If a professional athlete claims to be a "christian", is it a sin for him/her to work on Sunday? For example,

Question

if a baseball player is playing in a game on Sunday(he may even come to bat at the plate and make a cross symbol on his chest)?

I read these verses in Isaiah 58:13, 14:
"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."

Answer 1

except Sunday is not the Sabbath. Sunday is the day man changed it to but God never changed His mind or changed the Sabbath in any way. Many will tell you thet Jesus did away with that or that we can observe Sabbath any day we choose- there is absolutely no scriptural foundation for that.
Today's culture makes it hard to observe the Sabbath at the appointed time. The appointed time is important because the Sabbath is one of the very first things God instituted and I think that the time is important, not just for "a day of rest" but to be walking in God's perfect order. I certainly don't think one is going to hell for not following Sabbath perfectly, but I do think it will greatly hinder someones blessings in this life.

Each person should examine their own heart, do they desire truth and to honor the Sabbath as God commanded or are they walking in rebellion, justifying their choices and making excuse for doing it their way (the world's way) rather than God's way??

Answer 2

The Sabbath in that text is the day of rest, Saturday, not Sunday.

The early Christians moved the day of rest to Sunday in honor of Jesus who rose from the dead on Sunday and of the Holy Spirit who descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday. Over the centuries, at least until the Reformation in the 16th century, the Christian rule had been to avoid servile work on Sunday, servile work being the work of slaves. However, as in all church-made laws, the law would not bind in cases of necessity.

With that in mind, the athlete is not playing on Saturday, the Sabbath for Isaiah. He is not doing "servile" work. And he is bound because of his need to earn a living to do what is required, a necessity for him.

So, my answer is No. The Christian baseball player is not committing a sin. OTOH, one might very reasonably say that the athlete is doing an act of charity, providing entertainment for thousands of people. Charity always comes above the law of the church.

Answer 3

Isaiah 58:13, 14 speak of the Sabbath, NOT Sunday. It is a sin to work on the Sabbath.

Exodus 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

GOD bless

Answer 4

It is not sin for Christians to work on Saturday, OR Sunday. Sabbath was part of the Law as a token of the covenant between God and Israel.

Ex 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

Jesus taught this for Christians:

Answer 5

Jesus Christ himself addressed this issue, and I believe that we should use his instructions rather than our own thoughts on the matter.

Jesus said, in all matters, it is about the heart.
Because we as humans cannot see into the heart of another, who are we to decide what the spiritual condition of anothers heart is, or do we really want another deciding the spiritual condition of our own heart?

Jesus picked wheat on the sabbath, he healed others on the sabboth, he walked many miles on the sabboth. He explains that he does all this with Gods glory in mind and heart.

If what we do on the sabbath is against God and his will and his way, then and only then are we not keeping it Holy.

Many Christians must "work" on the Sabbath. Doctors, nurses, athletes, even cashiers in retail stores. If we must work, we must remember to keep that day Holy unto God, however God instructs our hearts to do it.

Answer 6

That question is as old as the hills and belongs back in time when someone decided it would be good to have a day off from working.

Thus used the excuse it is a day of prayer.

So the next was some entrepreneurs decided to make money by building somewhere to pray at a small donation and make a sacrifice to God.

Answer 7

No, it is not a sin. He is just doing his job same as the doctors, nurses, firemen, policemen, etc., etc. are required to do from time to time.

If all of these people refused to work on Sunday would you feel safe if a situation occurred that required their services (accident, housefire, robbery, etc.)?

Not too many years ago we had the "blue laws" in many states, which mandated that many types of business would close on Sundays. Thank God, we finally got away from that.

Answer 8

I understand what you are saying but what about nurses, policeman, firefighters and other people that have to work on Sunday? Including professional ball players.

Answer 9

What about doctors who are working ? Or a preacher preaching on sunday isnt preaching his job? Doesnt that mean he is working on the sabbath.

Answer 10

As Jesus said, "God made the sabbath for man not man for the sabbath."