Going To Church On Sunday

Most of us, if we grew up going to church, grew up going to church on Sunday's. This is to be expected, after all, that is when Christians have been gathering for corporate worship since the first century. Traditionally, the Jewish sabbath is on Saturday, but the early Christians chose Sunday as their day of worship since that was the day of Jesus' resurrection. But with larger churches and new technologies, that has changed a little. Now you have people going on a Saturday, or maybe a service for college students on a Tuesday. What if the Tuesday night service was the only service someone attended, is that bad? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Some people argue we should still be going to church on Saturday (7th Day Adventist), since that was the traditional sabbath. It's even one of the ten commandments.

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God.
-Deuteronomy 5:12-14

Others will argue that Christians should attend church on Sunday in remembrance of Jesus' resurrection, and because that is what the early Christians did. And in either case, Tuesday nights certainly should be thrown out the window. Right?

Fortunately I'm not concerned, and you shouldn't be either, about what people think. Rather, only with what the Bible says. It is important to note that with the coming of Jesus, we are no longer bound by the Old Testament law. When you hear of people trying to discredit the Bible by saying we should stone homosexuals and not eat pork, they are referring to the old covenant. In other words, they are ignorant of Biblical doctrine. (Yes those part of the law, but I do not have time to discuss why God would command such things in this post). That is not to say some of the law should not be followed (no stoning please), but we are no longer bound by it (seriously, no stoning). But I must also point out that although we are free from the law, that doesn't mean we can do whatever we want, because sin is sin and the old law can help show us what is right and wrong.

What does that have to do with going to church? It means you don't have to go to church on Sunday. It's not about following a rule, it's about your heart and desire to worship Jesus. As the apostle Paul writes:

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
-Romans 14:5-9

And again,

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
-Colossians 2:16-17 (emphasis added)

So you can go to church on Saturday or Sunday or even Tuesday. The day is not important, Jesus is, and that is why you don't have to go to church on a Sunday (as long as you are going to church!).

***For those of you that may remember, back in July I wrote that I was going to write a book. Well, I am excited to say that the manuscript has just been completed! I will be giving more updates shortly on what the next steps will be, but I would love your prayers in the mean time.