Featured Is Watching Sports on Sunday Violating Sabbath?

It depends on your view of the Lord's day. From a Confessional Baptist perspective here is what 17-th Century Particular Baptists had to say:

7._____ As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.
( Exodus 20:8; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10 )


8._____ The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.
( Isaiah 58:13; Nehemiah 13:15-22; Matthew 12:1-13 )

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It 's up to the individual-- Romans 14:5-6, Colossians 2:16.

 

Even if Sunday was the Sabbath, even then, no, it would not be a violation of the Sabbath.

 

Did you read the scripture proofs at the bottom?

 

Obviously, it comes down to the individual's choice. The individual will choose to observe the Lord's day as he sees fit, regardless of whether it is commanded in scripture or not. The individual's choice aside does scripture speak to this issue? Consider the following:

1. The Lord blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He rested from all His work of creation (Genesis 2:1-3). This means the first observance of the seventh day was a creation ordinance. It pre-dated the Law of Moses.

2. Israel observed the sabbath day before the Ten Commandments were given (Exodus 16). Here again, observing the sabbath was pre-law.

3. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) is commonly referred to as the Moral Law. The Moral Law cannot impart righteousness but unlike the judicial and ceremonial aspects of the Law, it is very much in effect today. As the name implies it concerns the moral aspects of our faith. Right and wrong. It establishes mankind's duty to God (commandments 1-5) and our responsibility to one another (commandments 6-10). One of our responsibilities to God is stated in Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy."

4. The only significant changes to the sabbath under the New Covenant were 1. Abolishment of sabbath ritual 2. The changing of the sabbath day from the first day of the week. As Baptists, we do not typically use the term "sabbath" to describe the Lord's day but for the sake of discussion, I am using the terms interchangeably.

While not strictly a scriptural argument, there is also the matter of Christ as our King and we, His children, as His subjects. What do you think the King of Kings and Lord of Lord's expects from his subjects? Is He not worthy of worship? Does He not have the authority to demand worship? I believe English Particular Baptists rightly understood this:

1._____ The light of nature shews that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.
( Jeremiah 10:7; Mark 12:33; Deuteronomy 12:32; Exodus 20:4-6 )

How is it not at least a minimum to be expected for Christ's subjects to consecrate one day a week to worship, fellowship, and works of charity? When sports (of any kind) or youth football, soccer, or Little League take precedence over the Lord's day, what does that really say about our sanctifying the Lord in our hearts (1 Peter 3:15)?

Now, do any of us truly honor the Lord the way we should? No. We are the most obstinate of creatures. As D.L. Moody once said, "The problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar." We struggle with abiding sin and fail at our Christian duty often. However, that does not mean that we should willingly disobey. I sit in judgment on no man in regards to the Lord's day. I am just sharing my take on the topic and leave the rest to others to decide for themselves.

 

Yes and you can even have a ham sandwich.

 

Six days and rest one. That is a principle of healthy living. Keeping active, yet set aside time to resolve issues before God.

Not just a part of the day, the whole day.

What day (according to Paul) is of little importance, but there must be a day.

A day in which the believer considers "the Lord's day" (taken from John) in which the believer is to worship in Spirit and in truth.

That stated as a principle, it is very difficult to see personal pleasing activities in which selfish pursuits and praise of human ability is aligned to such a day.

If we are believers who love the Lord with our whole being (heart, mind, soul, strength) and more demonstrate that devotion to Him by resting and worship on one day, then my how silly and ashamed we will be when standing before the Savior should we neglect such a wondrous gift - the gift of devoting a single day of the week to bring honor, praise, offerings, and submission as our reasonable service.

Is it really that impressive to God that believers do not set aside a time to spend even one hour in prayer?

Seriously, folks, can we expect God's hand upon lives in which the greatest joy is in the praise of others?

Why not devote the whole day to gathering as an assembly and bringing honor to Him, rather than a mere hour in which most is taken up with offering, announcements, music, and a few minutes of someone giving a social lesson.

No wonder the church is fast becoming Laodicean.

 

My convictions about Sunday activities allow a bit of sports on the tube before I leave for choir practice, and we always watch the 2nd half of the Super Bowl after the evening service. However, I won't run noisy power equipment on Sunday except to "pull my [allegorical] ox out of the ditch" - snowblowing the driveway (common) or chansawing a tree that's fallen across our dead-end road (rare, and so far not on a Sunday.)