my post on your own blog in your own post, it is not blog savvy to call your comment a “blog post.” In other words, a “blog post” equals a blog article, not a comment about a blog.
But actually, the content of your concern is appropriate and appreciated. The sentence you quoted, at least by itself, does probably lead to the questions you raised. I should have been more careful and will consider how I can correct it for precision’s sake. I also agree that it really is a significant issue and one that pastors should be ready to answer.
I originally wrote that sentence in response to my “student lawyers” who would have presumably found the loopholes they were looking for in the previous paragraph concerning our Lord’s day liberty. I suppose I was attempting to preserve at least a modicum of application.
As such, there was some intended nuance (at least in my own mind) about activities that may be dishonoring to Christ on Sunday. Perhaps you also read the previous three posts about the first day of the week where I argued that it is a special day, indeed it is the Lord’s day. In light of that, I do think certain purtuits potentially honor, or dishonor, Him depending on when we do them.
For example, is it “acceptable” to play basketball all night on my anniversary? Yes. Basketball is not inherently sinful and there are no biblical laws about anniversary code of conduct. But does it honor my wife? No. And it dishonors her not because I am breaking a law but because I am pursuing something that does not love her the best. Of course, playing basketball next Thursday is no big deal.
In the same way, though we obviously should love our Lord all week long (like we should love our wives the other 364 days), there is a distinct opportunity on His day to sing and study and share with our local body for His sake that may be aided by our abandoning some activities we might otherwise undertake.
What do you think?
While dernburs continues to contemplate his response, I came across this entry in the The Westminster Larger Catechism as I prepared for my messages on the Lord’s day. For some reason I didn’t include it in my notes, but it fits as a footnote to the above discussion.
Though I don’t see the word Sabbath as synonymous with the Lord’s day, I do think the principle applies.
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