Supreme Court to deliver answer in religious mailman's case
Should a Christian be required to work on Sunday?
Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by Salty, Jun 26, 2023.
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Scarlett O. ModeratorModerator
If a Christian quits his/her job because of having work sometimes on Sunday - I have trouble with that.
There are plenty of places where there are Sunday and Wednesday night services. In my town, the cowboy church meets on Tuesday nights [people who work the rodeo/cattle/animal husbandry circuits on the weekends].
Sunday is not the Sabbath. Before I quit my job - I would search diligently for a solution. -
As a critical care nurse I worked a rotating shift (2 weeks days, two weeks evenings and 2 weeks nights) as well as working every other weekend.
I personally consider my profession as my God-given gift. So I never had a problem about working weekends.
Early in my career I found that I could not attend Sunday morning services after working night shift.
I’d nod off… so at times I’d skip services then too.
Later I began working in the cardiac catheterization lab - no weekends but it involved being on call and being available when the frequent emergencies occurred.
After a time we hired another nurse who was an Orthodoxy Jew. She expressed that working Friday’s troubled her… so I honored her commitment and worked her Friday evenings. It was a ministry.
Rob -
I'm kinda the other way around.
I think if a Christian believes it a sin to work on Sunday then he or she should find employment that allows Sunday off.
But at the same time that Christian should refrain from contributing to others working on Sunday.
Now, I would have an issue with a Christian demanding that his or her employer give them Sunday off. It is one thing to quit based on ones convictions and another to demand an employer abide by the employees convictions (realizing, of course, that there is a line that crossed is religious discrimination....but actually working a required schedule doesn't cross that line). -
Some churches say that you are supposed to keep Sunday holy by not doing any secular work. HOw can you do that if you have a farm?
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Mrs Salty works graveyard about 15 days a month including every other Sat PM.
Like Deacon - after waking up - she is unable to stay up for church.
When I was the manager of a Christian Radio station - when I had an applicant - they would always mentioned they could not work on Sunday. I would inform them that normally they would not have to - BUT if they cannot work - then I cannot hire them. They quickly changed that on their application. -- What I did do - is I met the pastor of the local Seventh Day church and he had someone that wanted part-time work - Bingo - had my Sunday morning guy.
Only one employee did not have to work on Sunday - That was Vance - as the (previous) manager told him he would not have to work on Sunday -- because he was the music director of his Baptist church. -
I work on a swing shift supporting operations (the place has to run 24x7....or bad things can happen).
I'm off two Sundays a month. But much of the time I am out of town those two Sundays.
I could change to day ops (Monday - Thurs, 10 hrs a day). But I like shift (and the nights.....I wither like a beautiful rose, @Salty , in the sun). -
I've had to work Sunday many times. In a group home for Mentally retarded adults. Cleaning the bar my Dad managed. Washing dishes in the Country Club Sunday morning.
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Your response is harsh. Should a Christian conform to the world? If my conviction is to honor the Lord's day, and I change jobs to accommodate my conviction, how is that wrong? Each of us must give our own account before God.
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The Reformers understood a distinction between work of necessity and work of convenience. If a Christian is a lead operator at a nuclear power station, it is probably a good idea to show up for work on a Sunday. Likewise, your profession is a work of necessity. First responders, the military, and many healthcare workers are in that category. The larger issue is denigrating the Lord's day. When we turn it into an option, why honor it at all?
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One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
Outside of Nashville there are still country Baptist churches in farming communities that meet one Sunday a month. That was strange to me, but I get it. These people lived in a community together as well, so technically I guess they met more often. -
Scarlett O. ModeratorModeratorI don't think I was harsh.
We have to have hospitals, police force, and more open on Sundays.
I am more interested in honoring the Lord than honoring a day of the week just because it is a day of the week.
I believe Christians should gather where and when they can for corporate worship, learning, and preaching. It doesn't have to be on Sunday. That's just the traditional day. -
No, you were not harsh.
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We live in a secular nation. When you agreed to sell your time, you made a contract. When your employer says you need to give them your time on Sunday, you need to either honor your contract, get your contract amended to not work on Sundays, or end the contract and find a new employer.
The Supreme Court should have thrown the case out and not seen it. -
In essence - the ruling by the 3rd Circuit would only apply to that area. By taking the case, SCOTUS ruling will then be consistent nationwide.
The NT does not require Christians take Sundays off.
The story also states that defendant missed a dozen days of Sunday work, as he could not find a replacement - which had been the agreement. -
1 Cor. 16:1–2; Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:10
Seems to be a bit more than just tradition. -
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Scarlett O. ModeratorModeratorI am at church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.
I also have doctors, nurses, cops, and more who cannot be there even half the time. I don't pass judgment on them. I don't believe that God does either. -
Bible Thumpin n Gun Totin Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
For us Sunday is a day where you are to focus on the Lord, and rest, not a day for commerce. I don't work on my dayjob Sunday unless we have an emergency in the financial market.
Our small business and farm is closed on Sundays, and while I feed our livestock, we don't do any sales or commerce-related activities for our farm, unless there's an emergency where my livestock will die otherwise.
As a Fire Department that is Christian-based, we answer calls on Sundays obviously. There's been times I've left my family in the middle of preaching for different calls. I'm not going to be leaving service because someone's foot hurts, but in situations where it's a fire, or heart attack, or CPR, or childbirth I leave and deal with it. Healing on the Sabbath is lawful as Christ himself did it.
@Reformed already brought up works of necessity from the Reformation so I won't belabor the point
In my opinion Christians should not be forced to work on the Sunday Sabbath, nor should pagans, and that should be law being we are a Christian nation. -
I have no problem with folks working on Saturday.
So as I do not hijack this thread - I have started a new thread:
A Christian Nation?