“In an occupation that is not one that demands employment activity in service to The God and man on the Lord’s Day, one may well ask as to whether The God hears such a “prayer” in activities that oppose His determined Will.”
Tebow’s employment contract stipulates that he has to work a lot of Sundays in the fall....we don’t know that he doesn’t often go to church before he has to show up for work. I’m sure he goes to church the other seasons of the year.
I have to work a lot of Sundays taking care of patients as an RN. Don’t forget what our Lord says “The sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath!”
I have to admit, I got way too verbose in the above to be easily understood. I intended to show, for instance, the nurse's work is needed and unavoidable on Sunday; whereas playing football does not fill a critical need on any Sunday.
Tebow’s employment contract stipulates that he has to work a lot of Sundays in the fall....we don’t know that he doesn’t often go to church before he has to show up for work. I’m sure he goes to church the other seasons of the year. (mdmathis)
The issue here is not whether or not he goes to church on Sunday, its when he chooses an occupation that requires him to often dishonor established Christian standards. And then can be criticized by worldlings, who know what the standards are, for making his religion posed and ostentatious. Does he kneel and thank God when one of his teammates scores?
I have to work a lot of Sundays taking care of patients as an RN. (mdmathis)
Of course, but your ministry to the ill can not be compared to employment in merely supplying diversion to the world.
Don’t forget what our Lord says “The sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath!” (mdmathis)
Saying as gently as I can, your thesis here doesn't match the Scriptural context. Let me suggest that you find, read, and think through the several passages when Christ was reproved for certain Sabbath activities. He certainly was not upholding that just any work was permissible on a Sabbath. (Also, check out how many sabbaths the Israelites had.) Now, I'm not trying to "talk down" to you, but if you want to be right:
(1) Christ, being Man, was satisfactorily fulfilling The Law on behalf all men, under God's specifications for behavior under His covenant with Moses and David, and he scolded the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. In one case (Lk. 13:10-16) he was teaching in a synagogue when they brought someone for healing. He was not out playing football someplace.
(2) The football in view here is often played on the first day of the week, not on Sabbath. (Under the Law, you were not even supposed to leave your abode, or even cook meals on the seventh day.) Your quote is directed toward a Sabbath under the moral Law.
(3) But since Pentecost we, the People of the Way, are not under the ceremonial Law. Christians have customarily through the ages set aside and dedicated the first day for honoring the Lord's resurrection/ascension, for the remembering the Lord's death, for memorializing the imparting of the Holy Ghost on regenerated believers, for bringing tithes and offerings for the support of the ministries, and for congregating for public instruction, as well as for just rest and reflection -- not for indulging themselves in diversions and amusement. These are ordinances not to be neglected or disobeyed, if one wishes to please and honor The God. We are not encouraged to place selfish amusements on the same level as reasonable service (Rom. 12:1,2)
If you have come to believe that man was made for sports (and neglecting the assembly), and not sports for the man; and if you elevate Sunday sports as of equal value to your healing vocation as an excuse from churchly duties, you may need to recognize that your standards have become that of the world that is now largely governed by heathen. That has all happened since my days when, as a minister's son, I realized that my Dad's work on the Lord's Day was not trivial -- it was his calling. Oh, we might take a Sunday drive, or go for a picnic; but no stores were open - no bars, either. Then, Sunday was treated as a holy, a set-apart, a special day. But now, the elected and appointed government functionaries have become predominantly heathen in thinking, Sunday "Blue Laws" have been struck down, and the population has become spiritually "dumbed-down" (and their judgment likewise). So have most of the pulpits, AFIK -- there is no longer much restraint of any of the "carnal" desires. Sunday for most has become just another day, but as an entitlement off work. And no reproof against that kind of decadence is tolerated, eh?
With sincere regard --