I'll bet

that title got your attention.

I'll also bet some of you

are ready to fight over the subject.

I have been a pastor now

since 1972 and have watched the erosion of our Sundays

over the years. As a young man going to my first entry

level job and many jobs following my first one, I

remember telling my employer how much I appreciated

working there, but that Sunday was the day I couldn't

work because of the fact that I went to church on that

day.

I know we have all heard

the arguments that the Sundays many of us worship on are

actually not really the "Sabbath" anyway so

what difference does it make. Many a theological battle

has been fought over this issue and truthfully the Jewish

Sabbath is from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday

anyway, so what is the big beef?

Well, as I see it as a

pastor of a church trying to present before God and our

congregations a viable worship opportunity for our

people, it creates several problems.

First of all, I have

noticed that if you ever attempt to involve anyone in

their Christian service to God on Sunday, such as

teaching a Sunday School class or working with the youth

group or any activity involving them on Sunday -

usher, greeter, hospitality, musician, choir member, or

someone to help set up or break down - you are given

a quick "Oh, pastor I'd love to, but you see I have

the greatest reason and that is I work on Sundays."

Well, as a pastor, I just

need to vent here a little because I feel our priorities

are really just a little bit out of out of whack. I am

fully aware that there are certainly jobs that are 24/7,

as the kids of today say. These are jobs that are of an

emergency nature that certainly require 24 hours a day,

seven days a week. These are life-essential ones like

firemen, policemen and policewomen, nurses, doctors, etc.

The list is long and getting longer.

I realize that, but the

ones I am speaking of are 95 percent of a personal nature

that are just for the appeasement of an employer who

says, "I need someone to work on Sundays," and

the hands fly into the air with a total disregard of what

God's Word says about the issue. Could it just be

possible that an infinite God who was smart enough to

create a human being and a universe just might know that

you needed a day of rest and a day to honor him?

On a daily basis, I witness

a stressed-out society with more money being made than

any time in our history, and yet men and women have

chosen to work right through their worship day.

I remember my mother

telling us the story of being a young 16-year-old girl in

Oklahoma following the Great Depression when a job meant

whether you would eat or have anything decent to wear as

a teenager. She had secured a job with South Western Bell

as a telephone operator and she had also just become a

Christian when they told her she would have to work on

Sundays and miss church. She very politely told them that

she would be happy to work any shift, but they had to get

her Sundays off to attend church.

They accommodated her with

giving her the grave yard shift, which severely cut into

her free time to be with her friends.

First things first, my

friends. If your job is keeping you out of church for any

reason, stand up for your God and your faith and God and

your faith will stand up for you! To God be the glory!

The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon

is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC) and a

substitute school teacher in the Fayette County school

system, and a former Army chaplain. The church is

currently meeting in the American Legion Log Cabin across

from the fountain on the Square in Fayetteville. Prayer

line 770-719-2365; e-mail [email protected]