Eating-Out on Sunday??

[TaterTot]

MRCoon, I have heard the same thing elsewhere. Some say that eating out causes people to work on Sunday and they cant come to church. It perpetuates a cycle. BUT, people are going to be working on Sunday regardless of whether we eat out or not. If we DO go out, we better be gracious to them. I have heard of some that even offer to pray for their server when they say the blessing.

 

[rjprince]

MRCoon,

Sorry I misunderstood. I saw the word "work" in the IP/OP twice and got the wrong idea.

OK. From the testimony side, if it is not about the idea that it is wrong to work on Sunday how does it impact your testimony in a negative way?

Also, someone said there was no evidence for assembly on Sunday, I disagree -- Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1; John 20:19; especially Acts 20:7; 1Cor 16:2; and Rev 1:10...

 

[MRCoon]

Originally posted by rjprince:
From the testimony side, if it is not about the idea that it is wrong to work on Sunday how does it impact your testimony in a negative way?

Ok here's a scenario. I'm at a restuarant and I invite a waitress to Church and she says (probably with an attitude

)"I'd go to church but I have to be here to feed all you church people. If our largest crowd of customers was not church people then we would not be so busy and I could attend church." Or something like this

Now I'm specifically talking about this as a testimony for a Pastor who the community knows is the Pastor. Not neccessarily a layman issue.

 

[tinytim]

What about church on Sunday nights?

When I was working, I couldn't go Sunday mornings, but could on Sunday evenings..

 

[mnw]

MRCoon I think you have a good piece of food for thought.

It is nothing to do with the law. Where did the law get mentioned in the original topic?

I do not preach against eating out Sundays, but I would not do it myself.

For the simple reason that I have invited people to church before who truly wanted to go. But, because they worked Sunday's they were not able to make it.

Now, the law in the UK currently states that no one can be forced to work Sundays unless they agree to in their original contract. And even then if for Faith reasons they then choose not to work Sundays they can easily change that shift.

However, the chance, even if it is a slim one, the chance of someone not being able to go to Church because I wanted a nice meal out is not worth it.

It is not the be all and end all of how a person may or may not come to Christ. But it is a factor I consider worthy of taking into account.

 

[pioneer]

I have a long story to tell:

I was unemployed for a year and a half. On Jan 2, 2006, I applied for a job as a cook at our local Pizza Hut. (Please note: Our Pizza Hut does not serve beer or any other alcoholic drinks.) On my application and during my interview I stressed that I am not available to work any Sundays. I told the manager that I was a Christian and had a religious conviction against working on Sundays.

The Lord must have been in it because I was hired immediately. The job was part-time and involved working 9 am - 2 pm Monday through Saturday. Starting pay: $5.50 and hour. I was told that I would eventually become full-time. The first of February my pay was raised to $6.00 an hour.

In mid-February, several events occured that brought change to our Pizza Hut. Our assistant manager was injured in automobile accident and could no longer work. Our manager suddenly quits her job. A couple of weeks later I was promoted to shift manager and given a raise. I am now making $7.00 an hour as a full-time employee. Our store is a franchise and the owner is the one that promoted me.

We have been without a manager since mid-February. Other area managers have been over-seeing the operation but are growing tired of the work. We had a manager-trainee quit after 2 weeks. We had another person get fired for missing work. I worked 60 hours this past week.

Dan (the owner) has personally thanked me many times for doing a good job. He knows that I have a desire to be the general manager. He also knows that I am a Christian and will not work on Sundays. We had a Pizza Hut inspector come through Friday during lunch. We scored 85% on his evaluation. Dan calls me later that day and tells me that he is pleased. I am given Saturday off to rest my weary bones.

You may be thinking: What does this have to do with eating out on Sundays? Well, I will tell you. I was asked this question by one of the area managers: Do you eat out or go to the store on Sundays? I replied that we don't. I told her that I believe in consistency. She said that she is tired of the hypocrites that go to church and eat out on Sundays.

One time she called my house on Sunday afternoon and I was down in our basement. Someone told her that I went to the store. When I called her back, the first thing out of her mouth was the word hypocrite. I apologized to her and explained that it was all a mistake.

The moral is: The unsaved consider Christians hypocrites when they eat out or shop on Sundays.

 

[StefanM]

The unsaved consider Christians hypocrites for a whole host of reasons, not just eating out on Sundays.

 

[Gina B]

Originally posted by pioneer:


The moral is: The unsaved consider Christians hypocrites when they eat out or shop on Sundays.

It's not really a moral. It's a fact. The unsaved very often see ANYTHING as hypocrisy. I've been told the same for

missing church when sick
going to church when sick
not giving people money if they asked
not babysitting for someone
taking money for babysitting
talking to unsaved people
not talking to unsaved people
witnessing in a bar
not working
working

and the list goes on and on.

If someone wants to find fault with you, they will.

As far as the opening post, I don't think it's a bad witness to eat out on Sundays.
I don't know why you'd be inviting people you meet in restaurants to church though. Why not invite them to your house for dinner on a night you're not working, get to know them, etc.? Maybe they have a church. If they don't, maybe they're unsaved, and in that case you should introduce them to Christ, because why will they want to go to church and worhsip Christ if they don't believe in Him?

 

[MRCoon]

Why not invite them? Inviting them to Church is one of my basic witnessing practices and if time allows I'll go into sharing my testimony and salvation. I find it easier to invite people to Church rather than my home due to the fact that it would be misconstrued/inappropriate for me a man to invite a female waitress (redundant?) to my home for fellowship. Church allows for a neutral site which saves from being taken as being too aggressive (most times).

 

[preach97]

MRCoon,

I understand where you are coming from and where this pastor is coming from. I do eat out on Sundays and do think about the people that are working when they could be in church. It is sorta of a complex issue that each must work out for his own. As of right now I still eat out on Sunday but could change that practice if the Lord convicts me to.

 

[EdSutton]

Sorry! Slow computer ; slow mind ; double post !

Ed

 

[EdSutton]

Romans 14:5-11 answers the question!

Ed

 

[EdSutton]

Originally posted by MRCoon:
I would say that I do indeed drink milk but only from 1% cows...and I'd say this twice

Ed

 

[gb93433]

Originally posted by MRCoon:
I would say that I do indeed drink milk but only from 1% cows...and I'd say this twice

They just charge your for the whole milk and skim the other 2+ percent off and make it into other milk products. The farmer must get above a certain percent just to get the full price for his milk. It is illegal for a farmer to put water in milk.

 

[gb93433]

Originally posted by MRCoon:
He never wanted to invite a person to work and for them to give the excuse, "I can't go just because I work on Sunday at the restaurant you attend, Pastor."

That point would only go so far. I am sure he would not carry that into a hospital atmosphere.

 

[rstrats]

rjprince ,

re: “Also, someone said there was no evidence for assembly on Sunday, I disagree -- Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1; John 20:19; especially Acts 20:7; 1Cor 16:2; and Rev 1:10... “



Mark 16:9, Luke 24:1, 1 Corinthians 16:2 and Revelation 1:10 say nothing about assembling on the first day of the week .

Regarding John 20:19, there is no mention of a religious service. It only says that a group of the Messiah’s followers were afraid for their lives and were in hiding.

As for Acts 20:7, the verse merely says that the disciples got together to eat a meal on the first of the week and that Paul happened to be there to speak to them. The phrase, “to break bread”, does not have to refer to a religious service - unless it is specifically stated - but to dividing flat loaves of bread for a meal. “It means to partake of food and is used of eating as in a meal...... The readers [of the original New Testament letters and manuscripts] could have had no other idea or meaning in their minds” (E.W.Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, pp. 839,840.

Further examples of breaking bread to eat a meal are shown in Luke 24:30-35, Acts 2:46 and Acts 27:35. They broke bread every day of the week according to Acts 2:46. It says nothing about anything being done EVERY first day of the week. It relates the events of this one particular first day of the week, ONLY. It is not speaking of any CUSTOMS, but of events occurring as Paul and his companions concluded their seven-day visit in passing this town. Notice Acts 2:46; "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts" (RSV). Here again "breaking bread" means EATING A MEAL - and not only on the first day of the week, but DAILY.

Also, when Paul was shipwrecked on the voyage to Rome, the sailors had been fasting out of fright. But "Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, 'Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. Therefore I urge you to take some food; it will give you strength...' And when he had said this, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat" (Acts 27:33-35, RSV). Here Paul broke bread to give to unconverted sailors who were hungry.

 

[MRCoon]

Originally posted by gb93433:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by MRCoon:
He never wanted to invite a person to work and for them to give the excuse, "I can't go just because I work on Sunday at the restaurant you attend, Pastor."

That point would only go so far. I am sure he would not carry that into a hospital atmosphere. </font>[/QUOTE]I'm not sure how relevant that is...or the quasi milk discussion for that matter. There are some jobs that have to be filled 24 hrs a day and some that are filled purely for profits sake. As a Marine and with my current job I miss nearly half of the services in a months time.

I understand and agree to the reading of Roms 14 but I was looking more for y'alls testimony or experience on this subject matter.

 

[MRCoon]

Originally posted by gb93433:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by MRCoon:
He never wanted to invite a person to work and for them to give the excuse, "I can't go just because I work on Sunday at the restaurant you attend, Pastor."

That point would only go so far. I am sure he would not carry that into a hospital atmosphere. </font>[/QUOTE]I'm not sure how relevant that is...or the quasi milk discussion for that matter. There are some jobs that have to be filled 24 hrs a day and some that are filled purely for profits sake. As a Marine and with my current job I miss nearly half of the services in a months time.

I understand and agree to the reading of Roms 14 but I was looking more for y'alls testimony or experience on this subject matter.

 

[rstrats]

Romans 14:5-11 answers the question!

Although, Ed is no longer here, Romans 14 says nothing about the Sabbath. The whole chapter from start to finish deals with eating. Verse 20 sums it up - "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food."

 

[Judith]

Has any one ever been taught abotu this issue of 'eating-out' on Sundays? I had a Pastor who never ate out on Sundays...he never preached about it but it was a personal conviction for him. I asked him about it once and he said that it was a testimony thing. He never wanted to invite a person to work and for them to give the excuse, "I can't go just because I work on Sunday at the restaurant you attend, Pastor." I never really thought of this and enjoy eating out especially on Sunday afternoon with family and friends after Church.

So I'd be curious as to ya'lls opinion. Thanks in advance!!

I am not saying that pastor is wrong. He did what he did unto the Lord. That being said there may be other ways to look at this. By the way it is a personal conviction.
What if eating out on Sunday gave you the only time that the waiter/waitress could be witnessed to? How about once the water/waitress brings the order and before he/she leaves say this. We are about to ask a blessing on the food. Is there any need that we can pray for you? I have actually had the one serving join in with us while we stand praying. If the person says that they do not have any particular need for prayer try and give them a tract. Beyond that enjoy your meal, but by all means follow your convictions.