Taking Back the Lord's Day

"On the first day of the week we came together to break bread."

(Acts 20:7a)

There was a time when the local church was the most important organization in most towns and villages in the U.S. The church steeple was likely the tallest man-made structure in these towns. The church bell was the loudest man-made object. The pastor or priest was considered every bit as important as the town physician or political leader. And the church was a preeminent center of community life, especially on Sunday.

I suppose things began to change during the course of the Twentieth Century in these quaint towns. The radio tower became the tallest man-made structure. The work bell became the loudest object in mill communities which dotted the country in those days. The pastor or priest took on a more professional role with most of his time spent in his study in the church buildings and posted office hours for congregants to follow. And the church slowly forfeited its role as the preeminent center of community life, even on Sunday.

The little kid on the block.

Old folks liked to call the first day of the week "The Lord's Day." This isn't some Victorian-era expression of religiosity; this is how the New Testament describes the first day of the week on the other side of the resurrection of Jesus. The earliest Christians were so deeply impacted by the resurrection of Christ that they arranged their weekly calendars by it. Saturday was at one time man's day of rest, but now Sunday would be the Lord's Day of worship and honor. The Sabbath rest provided by the Lord's redemptive work was meant to be enjoyed every day of the week, but Sunday held a special place of privilege as the day set aside primarily for the Lord himself.

Needless to say, these days are long gone. We are now 24/7 people. We expect our favorite TV shows to air when we want them to air. The 9-5 workday is an endangered species, as is the traditional M-F workweek. Sundays in the warmest seasons are quite easily the first or second busiest day at golf courses and lakes, even those virtually surrounded by the sound of church bells. Retailers would sink without Sunday business (though Chick-fil-A seems to be doing ok without it).

And, as with so many other contemporary examples, the church - once the center of community life - is being urged to play by the culture's redefined rules. In a recent blog post, LifeWay CEO Thom Rainer tackled the issue of declining church attendance by arguing, among other things, that churches should "offer more options for worship times." His example was of a friend who told him that he had changed churches because his old church didn't have a corporate worship time to accommodate his business travels. 

Understand, I'm cool with multiple service times. I'd be ok with the New Testament model, which goes way beyond "pick a time, any time." But most churches of our tradition already hold a mid-week service which (in theory) promotes corporate prayer and Bible study. If Thom Rainer's inclination was correct, we wouldn't be seeing the mass exodus that we are on Wednesday nights. And yet most Baptist churches I know of are struggling to maintain a mid-week prayer service amid multiple other mid-week programs in the local church (AWANA/RAs/GAs/CiAs/children's choir/student ministries/etc.) AND the schedules of many of our regular Sunday attendees who simply can't commit to things which fall on a weeknight or during their child's athletic season. Simply put, Sunday morning still remains the best day and time to hold corporate worship in smaller to medium-sized churches.

Perhaps we need more men in more pulpits preaching the truth of the Lord's Day. Perhaps we need more of our Sunday school teachers teaching about the life-altering results of the resurrection, and how that should even impact our culturally-driven schedules. We should promote renewed minds over culturally-conformed schedules. We should remember that Sunday is the day we peek behind the screen into heaven, when we get a weekly foretaste of glory divine. That is far too important for us to compromise away.

Yes, there appears to be little we can do about work schedules, particularly while we believers engage in Sunday trade just like the rest of the world does. In this economy where retail is king, many of our congregants have employment requirements on Sunday. But this fact alone should not deter us from hope and practice. I'm looking specifically at you, Dad and Mom...and I'm looking at you, Mr. Irregular. The more we can reflect the resurrection, the better.