Another thought about the 4th commandment

In my study of the 4th commandment, for the message I preached this past Sunday, I read some examples of people who made tough decisions because of their application of the 4th commandment.

Do you remember Chariots of Fire? In this movie, Eric Liddell chose not to run in the 1922 Olympic games in Paris. During the summer of 1924, the Olympics were hosted by the city of Paris. Liddell was a committed Christian and refused to run on Sunday (the Christian Sabbath), with the consequence that he was forced to withdraw from the 100 metres race, his best event. The schedule had been published several months earlier, and his decision was made well before the Games began. Liddell spent the intervening months training for the 400 metres, an event in which he had previously excelled. Even so, his success in the 400m was largely unexpected. Eric Liddell, often called the "Flying Scotsman Eric Henry Liddell (16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945), was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international and missionary.
Liddell was the winner of the Men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris. He was portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire.

Eric Liddell made his choice, based on his own personal conviction. It was evident that Liddell's life was all about serving God and telling others about Him. He was willing to sacrifice anything for what He believed was honoring to God.

In S. Truett Cathy’s book: Eat More Chikin: Inspire More People, he writes: “Starting the restaurant and pouring all my worldly possessions plus everything Ben and I could borrow into it taught me the full meaning of the word commitment. Everything was at stake. I was totally committed to the task of building a successful business, and I knew I could not fail.

We were not so committed to financial success, however, that we were willing to abandon our principles and priorities. One of the most visible examples of this was our decision to close on Sunday. Ben and I had attended Sunday school and church all our lives, and we were not about to stop just because we owned a restaurant. Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and directing our attention to things more important than our business. If it took seven days a week to make a living with a restaurant, then we needed to be some other line of work. Through the year I have never wavered from that position.”

It is interesting that Chick-fil-a, which could make a lot more money (it seems) if opened on Sunday, does quite well as a business, open just 6 days a week. This was a business owner,who did not make it all about money, but instead it was about principle. He wanted to make sure they could continue to worship God on Sunday, with no concern about working. That is pretty amazing in today's business world.

So, how do these examples fit into the teaching about the Sabbath Day? As we saw in our study and message on the 4th commandment, the regulations of the Sabbath Day no longer apply to Christians. So, what about these decisions by Liddell and Truett? This is where this passage of Scripture comes in, which I shared in the message:

Romans 14:5,6 – “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he give thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

Every person has to make decisions based on how they are going to apply the principles of this 4th commandment; and that is o.k. We can appreciate what Eric Liddell did, but not necessarily judge someone who decides to run on Sunday in the Olympics. You got to have respect for the owner of Chick-fil-a and everyone in that organization that closes on Sunday. That was a conviction and it was completely right for them to do that. I personally believe God honors that and has honored them. However, it doesn't mean it is a sin if a business owner has a store open or if someone works on a Sunday.

The principle involved is that although the Sabbath Day is no longer a rule for us, it is commanded that we are a part of a local church, and meet regularly for corporate worship; which, in most cases, is on Sunday, celebrating the day each week when Jesus rose from the dead. Each of us has to check our priorities, make sure we are not "neglecting the meeting together" for worship (Hebrews 10:25), and then do what we believe God wants us to do.

In our family, even though I work every Sunday, as a pastor, we will not allow our children to work or play if it means missing the main services our church provides on Sunday. We believe, that while they are in our house, we want to instill in them the priority of taking Sunday to worship God in church. In most cases, people do have that option. However, we cannot judge others who may make different decisions. We each are responsible, before God, to worship corporately, but to honor Him, regardless of what we do or don't do on Sunday; or how specifically we worship when we do go to church. More on that issue later.