Remember the [Sunday] Sabbath?
Many remember a time when America took the fourth commandment more seriously. You could walk down Main Street and find that the only open doors were the church's. Nowadays, it seems that everything is open, and most of us, Christians and non-Christians alike, are taking full advantage. The question is: are we as a nation paying a price for not remembering the Sabbath?
Lee Webb, reporter
Sunday looks like any other day at the mall. Mom can get her hair done, while the kids get in a few video games. Of course, everybody needs a bite to eat before returning home to mow the lawn, or maybe get in a few holes of golf in before that three o'clock soccer game.
"Some of the parents object to having their kids play on a Sunday," says soccer dad Dale Runner. "No sir, not on our team. All of them like it, because that's the best time to do it -- better than during the week, because everybody's working."
Regent University professor Joe Kickasola says that even many Christians don't understand the value of honoring the Sabbath.
"Our culture seems to be exhausting itself with entertainment -- with diversions," says Kickasola. "Too much work, not enough rest, and not enough family time. You know, our Lord said in Mark, chapter 2, that the Sabbath is made for man. So if we treat a person as if he were not a man, as a male or female; or if we treat ourselves as though we were not human, then indeed, we're going to suffer the fatigue that is inhuman."
So, what if someone came up to you and said, "I want you to take one day this week, and do nothing but rest. You can turn off your pager, your laptop, your cell phone, and even stay away from the lawn mower and all the housework, and just ... rest'?"
Here are some of the responses we got when we asked that question on the street:
A: "I'd probably feel like there are a lot of things I needed to do, but it would probably be something that would be refreshing and probably good for me."
A: "I'd do it! It would be a great break."
Q: Why don't you?
A: Money.
Money.
Why not work if there's money to be made on Sunday? Corporate America began giving into the temptation years ago. But is it really worth it?
The Chick-Fil-A restaurant chain has never opened on Sunday, and look at their performance: since opening in 1967, Chick-Fil-A has posted 30 consecutive annual sales increases. And last year, their same-store sales rose 7 percent, compared to the 2 percent by their nearest competitor.
And it's much the same story for the Ukrop's supermarket chain in Richmond, Virginia. Selected as one of Forbes magazine's top 500 private companies, Ukrop's clearly outperforms its competitors, which are open on Sunday.
"I wouldn't want to make money on Sunday," says company president Bobby Ukrop. "That's the Lord's Day. And how people choose to enjoy Sunday is other people's business. We think our people need a rest. We think people need to know that every week I can count on that as a day I can be with my family."
Many remember a time when most people felt that way.
"I know my great-grandmother would never cook on Sunday," remembers one person we talked to. "I mean, there was nothing cooked, no type of labor done like that on a Sunday, unless it was just a necessity to keep a farm going."
Scottish track star Eric Liddell refused to run on Sunday at the 1924 Olympic Games, costing him a shot at the gold medal in the 100-meters. His Christian conviction made him a hero for the ages. Author and pollster George Barna believes this type of conviction is sorely lacking today.
"We think that we're doing him a big favor if we show up at church on Sunday morning, or maybe even Saturday night, and then we figure, 'Good, I've taken care of that obligation,'" says Barna. "'Now I can do whatever I want.' I think so much of the difficulties, the hardship, the tension, and the anxieties that we read about and hear about in the news every day is a result of the fact that people never get time to deflate." ― transcript of a report that aired on June 10th and July 27th of 1998, on CBN.
Rome's
Challenge to Protestants
Did the Apostles keep Sunday?
The
Mark of the Beast and the Seal of God
Sunday is NOT the Sabbath!
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