WARNING: The following may make you uncomfortable…may even make you mad!
Last Sunday morning I found myself sitting on a soccer field with one of my children for a tournament game. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining. I was enjoying some fabulous coffee.
I was also experiencing great frustration and conflict. I was frustrated because I could count 20 families from our church who were also at sports games that morning. This meant that these families were not at church.
I was also conflicted as I reflected on how I got into this situation. My husband and I know the value of church family. We know that consistency is very important for our children to build relationships with their church family and to grow as disciples of Christ. We have made many decisions over the years to say “no” to other things in order to say “yes” to church. And, yet, here I was on a soccer field on a Sunday morning! A couple weeks earlier the coach gathered the parents around and presented this opportunity for the soccer tournament that would land on a Saturday and Sunday. The way it was put to us, I felt like I had no choice but to participate. The team wouldn’t be able to play in the tournament unless everyone chose to play. If we said no, we would be letting down 12 other kids.
So, here I was sitting on the sidelines of a soccer game contemplating the predicament of so many families. Many families I’ve talked to about this feel like they have no choice for a variety of reasons. Maybe it’s a sport that our kids love, maybe there are opportunities that would be missed if we pulled our kids, maybe we feel an obligation to a team, maybe there’s real potential in our little athletes that may never be recognized. There are many reasons that we come to the decisions that keep our families away from church. I completely understand how we get there – but I also know the long term effect that missing church will take on our families. And that’s the predicament that has been tormenting me.
Now, I’m not saying that one missed Sunday is going to derail your children’s spiritual growth. But I have noticed that our society is set up to undermine this discipline of regular fellowship with our church family. So unless we are very vigilant to protect our church commitment, we can quickly find that one Sunday missed has become many Sundays missed, and before long church has ceased to be a habit and is reduced to something we do when we don’t have anything else to do on Sunday mornings.
When we say “yes” to one thing, we are saying “no” to something else. I have seen it too easily happen that without meaning to reject church, families are saying “yes” to extracurricular activities – but this “yes” is also a “no” to consistency at church activities and developing relationships with our church family. I have spoken to so many parents who spend years on the field, at the pool, on the ski slopes, in the gym, or in the studio and when they get to the other side of these years have deep regrets. Their children don’t want to go to church, they don’t have relationships with peers or leaders who know and love Jesus, and they have not developed the discipline of making church a priority. These parents who now have grown children have expressed that they would do it different if they could go back and do it again. I have had several parents with grown children express that it was not worth it. They did not carefully guard their priorities and allowed other commitments to push out what was most important. They can look back and see that the time spent on other activities directly affected their children’s relationship with church and this directly affected their relationship with God.
Church attendance is not the goal…however, church is the way that God has provided for people to grow in their knowledge and love of who God is and build relationships with other disciples and from this time of focusing on Jesus and connecting with others who love Jesus we can go out into the world and spread the good news of Jesus Christ and his love with others.
I’m back to my predicament….I know that church is important….I also feel like I don’t have a choice sometimes. Can we learn from the parents that have gone before us? Can we step back a bit and think about the adults that we are raising? What if our children get to their early 20’s and have no relationship with God or other disciples of Jesus? Will we look back and say, “Well, at least they made it to the championships!”? Or will we look back with regrets and disappointment that our priorities were not reflected on our calendar?
Like I said earlier, this particular weekend I could count 20 families in the same position that I found myself in. Most were also frustrated and feeling helpless. Most of my friends find themselves making this no-win choice at some point in the year depending on the season. Many families are even sacrificing rest and are so busy and going so hard that they are making themselves physically sick.
Could there be a better way? What if we ALL joined together and said, “NO! No more sports on Sundays!”? When we were kids, there was never anything scheduled on Sundays. We never had to choose between sports and church. Sundays were saved for church and family and gathering with friends. Can we reclaim our Sundays if we all worked together?
I propose that we give it a try! I also will say that even if our society won’t cooperate, for me and my family I will do what I can to maintain consistency for my children to be at church and build relationships with other kids and youth who know and love Jesus! I will not tell you what is best for your family…I will encourage you to take some time out to prayerfully consider this, talk it over with your spouse, and make sure your priorities determine your calendar and not the other way around.
This post has received quite a few comments, I just posted a response to some of those who are questioning and commenting on the idea that the sports venue can be used to reach those who don’t know Jesus yet. Check it out: http://familydiscipleshippath.com/2014/10/09/sports-field-mission-field/
Family Discipleship Path 
Most Sports are seasonal, so typically its a short term commitment. A lot of people are drawn to sports families (teams) because they feel more accepted there than some churches. I believe in commitment to a local church family and it is of the utmost importance for spiritual growth for the whole family. On the other hand we shouldn’t judge others as less spiritual because they miss a Sunday for a sports game. My family has missed Sundays because my son plays travel baseball. Sometimes it was one or more a month. When we were out of town we would have services at the field or bible study in our hotel. Before we judge those as less spiritual we need to get the whole story. Don’t fall under condemnation for missing a Sunday for sports,but never let the importance of church attendance and church family fall to the way side either.
Thank you for sharing. Great job making a purposeful decision for you and your family.
Remember the Sabbath Day…to keep it Holy…..”Saturday”…..In the beginning there was the word…and the word said let there be light…..and there was light…the first day “SUN” day
I always thought Saturday was the 7th and Sabbath day…recognized in the OT. Christ’s resurrection on Sunday changed our day of worship to Sunday in the NT.
You are right Sat. is the 7th and Sabbath and Sun. the firstday ofthe week. But His resurrection did nit change the Sabbath it modified it. Now the Sabbath couldbe anyday because Jesus did not cancel the law of the Sabbath but fulfilled it and He became the Sabbath. Now if we are Christians and Christ is in us then we are in Him , including the resurrection the everyday is the Sabbath. But Hebrews 10:25 the Word says not to forsake the assembling together of ourselves , in other words going to church. So I do agree we should always as Christians make Church our priority on Sunday. God Bless
The passage in Hebrews tells us to hold fast our confession and to consider how to stimulate to love and good deeds and to do that in the context of a gathered body. The command/instruction is not to assemble but to prepare for participation before we gather.
The law that which was unable to be kept WAS NAILED TO THE CROSS…….it died too. The only part of the 10 commandments that did not carry over to the NT was……Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy……
Then what did Jesus mean when he said he fulfilled the law but didn’t make it void? He showed that it wasn’t just action, but heart too. If you quote Paul when he said that we are not longer under the law, you are saying that Paul is in complete disagreement with Jesus. Which he wasn’t. But what we understand him to say and what he was saying was two different things. The only part of the law that was changed was the need for sacrifices to cover sin. Jesus was our sin sacrifice and it is done. If you check out Zechariah 14:21, which is a description of what to expect during the 1000 year reign, people make sacrifices in Jerusalem. Because there are many reasons for sacrificing that had nothing to do with sin. Research Messianic teachings on this. I believe Messianic Jews have much more of the whole picture than us Gentile Christians.
I agree … the Sabbath is actually Friday evening until Saturday evening, so how does High School Football and Saturday Football/Soccer/Baseball fall into that time-slot ?
If the Holy Spirit tells you to not play on Sunday, then do not play, but if you can witness to people and have team devotionals on Sundays, this may be more effective than a traditional church service … the Early Church had fellowships every day of the week …
Where is that in Scripture?
Be careful of man-made & selective interpretation of the OT laws
Good point; also good column.
Bill you said it best!!!!
Not really; check out the 4th commandment! Most protestant Sunday worship is tradition-based, not scripture-based. Everyone makes their own choices – and will be held accountable for them.
i would beg to differ…i would say catholic worship is tradition based (my husband is catholic-not a bible in any pewat his church-just memorization) and i know at my baptist church we are all pulling out our bible every sunday and reading Gods true words and how to apply them
Wondering if you apply all the scripture about all the gifts being in operation today too. I know my baptist church didn’t but we had bibles in every pew too.
Not only are readings from each old & new testament, a psalm and a gospel read from at each and every Catholic mass, we are all provided with written scripture in pews. And our prayers and traditions are based on the scriptures. You are right, we not only practice tradition, we celebrate it! And one Catholic tradition is weekly mass attendance…not so bad.
Yes it did. We worship on the Lords day.
no it most certainly did not the sabbath is always the 7th day read the bible dont by into churches doctrine
We don’t have the same calendar as people did in OT times.
You are correct, girlinvalpo.
The bible has never stated what day Christ was buried or resurrected. The friday to sunday belief was a creation by the catholic church.
Nonsense. Jesus rose on the first day of the week. The Bible says that. He was buried the afternoon prior to the Sabbath. The Bible also says that. I was not invented by the Roman church.
That is not in the new testament. The Sabbath Day was changed in the days of Constantine to get the pagans involved.
Sunday is a day of WORSHIP! The sabbath was a day of REST not worship! People going to church on Sundays are not violating the sabbath (7th day of the week).
I thought it was “And on the seventh day he rested”.
Sunday is actually the first day of the week, but who is counting as long as we honor the Lord with one day of rest?
The calendars we use in Europe have Sunday as the seventh day. Sunday is the last day of the weekend. Why is this even an argument?
One other thing..how are the behaviors? During this harmless Sunday game..are people getting angry? Are people calling the opposing teams names? Remember this is the day that you choose to keep Holy..it is not a request of God, but a commandment..so if your are not keeping it holy, then you just as well be breaking all of the commandments..
◄ Colossians 2:16 ► New Living Translation
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.
Heb 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Heb 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
Heb 10:27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
We or should I say “I” am guilty of picking out “Bad Sins” – all sin is bad such as: name calling, bad attitudes, self-centeredness, gossip . I sometimes strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Lord us (ME) Lord to be more like you.
Well said.
It’s not just Sunday that you should serve The Lord… It’s everyday. You can’t predict what other’s will do with their life (on the ball field) but how you present yourself on a daily basis… Ball game or not.
I agree. Church should not just be Sunday but any day of the week. You miss Sunday go another day and most churches have something going during the week. If you can’t do that, get your family together for a Bible study that evening. Sometimes sports can only be on weekends due to work and school schedules. Some coaches work on Saturday. I live next to one that does.
True Christians should have Godly behaviors every day of the week not just Sundays.
In 1981, when my children were tiny, 2, 1, and one still in the womb, my husband saw us walking across the softball field where he was about to play softball early one Sunday morning. God spoke to his heart about where he was leading his family. Then it hit him, not just those two little girls and the one in the womb, their future family, our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and etc. would all be effected by his decision to play ball or go to church. That was the last time he chose sports over church. Today, our grown daughters and their families are serving the Lord.
I appreciate this personal story. I have seen the generational effect on families when the parents choose other things over God (because, in effect, that is what choosing sports over church is really doing). Parents who are mildly unfaithful to God generally raise children who take it a step further, who then raise children who progress to the next step. Before long, the grandchildren or great grandchildren are sporadic church attenders, at best, and are nominal Christians. Now, I know this doesn’t always hold true. But I’ve seen it more often than not. That’s why it is so very important to place a high value and priority on God and the things of God.
Also, for those people who say we shouldn’t judge: as humans, it is a natural human tendency to make suppositions and judgments about things in life. We do it all the time about things both spiritual or otherwise. Think about this in terms of making suppositions about a tree based on its fruit. If your “tree” is producing the “fruit” of missed church attendance, what are we supposed to think? It’s none of our business, you say? Okay, but you are still “advertising,” whether you mean to or not.
Ultimately, wherever we land in this topic, it’s a heart issue about priorities and value: where your heart is, is where your actions and words will be, where your time and money will go. It won’t always be easy. Sacrifices will need to be made. But God is worth it. Your children’s spiritual lives are worth it (of so much more eternal value than 10 years of sports).
So I ask: Sports or other activities OR God?
It can be both. I don’t see where Sunday has to be the only day to worship God, 😦
YES! I completely agree!!
it is because that is when the church gathers, so that is the day that is set aside. you can’t gather on Monday because church is not on Monday you cant gather on Tuesday because church is not on Tuesday get my drift. Gathering and worshiping together with other Christians is a call from God do not forsake the gathering.
I would be careful about saying that. I don’t know of any church that gathers on Monday or Tuesdays yet, but I do know of many churches that gather on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I know many people who attend church on one of those days with hundreds of other believers in the same building. Is that not church? Is church not just our corporate worship of how amazing God is? We need to be careful about making the actual day holier than who God is. This is the problem that the Jewish nation experienced underneath the rule of the Pharisees (Sanhedrin). They were so focused on making sure they followed the rules to the letter that they actually missed the Messiah when He came. If we’re not careful we’ll make tradition more important than following Jesus. Are you going to tell someone who attends church on a Saturday that they’re sinning? What is that’s the day that their church has chosen for corporate worship of God? Many times I have wondered that if Jesus were to have come in our time instead of 2000 years ago how many of us would be written about as the “pharisees” of the day.
Well Said Jeff.
Perfectly states, Jeff. I find it ironic and counterintuitive that so many articles from Christian writers/bloggers these days are consistently focused on how Christians are wagging their fingers shame-shaming other Christians for not being as holy as they are. Is it any wonder that that type of evangelizing is Turnimg more people away than bringing them in? My family doesn’t play ball on Sunday’s due to my kids’ particular sports teams ; however, I know many that do who are good and holy families raising their children in Christ. I will admit that within the last few years, my family has enjoyed more holy and truly Christ-centered devotions and moments when we were together outside of the regular church service, which is consumed with the “everyone is awful and disappointing God and by the way, we need you to do more, more, more at church to truly honor him.” Yes, we have tried different churches, but it’s pretty much the country club mentality, the mega church, or what I described above. We still attend, but there are now many Sunday’s when we stay in to silently read God’s word together, pray, sing, and worship as a family. I won’t feel guilty because I know what brings me closer to my Savior. Ci
Most Catholic churches hold a daily Mass (everyday), but they still consider the Saturday evening Mass or Sunday morning Mass as the Mass that is “required”. But to your point (I think) it’s easy to mince words and Bible verses over when to “attend church” and completely miss the point. The point being that you spend time worshipping Christ and fellowshipping with one another to keep us all edified and renewed to our responsibilities as Christians. When debates occur about what is the “Bible Ordained” manner/time of worship, I can only imagine Jesus above, shaking His head saying “don’t you guys get it? It’s not about whether or not your service is at 9 or 9:30, but about getting to know me and allowing me to show you my love!” If the church you feel God has led you to meets on Sundays or Saturdays or any other day of the week, then that’s where you should be when they meet.
I couldn’t have said it better, Debbie! Nice job. Sunday is set aside for most churches to meet and glorify God the Father and to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. Paul specifically says in Hebrews not to neglect gathering together and the church in those days met every day not just Sunday or Saturday…they loved God and wanted to worship Him every day. Some have to work on Sundays and this is understandable but if it is a choice…the choice should be made wisely as to being what’s most important in someones heart.
Well said!
I totally agree with you Debbie…
I really respect that. It’s not about us – it’s about our children and generations after them.
That is really awesome. A life-changing decision for your family but also for your future grandchildren!
I had a very athletic daughter who loved basketball and volleyball. When she got to the 9th grade, some of her teachers encouraged her to join the local CYO and Brier’s BB league. When I found out all the practices and tourneys were on a Sunday, I just said that wasn’t an option for us as a family. She was disappointed and pouted a bit. Then she wanted to sign up for league volleyball, and being almost 6 feet tall the coaches were eager to have her. Again practices were every Sunday from 11- 1pm but tourneys were on Saturdays. I had to tell the coach that Sunday was not an option as not only was it church but my daughter played the drums for worship every other Sunday. A week went past and the coaches called us and said they switched her age group to Monday nights instead! My daughter excelled at volleyball, got a scholarship to play in college and is now a head women’s volleyball coach at a wonderful Christian university in Indiana. And yes she goes to church every Sunday and plays the drums on occasion. Hard decisions but huge benefits.
Your daughter sounds like mine (BB, VB, Drums) and she was born in Bloomington (I graduated from IU). My daughter stopped playing BB & VB and picked up soccer and Tennis. Keep us in your prayers as we hustle through balancing church and sports world.
It sounds like God blessed your decision to keep your family in church and teach your children the importance of worshiping on Sunday! Good work!
My dad was a pastor. Missing Sunday church wasn’t even in the dictionary in our home, except possibly when a death certificate was involved. When I reached 9th grade I practiced with the school basketball team every day after school — every day except Wednesday. My family always went to prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings so that & homework took priority over basketball. The penalty for missed practice (regardless of the reason) was 2 swats with a paddle administered by the coach. (Yeah, this was a LONG time ago!) Every Thursday before practice I and 2 other guys who went to prayer meetings on Wednesdays went to the coach’s office for our “appointment.” (I’m sure that he would be arrested today, but back then his policy was followed, may I say, “religiously,” and nobody thought that it was all that noteworthy.) Anyway, that went on for 2 yrs until I transferred to another school. I’m certain that our commitment to attending church, while at first eliciting sneers from the coach and others, came fairly quickly to be an item which engendered respect. It was quite interesting that those 2 swats, after the first 2 or 3 Thursdays, got to be pretty tame. Suffice it to say, my family’s commitment to church attendance had a direct impact on me and my siblings. We’re all adults with children of our own. All of us faithfully attend various churches with the children who are still at home. I and another brother raised our families in foreign countries as missionaries and our adult children (and our grandchildren) all attend their churches regularly. That’s 4 generations of regular church attendance. Is there a connection between the decision to endure those Thursday evening appointments and these results? What do you think?
I couldn’t agree more
Powerful testimony. One I needed to hear, being a father of 4 very athletic children this is a major issue confronting our family as well… Thanks for sharing……
Way to go
Rarely do we have a tournament weekend that we can’t find a church with a Mass that we can attend that fits with our game schedule. My kids enjoy going to Mass out of town and they are learning that the Church is truly universal. On the rare occasion that there is not a Catholic Church close enough to the tournament site, or with a Mass time that we can make it to, then we make time before everything starts on Sunday to read the Bible readings and reflection for the day and discuss it and pray together. A church home and family is very important, and we love ours very much, but church is about more than one place of worship. Attending church out of town is a great reminder that we can be with God and put our faith first wherever we are.
Kim G., This is a really interesting point you bring here. I agree with the author of the article, and we have made it a priority not to participate in events that regularly require us to be away from our home church on Sundays, but your statement about finding another body of believers with whom to worship on Sundays when you must be away from your local body bring back memories of my grandparents. They never missed services when they were home, which was almost always. But when they vacationed, they always made a point to find a local church to visit wherever they were. They made so many friends over years of travel. I have recollections of going to church away from home when traveling with them. It made an impact on me as a young person that, just as you stated – the true Church is not limited to a single location! It’s the sum total of believers all over the world.
I believe that parents should be at all their children’s events.The family can go to an evening service, They also could have someone tape the sermon, watch a sermon on TV or have devotions together after dinner.
But will they do those things?
I think it depends on the family. If spirituality and worship is ultimately important, their priority will be to “make it up” somehow, someway. I am in grad school in the summer, my husband works six days a week, sometimes seven, and while we may not make the 2+ hour commitment to church services (by the time you include getting dressed, getting there, and getting back home), we certainly make Bible stories and prayer time a priority even if we aren’t physically in a church building. I strongly believe Sundays should be for worship and family time and schools, sports teams, and community organizations should respect and help support the preservation of the family unit and time by staying away from scheduling events. Unfortunately this is not our culture anymore, and unless the boldness of a few help change the tide, this will continue to be the norm. Ultimately, I believe this is the premise of the original article.
I think one point we are missing from the author is that maybe if all of us joined together, we could remove the conflict from any type of activity that would interfere with our church services. My son plays traveling basketball and most of the time we end up playing on Sunday during a worship service, and at the same time no games were scheduled for the previous Friday night. Not so many years ago the games would be played Friday night, all day Saturday, early Sunday morning and if needed they would resume at about 1 o’clock Sunday afternoon…usually for the championship rounds. Everyone could still have time for family worship and still participate in the activities. As time went on, times were changed and everyone went along for the sake of “maybe this will be the break my child needs to excel”. Probably none of our kids are going pro and if they are good enough to play at a higher level, I am positive that not playing on a Sunday morning will not interfere with their ability.
Dale, I like your idea. My husband is an Minister and for us missing church was not an option, especially for sports. My boys are grown now but when they were young they had baseball on Wednesday nights. We went to the leaders of the church and ask if we could have a Bible study, devo for the children and families who participated in sports. We had several families come at 5:00 on Wednesdays. Our children learned the importance of commitment to both church and their teams. There are always good options. Parents have to be willing to make a stand. Today my boys are in their 20’s and both are still faithful to God and church service.
I knew there would be comments on this blog about being “judgmental”. That is the Christian’s favorite excuse for not confronting sin in other believers and for excusing their sin when being confronted about it. Please read the Bible where Nathan is sent by God to confront King David about his sin. Was Nathan being judgmental? This brought David to repentance. Read about Jesus confronting the religious people about their sin, and even His disciples about their sin. Jesus publicly rebuked people about their sin, especially those who knew the law…was He being judgmental? There are people who are going to hell because of their sin…there are Christians living complete lives of compromise who are going to suffer terrible consequences due their brothers and sisters in Christ being so afraid of being labeled judgmental that they won’t be “Nathan” to them. I pray for people in my life to show me my own sin when I can’t see it. I pray for it. It has brought me to repentance many times.
I absolutely love your comment and can not even begin to tell you the importance of your words in my life today. Thank you for the simplicity and basic lesson of remembering right and wrong and “helping” one another, in love, to do what is right….thank you
Thank you! Love you, sister!
I am a little confused. Are you stating that missing Sunday morning church service is a sin? And is that if you miss one Sunday, or two, or…how many?
We are called to administer this kind of “rebuke” in love. Blasting somebody you don’t know on social media, is not loving.
good point
I didn’t see any ‘blasting’ in this article.
I saw no one ‘blasting’ anyone. I only saw people who made decisions in their own and their families lives, and spoke of it to others, as possibly a guide to others who may have the same or similar problems with time and conflict of interest. I thought they were very good lessons, and one could learn from them if one were seeking some leadership. If one is only looking to cause dissension, then, of course, your (Mahlstadt 6) item may make some sense, but not really.
I think maybe this might have hit a little close to home for you to think you were unlovingly blasted. My children are grown and as I read the article there is no blasting, just some thoughts and ideas about living a Christian life in a secular world. I wish I had had some basic guidelines to consider when my kids were growing up.
Of course it is a sin. Is it not a commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy? Wouldn’t this include putting other activities before church?
What activities do you do on Sunday that would cause others to have to decide on a job or church, like eating out, stop by the store etc. What defines a Christian? If you are on the soccer field do you show Christ’s love and share Christ with those around you? Jesus seemed to share his message more outside of the church building than within the church building (synagogues). That is where he met the ones that need to hear his message. Yes we need the church family and should not make a habit of missing but where two or three are gathered so there I am also. Do we include Christ in all we do or is it only about the game and we leave God back at the church? Take God with you where ever and whatever you do.
Thank you! Exactly my thoughts.
Well spoken, CL. In my world growing up, I learned by living it, to departmentalize my life into separate categories: home, work, play, church, sports, etc., and to think of myself as a homemaker, employee, church member, team member, etc. As I’ve matured in my walk with Christ, something seems wrong with this picture.
First of all I am a Christian, a baptized believer, a member of God’s family, the church. That is true whether I’m at home, at work, at play, at church activities or at sports. I don’t dress more or less modestly, I don’t change the way I speak, etc. I try to behave as a follower of Jesus, producing the fruits of the Spirit wherever I am, to please my Lord and influence those with whom I have contact. Do I fail? Absolutely!! (1 John 1:7 But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin.)
When our children were at home and to this day, Jesus and His family (the church) were and are our life. That’s who we are…..wherever we are. Some times (not as a habit), we must miss a scheduled church meeting for one reason or another, but we still know who we are and to whom we belong, and we make every effort to honor Him with our lives. Written with love.
I couldnt agree more! Not only should your faith be a ‘way of life’ but check your church life…if it is controlling your relationship with the Lord than perhaps it needs to be reevaluated. There is a difference between religious and religion. You cant allow yourself to feel guilty when your heart is in the right place based on Gods given peace for you.
Thank you, CL.
Outstanding CL!!!
I appreciate this comment. Its application goes way beyond sports and the choices they present. In fact, this topic is very blog worthy in itself.
Very true, keep up the good work bgsawyer I totally agree.
Well spoken. This subject comes up so frequently. Sadly, I think it shows the lack of Biblical dependency must of Christianity is plagued with. Scripture is clear that Christians are to hold each other to account, in love, seeking to root out sin from each others lives.
Thank you for providing a Biblical perspective to a sensitive issue and speaking from personal experience.
You’re welcome! Thank you for the comment! Love!
Jesus has the right to be judgmental. You don’t.
“My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5.19-20). Clearly this indicates sin is to be confronted, acknowledged, and dealt with. However, the motivation for confrontation in this passage is one of love, not condemnation.
Good thoughts, Breawna! There is a difference between being judgmental and judging wisely. Note that the one who doesn’t want to be held accountable will accuse the wise judge of being judgmental.
Agreed. Everything we do should be out of love.
Thank you bgsawyer for your comments. I needed to be reminded of the need to confront, and to not be afraid if the Lord is calling me to.
Sometimes God is going to send us out of love! Love you, sister!
Excellent response! Right on the money.
Very well spoken, bgsawyer!
Great response! Thank you!
@bgsawyer Nicely put. “Don’t judge me” is too often used today. I’m sure that David was grateful that God sent Nathan.
Nathan’s obedience to do something that I am sure was not comfortable for him, is an example to us all!
I agree with you completely it is a sad day we live in the bible clearly callsus as believers to hold one another accountable. The often resonant is the partially quoted scripture of judge not less ye be judged in order to understand what is being said you must read the rest of the verse. The whole verse says judge not less ye be judged in the same maner. As believers we are not only told to judge right and wrong but to set the standard of right and wrong in accordance with gods holy word.
Ebeth, you are EXACTLY correct. Once again, too many Christians and non-Christians take only the first part of that verse. People need to understand the context of any verses they may use in the bible.
I think what is most important is the attitude of the person giving the correction or confronting sin. Is it out of a position of self-righteousness or true concern for the betterment of the other person? Unfortunately, I think the Church, in general, has rightfully earned the “judgmental” stigma because finger pointing or “confronting” has come from an attitude of self-righteousness. Love is what is supposed to make us different! Jesus said that is how it would be known we are His disciples, because we love each other. Now, this is not to go to the other extreme and ignore things. We are called to hold each other accountable – but in LOVE and not through condemnation! I think this blog addresses a concern for all of us – not just with our kids’ activities, but what are our priorities in general. Church is not just a Sunday morning activity. We are called to be the Church all of the time, 24-7; 365 days a year. Whether on the field, in the gym or the sanctuary. What is the condition of our heart?
Mahlstadt6, I didn’t see any ‘blasting’ here. FDP is sharing a conviction that is no doubt one shared by others.
Amen…well said!!
You are right on sawyer. If there is no sin, then why did JEsus die? I dont look at people with a judging heart, but I teach what the Bible says and the Bible said there would be some who wouldnt listen. My son plays sports, but we have to remember the ole devil wants our time too.
Hi bgsawyer,
Replying directly to your response regarding Nathan confronting King David… We should remember that God told Nathan to confront David and Nathan was obedient. Sometimes I think because we “know” the what the word says that puts us in a place where we think we can speak into someone’s life about how they are living without praying about it and allowing God to show us how to approach (or not) that person, or simply just pray for wisdom and understanding for that person to hear from God themselves, eyes to be opened and ears to hear and a heart to receive… The Bible does say that “…with the same measure we judge others God will judge us…” Regarding Jesus rebuking the Pharisee’s, it would also do us good to remember that Jesus said that “he (Jesus) does nothing that his Father does not tell him to do…” Both situations you bring up talk about direct revelation from God… Not all believer’s operate in with that foresight when taking it upon themselves to correct… 2 Tim. 3:16. The Word of God is where we need to stand and live not on our own good intentions and sometimes it unfortunately is spoken out of head knowledge and not heart knowledge…
This is priceless, being reminded of the story of Nathan, just what I needed today for I, as of last night called someone out for their sin and of course they claimed I was judging them. In prayer and hopes that they will turn from their sin and ask for forgiveness from the Lord. I am really grateful for each one that sees the importance of church on Sunday, for it is the day of rest and worship to all, and to say no to sports on Sunday is one good decision. Hopefully this will be carried over to many and more will say no. And yes I may have called someone out for their sin, but I also told them I am a sinner and thank God for His grace and that He can forgive me.
Is Nathan’s confrontation with David about adultery and murder really an appropriate comparison here?
Yes, unless we want to excuse our own sin.
Sure it is! The message is that sometimes God sends other people to help us along in our walk!
bgsawyer, Amen! I get so tired of hearing people say you are being judgmental when you try to warn them what the bible says about sin. They are feeling guilty that’s why they say you are judging them. The bible tells us that we should judge ourselves, so God doesn’t have too. That means we have to repent, and ask God to forgive us of our wicked ways, but some people don’t want to be warned, they want to live in their sins. I always say that people shouldn’t be mad at us for telling them the truth, they should take it up with God because He is the one they are mad at, it is His words of correction written in the Bible. God is just using us sometimes as the messenger. A good Godly friend will warn us about what God’s word is trying to tell us to help us. There has been times in my own life that good Godly friends have warned me of things in my own life that wasn’t right. That’s when I had to make it right with the Lord and not get mad at the messenger.
Amen Sandra!
Amen Sister!
Amen! “Don’t judge me!” is such a cop-out, to borrow that expression. Whatever happened to Christians who, instead, said, “If eating meat causes my fellow believers to offend, I won’t eat it”? We’re such pansy Christians in the USA today that God and His Word tends to take second (or third) place to what we think or feel.
Well said bgsawyer! I am a pastor and I get that all of the time. “You cannot judge me and if you do you are sinning.” Jesus said in John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” There is noting wrong with a Christian judging the sinful practice of another Christian. That is how we help one another when we do it in a proper, Christ-honoring manner.
The truth is, we worship, not in a manner convenient to us, but prescribed by God. While it is mainly tradition that we worship on Sunday, it is based on the resurrection of our Lord. Go to corporate worship on Sunday. If you put anything else in the way you are committing idolatry.
But here’s the deal–there are 6 other days in the week to play, so it’s not like anyone will be deprived by not playing on one day. However, those who, for religious reasons, choose not to play on Sunday are penalized and made to feel like garbage for their choices. That’s the part that isn’t right.
Good point
Matthew 5:11-12
There are 6 other days to play but what sports are we talking about here? Most tournaments are 2 day events and Saturday is usually pool play and Sunday is Bracket play. Everyone can’t travel Thursday night to play Friday. I’ve seen parents hold their own mini service before games and talk the word with their child. M-F is usually for practice unless you are playing in an organized league that can play during the week. I have friends in the NFL that made sure they went to Wednesday/Thursday service to make sure they had their priorites in line.
Remember the SABBATH and keep it HOLY. It’s not about keeping priorities in line, it’s about serving God with all of your heart soul and mind and obeying His commands. We are not supposed to rearrange things to fit our own agenda (ie: I can’t go to Sunday service because I am playing in a game, so I’ll just go another day and “get in my church for the week”.) Even if we think we are doing the “right” thing; if a decision is not biblically based, a person might want to think about wether or not it’s the right thing to do. We alway shave the choice to serve God – always.
You sound more like a Pharisee than a Christian, so I’m sorry for you to be living under the law as the Pharisees certainly did. Jesus didn’t preach that 1 day a week be kept as holy. Are you sure that the commandment to keep one day a week as holy transfers to the New Testament church which met daily in homes (etc.)? Are you sure that Sunday is the original Sabbath Day? According to the Jewish Halakha, the Sabbath is from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night? Are you talking about this commandment? Or is there another commandment, supported by Jesus’ teaching, about another Sabbath on Sunday? My point is that if you’re not keeping to the ACTUAL O.T. LAW OF SABBATH, how can you hold others to it? Do some research…you will experience much more freedom and assurance of the work of the cross if you do 🙂
I think Delight In Him was pointing out the principle and heart-implication in that verse to NT Christians today, rather than the actual OT law meaning. I could be wrong, but that’s what I gathered from the comment.
The whole “Sabbath” argument often gets thrown around as much as the “don’t judge me” argument does by Christians who really don’t want to follow God and His Word. I’m not saying this is true about you; I’m just pointing out how clear teachings and/or principles in God’s Word are overlooked when the water is muddied, so to speak, because we just don’t want to obey Him. We’d rather follow what we think and feel (as long as we can “argue” it) rather than simply obey God. (And I realize that “simply” is really not the best word, since wholly obeying God often means much sacrifice in today’s world.)
Amen Debbie! Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.” And to my Biblical understanding, His statement does not apply to only one sin. It is all about Christ, honoring Him and having a heart that desires His glory, honor and our obedience. We fail … and He forgives. However, when we use excuses over and over again to justify what WE want or want to do, something about that picture makes me think about how often we can be ‘middle of the road’ and God says He will “spew us out of His mouth” in Revelation if we are ‘lukewarm’ to Him and His calling on our lives.
we also need to consider what example we are setting for our children. Will they put God first in their lives?
Being “penalized” or “mAde to feel like garbage” is a good lesson for kids and parents to learn in being persecuted for doing right. Christians today have very little concept of what REAL persecution is. I recommend reading Foxx Book of Martyrs to help Christians understand how good we have it today.
Growing up in a Christian home where missing church for sports or our teenage jobs was not an option, at age 30 now and having Facebook to show me where all my peers are at, it’s astounding how true this article has proven itself to be in my firsthand experience of who is still in church and who have abandoned it altogether. Very insightful. Thank you
Sadly, so very true, Christy!
I brought up this issue to my son’s soccer coach years ago, and very often. I could tell the other parents thought I was out of line. It was very uncomfortable. When possible, we took soccer clothes to church, changed and got to games a little late, if they were in town. Otherwise, we skipped church (which I do NOT think is a sin) so he could play–soccer was very important to him and he was a team leader. Privately, I pointed out that having been raised in the church was part of what made him the leader he is, and the coach didn’t seem to “get it” but did, on many occasions remark that my son was an outstanding young man as well as an outstanding athlete. We missed church quite a few times, but my son understood the conflict. Looking back, it all worked out. That son is now a high school basketball coach, and more understanding than most when kids miss practice for a family or church obligation.
There are also 6 other days of the week to go to a job, but those same people who are speaking against missing church for kids sports are often the same ones who do not even consider taking a stand against working on Sunday. Many of these would not ever consider taking a pay cut to stand for their faith. I don’t disagree with many of the comments, but we select others failures and don’t address our on How many of those who speak out against sports on Sunday go out to eat after church every Sunday…. causing others to have to work and miss service themselves. If all churchgoers stopped eating out, many reasturants would have to start closing on Sunday.
Restaurants closing on sundays? Why not have everything closed? Tell those single mothers that work their hind ends off to make a living for their kids, to not work on sundays. There are many examples of people who have to make tuff decisions. Going to eat AFTER church affects church services how? Funny as Christians we get so caught up in these small things, such as restaurants being closed, that we are missing so much of what is important. Many aspects of some churches is indeed mimicking how the pharisees were. It’s no wonder people shy away from organized religion. I shudder reading some of these comments…..How would a non-believer reading these responses feel or think? I believe with all of my heart that Jesus is disappointed with Christians and how we handle ourselves. Jesus is love, love is compassion, love is not condemning someone that misses church. Love is “he who is without sin, let them cast the first stone” (including me) I try to focus on winning non believers to the lord. Maybe I end up helping a non believer to know Jesus while I am standing on that field watching my child. Maybe I set an example of what it means to be a Christian out on that field. Always surrounding ourselves with like minded folks means we are missing out on bringing those that are suffering to the lord. There is a time for EVERY purpose…….
Okay, so I’ll tell my Christian firefighter/EMT husband he can’t work on Sunday. I guess no one better get in a car accident or have a house fire, because he won’t be there to help.
There’s a difference between missing a sunday and multiuple sundays, which I think the article addresses. Hockey is especially bad for that where I live (the great white north), where the weekend games/tournaments are far and on Sunday EVERY week. And the season is long, early fall to springtime.
Definitely a struggle I can see in their lives, especially when the kids show athletic promise. I don’t judge, I’m not there yet. But as a youth leader, I can see the lost opportunity to get to know these kids both for myself and for other youth them through youth events, as the practices are during the week for the weekend games!
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Jenn for sharing. I have 4 boys who play hockey in Virginia. Ice time is hard to find & yes we have games on Sunday mornings. We go to church when we can & thankfully our church has Sunday evening youth group & bible studies for adults. I struggle with this a lot but find myself trying to share devotions with my children on game days & tournament weekends. I have found some wonderful Christian moms through the weekend tournaments. My husband & I do the best we can & I know we are judged because of the choices we make.
I Certainly don’t feel the article was condemning anyone for choosing sports over church on an occasional Sunday. The point made by the author is a very good one and can’t be missed by just saying “to each his own.” As a dad of four we faced this many Sundays and always made it a priority to find a church service where we were on a Saturday or Sunday night. All four of our children have played or are playing college sports and our family motto with no regrets was “God gets first!” More importantly they are all following Jesus today! Great article 🙂
Mike….good add to a good blog. You broadened it out & kept God front & center. God gets 1st. Amen. Thanks! Bob Thomas
Could I publish this article in our church newsletter? Thank you for your consideration.
Loving and serving Jesus together,
J.Frank Williams
Oak Hill Christian Church
Corinth, MS
Of course 🙂
She did not judge anyone. She shared her thoughts and how it affected others and asked if anyone else felt the same way and if so then stand together with her to take back our Sundays! I agree with her. If you don’t want to, that is your right but don’t belittle what she says and twist the words!
Ok here goes:
I have several statements and points to make here. First of all Ladonna is right she is not judging anyone she is simply stating how she feels and asking for opinions. My father is a minister and a retired school teacher. My sister and I grew up going to his church that was ran by him and his best friend. In this church they allowed anyone to come without judgement. They would have a Saturday night and Sunday morning service. They also held Bible studies on Wednesday nights. Now my dad’s friend Chet had grown children. My Dad and mom were younger and had my sister and I. I was very involved in clubs and sports all threw school. I was also in choir at school and sang on the worship team at church. My parents fully supported me in my activities and if my dad needed to go to a game or concert etc. Chet would do the service. Yes we might have missed a service here and there but we didn’t miss out on any Christian values. Also I appreciate to this day the values and friendships Iearned being a part of those teams. My point is that you can find other ways to keep God in your life and attend church services. It is also important for kids to have the option to participate in other activities. It gives them a sense of value and importance especially when the parents support them. Also no one is going to hell for missing a church service. Most churches have more than one service. I take my son to church but there are several services to choose from. Also part of the problem with Churches in all denominations is Judgment on other people including fellow Christians. My father didn’t allow it to go on in his church he would nip in the bud immediately. We all fall short and sin at times and no one is perfect but any one from any walk of life should be allowed to attend any church without fear or judgment. Sorry about the long response but as you can tell I feel very strongly on this subject.
The author isn’t judging anyone. They are posing a thoughtful topic to consider the outcome. It’s not condemning or critical and not judging
you are right
Judgement and condemnation comes only from a Holy God, but if we feel as though we are convicted or feeling uneasy about a decision that we have made then that is good because The Holy Spirit is dealing with us to make better choices. Life is about making choices. And we are, as saints of God, called to be in the world but not of the world. So our lives should be a continual worship service 24/7, but if we find ourselves distracted then we need to prayerfully consider where our focus is directed and on what. We must not quietly duck down as Christians so as not to offend people, but rather be the “called out ones of God” and let God dictate what we do!
Thank you for the reminder, John, to be ‘called out ones’.
I don’t think that the author was judging. More like putting thoughts to paper. I don’t think he/she even mentioned families that don’t attend church at all. Just the position of those that do. We have all struggled with this and most of us are not as diligent as you were to conduct worship and bible study with the team while out of town. The occasional tournament is not a problem but many club sports totally disregard that their paying players do attend church and it is a conflict. Until high school I told coaches that my kids would be there as soon as service was over if it was local. Considering the level of talent and effort put forth from my kids since then, I am glad that we didn’t miss. 🙂 I figure if they have real talent, they will still have real talent if they miss a few games or if their team is not the state champions.
Excellent thoughts, Kelsey. I am a former high school baseball coach, I saw many more talented players who had burned out from too much baseball than talented players who couldn’t catch up from lack of experience. I know from putting too much emphasis on sports myself that they are great tools for teaching character but poor gods.
nice read. In the 70’s, my brother and I were made to choose between Wednesday meeting and football practice (not a game!) Our daddy did not decide for us; but, told us to decide. (We knew what he wanted, and what we thought God wanted.) We explained to our coaches that we needed to get off on Wed. in time for church. We just knew he was going to kick us off the team. He paused, and then announced, “I am going to turn out practice early, for everyone, so we can all go church!” (this was NOT a Christian, private school) Imagine our surprise?! To God be the glory!
It’s called responsibility to do our part that benefits the long run of life and what was said in this write up is true. What will you take at the end of your life. The saying “Only one life will past…. What’s done for Christ will last”. I promise you that what time you spend in church will benefit you far more then what you spend on the ball court. It’s been proven over and over. No judging just truth.
I agree, take it to yourself to make sure you read the bible or talk aboutt he bible, its more than just one day a week.. Its 7 days a week… what about the people that have to work every weekend, not on a ball field, Does it make them less a christian… You need to live it every day. God knows who stands strong with him in or out of a church.. Bless you for your thoughts.
Good Point!
I feel very sorry for parents who have to work every weekend. We all know how it’s easy to slip away from it all. One weekend here and then it’s another one and another one. I’ve a friend who has gotten into the habit of working every weekend and never goes to church. He knows it’s wrong. We NEED each other. We NEED to be in the Lord’s house. We NEED to make it a high, high, high priority in our lives. Otherwise, 10 years from now we’ll look and say, “What happened?”
Soccer is one of the greatest offenders of eating up family time and taking Sundays away from families – year round . In my mind, I felt our family was devoting too much time, energy, traveling to sports instead of other activities that a child should be self motivated to participate in. It also makes the child a little self-centered to have the family revolve all of its family schedule and energy around their sports. The next realization is how these sports pull you out of the church community and other adult communities. What happened to sports being a local activity that allows the adults to still participate in adult activities? When and why did it become so important to devote so much of our adult downtime to our children’s sports? Why the directed and supervised activities all of the time? This does not make for a balanced family life let alone a spiritual one.
“One or two times a month” doesn’t sound like a lot. Let’s look at a percentage of days. At best,one or two times a month considering 4 Sundays a month. That is half your Sundays that is to be reserved for honoring God, learning scripture, fellowshipping with believers and focusing on worship. The other statistic, I think applies, is that most people only start out with 4 days out of 30 about 12%. And time wise the average Christian that is “faithful” to church (Sunday morning only) that is 3 hours out of 112 waking hours in a week. It’s not that many to begin with. How many sports families would miss school for a game? It is not about level of spirituality,it’s about priorities. Matt. 6:21. Where your treasure is there your heart is also. There is a spiritual battle for our hearts even more so than our time. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life Prov. 4:23. our time is a good thermometer. It is not about judging others. You may try to justify your actions, but let God be true and every man a liar. Romans 3:4.
the “world(devil) will try to get “.GOD’S” people any way he can. We must put GOD 1st in every thing, they do and are watching our lives and how much GOD really is important. “WHAT would JESUS do?”
Wow ! Can’t believe some of what I am reading. I can only say that there is no distinction for me in what activity I participate or my kids participate in as long as I believe that is what I am called to do. There is nothing secular in my life if I believe the following verse : “I have brought glory to God by completing the work He has given me to do.” Everything I do – work, sports, play, volunteer, etc is an act of worship to me and there is nothing that God isn’t a part of, so to make a distinction as Melonee has above implies that “life” – which involves many things other than attending church, somehow isn’t in balance if we don’t spend “x” number of hours inside a church. I don’t accept that I can only honor God on a Sunday morning or be fed spiritually only between the hours of 10:00 – 12:00 on Sundays. I am grateful for a church that offers Saturday evening services, 3 Sunday morning services and a Sunday evening service and that they don’t take roll or send me a time card showing when I punched in.
I totally agree with Tim Jones! missing a few Sundays because something is going on is not going to cause your kids to grow up and not have a relationship with God… Now dont get me wrong i can see where YOU may feel this way and with that being said YOU need to not miss any Sundays for whatever reason, however dont think that just because thats your conviction that everyone elses relationship with God is so weak that ocassionally missing Church is going to hender something….We miss sometimes due to family being in town sometimes due to visiting family out of town, sometimes of a sports game or even a family outing and I asure you that we take our God with us…
I think it’s important to remember that whatever we do instead of church tells our children that this activity is more important than church. It tells them, it’s okay to miss church if it’s for ___ event or activity. I sure want my kids to know that nothing is more important than gathering with God and the believers… Including work.
I don’t see the phrase less spiritual anywhere in her article.
good one
Tim
It is not about judging a person it is about judging the actions of a person. The Bible says “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” A god in your life is something elevated above the service of the true God. Even if for one Sunday, you choose a sport over worshipping God your are still elevating something above Him. The next time you are at a travel baseball game ask yourself one question: Where would God prefer me to be right now, here at a baseball game with no eternal value or in His house worshipping Him? The answer is clear.
I completely understand with you, alot of people do judge others without knowing everything.
I tend to think that it’s pretty much observation, other than judging. If people see you falling away from the Lord and His family of believers (the church), then it’s pretty easily observable what’s happening. Instead of talking about it, we need to take the need to the Lord in prayer, because it’s certain we can’t do any convicting. Only the Holy Spirit can get people to put their priorities back into place. We do need to let our children know what is the most important to us.
So who is Number one in your Life? you make the choice!!!
Both of my daughters have been involved in sports since they were children through high School. But we have always minimized sports on Sundays to do church life together. Now as the Lead Pastor of our church I can see the effect it is having on our families who are not worshiping together consistently because of sports.
Sports will come to an end but life to life church family experiences are life impacting. _Pastor Garcia Bethel Houston
This was not a judgemental article. The author was just calling you to think about it and pray about it. To judge is to condemn, to be judge, jury and executioner. He was asking you to think about your behavior in light of Scpiture. I think to often Christians scream “don’t judge me” to avoid listening to the encouragement that comes from brothers in Christ.
Seasonal but having children, children change activities for different
seasons band, chorus, cheer-leading, or sports they keep on going, I tried to find coaches who went to church also to up my chances of not practicing on Sunday. The devil will try to steal your time too.
.
I can see nothing judgemental in this article.
Very nicely put! Church is more than going to a building on Sunday. Church can be anywhere you chose
Well, no. Church is church. Not church is not church.
Um no, THE Church is a body of believers, not a building. The Bible doesn’t say “stop gathering at your middle to upper class, Americanized church building on Sundays”, it says “don’t stop gathering together.
Well, which is it? Which IS more important? That is where your heart is, all protestations to the contrary.
Your answer is very accurate… My daughter has played volleyball for years and will be graduating this year and moving on to Liberty to play vball. We have used this sport as a ministry as my daughter has had ample opportunties to pray (we with parents) with her teams over the years. God gave her these skills to be used for His Glory. We also attend Church at our host cities when we are away, however, some folks think you are missing Church when you are not at your home Church.
When my daughter was playing competetive softball we often had Sunday games during tournaments. At the time we were not regular church goers but one organization came up with a solution. They had a minister come out and they had a service at the sports field before the games started on Sunday morning. I agree it is not a substitute for church family but it is a way to compete, have church fellowship, and do mission work and carry the word of the Lord. It was an optional service but there were often 40 or 50 players and their families that attended.
I think you should forget the “Don’t judge me” clause and look at the long term of what slacking up on Sunday worship has done to our society. Parents are responsible for properly raising their children in the nurture and admonition of The Lord. Our society has pushed God and Church attendance so far back on the shelf that it is no longer a priority, so as children grow up, God and Church are “nice” to have but the most important things are “other” things. There really is no reason to argue the point, just look at the Church today and the respect that much of society doesn’t have for it.
Everything in life is about balance. We can even over-do good things. … Condemning others just because we disagree with them on something is not scriptural.
◄ Colossians 2:16 ► New Living Translation
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.
You are taking God’s word out of context! God is God no matter what. He is to be our All in All. Fully woshipping Him is certainly not “too much of a good thing”. He is holy and almighty and we will all stand before Him one day. Do we want to do so knowing we have been lukewarm? We can not treat our Creator who gave us life like He is some sort of a hobby.
I play travel softball and have a strong Baptist faith. I play on Sundays. That is a decision i make. But the KJV bible says anywhere there are multiple people worshiping God is to be considered a place of worship. we hold devotions before every Sunday game and invite other teams to join. To me spreading the gospel to others on a Sunday at the ball field is just as amazing as sitting on a pew. I know the feeling of having a church family too but when i have a chance to introduce a stranger to God it feels great.
you can introduce strangers to God anytime, it doesnt have to be a sunday… it sounds like a good reason to skip out on church but giving God a few minutes before a game isnt the same as worshiping him with fellow believers and being fed the word. I think a lot can be said for what it is we as christians decide to do with our sunday’s. ANY time we put something before our God. It is idolatry. no matter how it is dressed up. Just a personal conviction but i believe that sunday is the lords day.
I pastored a great group of people for almost 30 years. In the initial years I found many ways to encourage them to be in every service and be loyal to the church. I tried everything I knew to get people to come to church.
Then one day I was standing on our property, overlooking the city, praying, “Lord, give me this city….” I heard a little still small voice in my mind saying, “Would you stop praying that?” I was startled, but stopped and waited… The message continued… “Would you start praying, ‘Lord, give me to this city?'”
That Sunday I confessed to the congregation that I had the direction of the church wrong. I had assumed that our purpose was to gather at events, hold services and be loyal to the church. But I had been corrected. We were here to go into the city, to influence the life of the community and to be servants to our world.
I started taking responsibilities in the city and encourage the people to do the same. Soon, the church was the gathering place for many community events and it filled up with those who would have never met Jesus, except through those who went into the communities events and functions.
The police department used our building for funerals, community meetings and so forth. This simple change of direction awakened us to the community and they started flowing in. Our attendance grew a bunch, but it no longer mattered to me how many came – just how we went!
a phrase we often use in our church is “gather to grow, scatter to serve”
I agree completely. That is precisely what the focus of the church should be. It’s a matter of discernment, however, to understand that some will use it as an excuse to stay out of church. They may claim to be “going” as a point of fulfillng the Great Commission, but they are actually trying to justify activities other than that. I’m not inclined to let people deceive themselves and others on that point.
Yes. Sports are seasonal. However, when one season ends, another begins. If you desire, you can be involved in some sport all year long. That’s a lot of Sundays missed.
Each sport has a season, together they fill the year. Football players MUST attend summer training; baseball players run or play basketball In the winter. Mist sports kids I know play them all.
I don’t make a big deal among the 2. I would have picked the game too. Church has a tendency to make me drowsy, plus tough for a single guy to go when always asked questions I don’t like.
You kind of missed the point. She was not condemning or judging- as was stated. She is simply a Christian mother who had a thought and/or personal conviction and decided to share with others to promote thought and prayer. Duh.
Tim, if you are looking for validation for your individual decisions to say no to church, I’m not going to give it to you…because I wouldn’t really be loving you. The best thing I ever experienced was a friend who would never give an inch to my excuses. If you really wanted to meet with the LORD for the renewal of his covenant each Lord’s Day, you would be there. Every week. And I stand first to be condemned that I don’t always follow through on that truth. I just want to point out that we gain nothing as the family of God by easily giving each other a pass just so we don’t look like we are judging “those as less spiritual” or whatever Christian PC language you want to use. The call to worship is from God. You figure out the implications of that.
Thank you for your post. I couldn’t agree with you more. My husband is a coach and he misses several Sundays during his season. He finds ways to keep his relationship with God strong. He does struggle during seasons but with team Bible studies and personal devotions, his faith has stayed strong. I would love for him to be able to go to church but it just isn’t possible. Plus, the MOST important thing in life is your personal relationship with Jesus.
fortunately, my kids have not been asked to attend sports activities on sunday mornings. on the rare occasion of a sunday game, it is scheduled in the afternoon AFTER church time. we do have to sacrifice some wednesday night Bible studies for baseball practice, however. i am not comfortable even with that! i kept thinking while reading this story how the families could make the most of a bad situation by talking with one an other about the Word while cheering on their kids. it was noted that at least 20 other families were there. why not have a little Bible study going on? other families who do not know the Lord may be drawn in, and thus, the Christians doing their job to spread the Gospel!
As A Kid I played, on Wed, up till church, then Left baseball in third inning to go to church, Then was faced with tournament and if I left we forfeit so played till game over and coach rushed me to church.
Now I am a coach and Have daughter on Soccer team. I faced this delima and refused to coach and let others coach this Volunteer tournament and gained more respect from those families because I took a stand.
I I eel you should set example for your kids and be in church, if kid has to be in game, find other families to get kid to game and to church after if possible.
Tim, your reply is a typical one these days, in that, whenever we call something out for not lining up with God’s standards, we get accused of judging. The author of this post never once said anyone was being judged as less spiritual and yet, you mention it twice.
The cold hard truth is that our society worships sports. Plain and simple. That’s not judging. It’s observing.
I agree with you and I believe the importance starts at home. When you talk with your kids and have that open dialogue, that is the consistency that is needed. Not to some man made building full of hypocrites that cuss you out on the soccer field on Saturday and then sit with their hands in the air in reverence on a Sunday morning in church.
dude, in my town soccer is not seasonal. its year round. how is it that soccer came to be the least church friendly sport? is suspect because it came on in popularity after baseball, basketball, and football, who had ‘dibs’ on prime game time.
Excellent
Well said, Tim. The church is wherever the faithful gather, and it is very important to attend worship regularly with our church family most often.
Just want to repeat your balanced suggestion. I like it and its True….
“Don’t fall under condemnation for missing a Sunday for sports,but never let the importance of church attendance and church family fall to the way side either.”
We play travel ball but every Sunday we gather as a team and have devotion. Anyone is welcome to attend. This is important to us as a team. Gathering like this at a ball field in public shows our boys and others a Christian atmosphere it encourages others to do the same or others to join. You never know who needs to see are hear the Lords work. You may touch a child or an adult that other wise would have never heard the word.
I agree with you 100%,most of the coaches are not christians and don’t even think about going to Church on Sunday . So it is up to the parents and also grandparents to go to Church and not attend the Sports on Sunday. If we band together the they cant’t play and sooner or later the will have to stop. It is so hard to not let your child be the only one not there because as of now he will be punished in some way by the coach. So I really loved the note you wrote on this situation and it has gotten way out of hand, as I have also took sports over Church as a grandparent.
Tim,
You’ve opened your reply with a circular argument. You said not to judge however you’re judging that people are drawn to sport families than some churches. Is that a fact, of course not. The writer of this article also isn’t pointing to the fact that someone is less spiritual but pointing out that our society could care less whether there are games on Saturday or Sunday and believers are put in a predicament of choosing. Do you realize that Church isn’t there just to serve you and your own family but as believers who give their lives Christ are commanded to serve others (Church body)and reach the lost. How do we do this if we show up only when it fits our baseball schedule? I have to laugh at the writers comment “another championship”. I played hockey and our team won multiple national champioships and how has this impacted the kingdom of God?
God Bless
So true! Well said.
this lady isn’t judging anyone. she is sharing a conviction. a conviction that I share and have lived through.
you can have Bible studies and devotions all day Sunday before or after the games, but you have just squeezed out a little time for some lip service to God Almighty. however, He doesn’t seem almighty enough to be chosen over a ballgame/event.
I coached travel ball for 7 years. we played Friday and Saturday, then told them no thanks for the sunday play. and most of the time we would’ve been in the running for the almighty trophy.
Rob I love your comment about God not being almighty enough to be chosen over a baseball game. I agree 100% with you. I also think we all do the same things with other things in our lives, and to esteem God as God, we must retain God in our thoughts all the time, He is to be top priority in our lives and our children must see that, even when we must take part of our time away from them to spend with Him. Not to the point that we neglect them or our spouses, but show them He is top priority and always should be. Isaiah 64:4 says, For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what He has prepared for him that waits on Him. That word wait does not mean what it appears to mean, it doesn’t mean just be still and wait or God will do this if you wait in the normal sense of what we think of as waiting. The Greek word that is in the original text means, through the idea of piercing; properly to adhere to. It comes from another Greek word that is almost spelled exactly the same as the other and it means, A primitive root; to carve; by implication to delineate; also to intrench: We need to constantly be digging in to seek His face, intrench ourselves in getting to know Him, A.S.K., Ask, Seek, and Knock.
I agree….it’s not just sports…..we are told not to “forsake ” the assembling id the saints….forsake is to turn your back on….. When Jesus asked Zhod from the cross…. My God my God why do you forsake me? I have done the same in my life. Just wish it had not happened. This is the footprint of our society…..we have in general forsaken Jehovah….
I agree wholeheartedly with your point, Mr. Jones. However, I did not get the impression from the blog here that there was any judgemental attitude shown. I believe this was the honest reflection of one mother’s heart. I was married to a non-believer at one time. I tried so hard to be submissive and allow him to be the head of the household and dictate where the family would be on Sunday morning. After all, it was not a “sin” to miss the occassional Sunday and I was still having worship wherever I found myself. But, inevitibly there were those in my church family who judged me for not being present, so I truly do agree with your post. I just think it needs to be said that judgementalism was not shown by the author of the post above. Thank you, though, for opening up the topic to be seen from another perspective. There are always two sides to every story. And, I am a firm believer that what is correct for one, may not be correct at the time for another. We are each at different points in our walk to maturity in Christ. It is wise to remember that when we find ourselves falling victim to condeming others without realizing that we have not walked in the others shoes.
I understand and have lived the very scenario you describe. I appreciate the concept of banning together to just say no but I suggest that that this may not achieve the results you desire. And, it is possible that by “banning together” we isolate ourselves or create a kind of club environment that was not Jesus’ intended course for us. Will those who don’t say “no” be less worthy or considered “lesser” members of the same churches or lesser Christians? As you said, attendance is not the goal. Learning Jesus teachings and living them as best we can, day to day is what we are striving for in Jesus’ name. So what about a different approach? Times do change so perhaps we need to think of ways to maintain our faith and the traditions that surround our faith (i.e. Sunday Church attendance) in these changing times. So what about asking the other families from your church who you meet on the soccer field to hold a short prayer session at the start of a Sunday practice? What about inviting the 20 families to a pot luck bible dinner after the soccer game? What about using it as an opportunity to get to know those families and suggest a rotation so that not all the parents have to miss the same day at church (thus sending a message to the children about the importance of church), what about asking your clergy to hold a short service on Saturday or later on Sunday for those 20 families who missed church due to sports? What about asking your church to record service or SKYPE service while on field? …all the other kids who are not playing and the families could watch from the field. Maybe, just maybe, we might even add some new members along the way. So in summary, I would ask us to think about how Jesus would react to the same issues today’s world presents? How would Jesus solve the problem?
I didn’t get that she was judging anyone. Not sure where you got that she was.
This reminds me of the following that I edited to address the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). But you can substitute the word “Bible” in stead of the “Book of Mormon” to suit whatever religion you belong to.
Isn’t it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to the fast offering fund at church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?
Isn’t it strange how 3 hours seem so long when you’re at church, and how short they seem when you’re watching a good movie or a football game?
Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say when you’re praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?
Isn’t it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Book of Mormon but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?
Isn’t it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games but they’ll do whatever is possible to sit on the last row in Church?
Isn’t it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events at the last minute?
Isn’t it strange how difficult it is to share something we learn about God with others; but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip or off-colored emails?
Isn’t it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say, but we question the words in the Scriptures?
Isn’t it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven but… it is so much easier to do the things that keep us from getting there?
Isn’t it strange how we receive jokes in e-mails and we forward them right away, but we think about it twice before we share messages about God with others?
We were a family that was involved in a local church. My children attended Sunday school, church service, weekly youth group and church clubs. I was on our church executive as well as the executive of our day care board. My parents were also very involved in the same church. This was the church that my mother grew up in, was married in and then I was married in. Her father was a decean and gave much to the church. Our family had history, then when my daughter chose attending a sports activity instead of youth group she was banned from the youth year end event. We left the church and have not looked back. How she was treated was this spiritual was this godly, would God approved? She was treated no different than when she was bullied at school.
I’m so sorry for your experience. That is really terrible. The church is made up of a bunch of imperfect humans and that can often be painful. What a bummer!
The way I see it, you are justifying your sin, sir.
Bah Humbug! It takes only one or two families to resist and make the teams/leagues/tournaments to NOT schedule games on Sunday mornings. Once upon a time (and still in the Romance language areas) the first day of the week is called “The Lord’s Day!” That means the tithe or first fruits of this day belong to the Lord, not to us. Where are parent with enough backbone and gonads to resist this Lord’s day idiocy that can and should be scheduled at another less conflicting time.
Who’s judging? The writer didn’t once judge other people. On the contrary, she showed compassion and understanding for the choices they’ve felt pushed into making.
Tim you are completely right that people feel more like a part of something with sports than with church. Perhaps we should stop bemoaning why people ditch church and fix church. I find it an indictment against our churches that people find more purpose and development for their kids in sports over church. Maybe we should point the finger back at ourselves?
There you go ! You can praise God and study the teachings of Jesus with your family and church friends at the field before or after the game. I feel certain that God knows your intentions.
My children participate in lots of sports. Right now we are doing travel baseball. He plays for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We play in tourneys that include Sunday. Our families go to the park an hours before the game, we worship together and our coach ties it all into baseball for the boys. We are very blessed. Do what is right for you, our minister and I have had conversations, we travel a lot and miss a lot. He comforted me by saying, it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you worship the Lord. I listen to podcasts, radio, read.
I agree Allison. “Church” in the bible is not a building but rather a Greek word that means to gather together. Athletes church has a free app that allows coaches, players or parents to call up a sports related devotional and have church with their team at the ballpark. The kids love it!! And to be honest, it may be the only “church” kids are getting because some are not attending even when they are off on Sunday’s.
Like so many things in our world today…there are subtle but strong detractors from our relationships with God. We tell ourselves and others that we will seek, find and converse with God in nature and in places outside of the formalized setting of church. And I honestly believe that we can and that some of us do. I see his craftsmanship in everything around me. But we must also honor Him in his house.
The slippery slope of relativism is such a pervasive danger. When we avoid the organized Church and seek to find Him on our own terms, that is moving, ever so slightly, towards humanism. That is not where we need to be. That is not where He wants us to be.
Unfortunately in our community, hockey is every Sunday morning whether practice or game and runs all year round if a son or daughter wants to be in a select – all star type competitive league, Sunday commitment is required. The option of a short term Sunday commitment no longer exists. Also, competitive (rep) softball, soccer and football require a long term Sunday commitment.
I hear the author’s heart and hear no condemnation of others. I hear her voice and her pull in two directions. Processing such thoughts are so valuable to the eternal degree. It is where we prayerfully consider and pour over God’s Word about His expectations and our obedience to His Word.
As a mom (and former competitive ball player) this decision was difficult. When my first child was 2, I was pulling into our garage, was listening to Focus on the Family. Dobson was speaking about sports, church attendance and example. He offered thoughts, not condemnation but really good food to chew on. That son is now 19 and I still remember Dobson’s words. They were something like this, “Would you allow your child to sign up to play soccer on a Wednesday am, requiring he/she to miss school every Wednesday for the entire school year. A majority of parents would say ‘no’ of course not. Education is important. Then why do we give less consideration to our kids Christian Education? And in terms of eternity, which is more relevant?” These thoughts became our family’s navigation through sports. A very difficult yet rewarding choice for our children and ourselves. Our kids have not always been thrilled but understand that we must endeavor to make Christ our center. Did we experience blessing from this…the year we had to put the “plan” into action was rewarded. Our son, 11 at the time was asked to play on a select soccer team for Eastern Ontario. The night the coach called to ask us, I had to ask the dreaded question, “When is practice?” Coach replied, 11:30 (smack dab in the middle of our church time). Feeling sick, like a kill joy, and wondering if I just ruined my son’s future, I responded, “I am sorry my son will not be able to join your team. We have a family rule that we must be part of Sunday service regularly, thanked him for his call, then found my son to break the news. God was so good. Our son though disappointed said he knew our family’s reasons and got it. About 30 mins later our phone rang and the coach called again. He asked if our son could play if he changed practice time to another time?! We were stunned and overwhelmed by God’s goodness and provision. That provision for my son continued until he no longer played Rep soccer (3 years and different coaches). We learned when God lays a truth on our hearts and we are obedient in responding, He will make a way for that which is according to His plans.
I think this is a good article and I really didn’t see where it was being judgemental. It is easy for anyone to fall out of church and it takes something that you love to do it. There is nothing wrong with families uniting and saying they want sports to remain on days when there is no church. That is only 2 days a week they would have to work around. It worked for years. We need to keep God first always. It is nice that you have bible studies and such at the field. Not many do that.
Sure sports are only for a season or short period of time. But when one sport ends another begins and oftentimes those who are big sports families play multiple sports. Then it turns into a whole bunch of missed services.
Also, that’s great that you have services when not at your church but honestly how many people do you think actually do that??
Missing church doesn’t make one less spiritual but when there is a habit of missing and putting oneself in a position to miss church frequently, it goes against biblical principles taught. And true spirituality comes as you adhere to the teaching of the Word of God and obeying what God commands us to do.
Most are seasonal Tim. But when children are involved in multiple sports all year long and missing 2 Sunday’s a month becomes routine our children are affected. Placing a sport as a priority over the House of God. The writer is not being judgemental. He is stating from his experience and others experiences how easily it happens. How easily kids grow up with no plan on sending their children to church. Fantastic article.
I would very strongly disagree that sports is a “seasonal” thing, it USED TO BE, but for the past many years it has steadily become a year round thing. Starting about 40 years ago, I have been the biggest fan of my Children and Grand Children in all activities they have been a part of, I have been heavily involved in cheerleading, gymnastics, youth softball, adult softball, baseball, football and basketball, as a player, a coach, an umpire, a team dad and so forth. Yes most sports did START off as a seasonal thing, but over the years it has become almost a year round deal, when you factor in rec. ball, school ball, travel ball and year round practices. Back in the early eighties I was coaching football and MANY towns back then INCLUDING the town we played in, did not permit games or practices on Wednesdays or Sundays so as to not interfere with Church.
What if all of the “activities” available to children today are a concerted effort by the Kingdom of Darkness to distract the family as whole all under the guise of a “happy” and “fun-filled” childhood filled with plenty of opportunities to discover what the child enjoys.
When we practice 24/7 discipleship with our kids, a Sunday missed is a much smaller picture. Many people go to “church” every Sunday and never have a relationship with Christ. Teaching them to honor Christ with our whole life has much more impact than teaching them the habit of attending “Church”. You are the church, you attend an assembly with the saints to worship God.
I will agree that saying no is harder now than ever. My advice: say no and protect your family time. Only 2% of these young athletes will ever play A division 1 sport anyway.
Thanks so much for sharing!
I am the mother of Six children, all involved in sports. We made a decision as parents early on that we would NOT play sports on Sundays. We are also a Marine Corps family so we have had to reintroduce ourselves several times to new leagues, teams etc. As we joined a new sport or a new league we would always let them know as we were signing up that we would not be participating on Sundays and was that a problem. Many said of course not, but sadly if that particular child was really skilled and a Sunday game popped up, the coach wasn’t as accommodating as they were in the beginning. We would have that conversation again. I totally feel your struggle. I will tell you the first few times we stood against the pressure to play it was hard. it was uncomfortable. Now with two children out of the house and the last four growing up quickly, the results of our commitment are being seen. It’s worth it, and each time we move I really really dislike that conversation. I believe that my children will be blessed in their lives as we strive to keep the Sabbath day holy, not just the Sabbath morning. I totally appreciate the points of view already expressed in the comments, but for us personally this was something we felt strongly about. Maybe because there other areas of the gospel and discipleship we struggle with more? So no judgment, just a testimony that we are seeing the fruits of our commitment. Our children are no less skilled than their team mates. I feel the Lord blesses them, and us for this quiet personal family commitment. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and struggle. You are NOT alone.
Thank you so much for sharing in such a humble and encouraging way.
Many of the large mega churches in our area have Saturday evening services! Well attended! What do you think!
Excellent role modeling, for your kids and community! Thank you for being willing to truly put Christ first, in word and deed 🙂
Awesome!
Sounds like the principal that Shadrach, and friends used and God honored them.
Your testimony encouraged me, Kelli. Thank you.
…”just a testimony that we are seeing the fruits of our commitment.” Well worded reply!
“So no judgment, just a testimony that we are seeing the fruits of our commitment”. Well worded, Marine Mom!
On the other hand my father used to say you can always tell which dog in the pack got hit by a rock thrown at them, by listening for the one that yelps first and loudest.(NOT that anyone here threw a rock,)
I feel like you’ve hit the whole idea of putting aside a day “right on the head.” To me, it seems like we need to keep a day separate from being a play day, to worship the Lord. It’s not that we can’t do anything but “be in church,” but it’s showing that we have a day that’s different from the other days and we’re refusing to let it become a play day. I’m sorry this was hard, and I’m thankful that our kids never had to play on a Sunday when they would have had to miss church. I actually prayed more than once that we would lose a tournament so that we wouldn’t have to deal with this issue, and I’m a Pastor’s wife, so I suppose this should have been easy!
Amen!
To the first two commenters-there was no judgement or condemnation at all in this article. Instead, it was an introspective of the author. Often times, when I feel judgement or condemnation, it is because I am feeling slightly guilty to begin with. And the shortest season in sports I have seen is 8 weeks. 8 weeks of missing church is not a short season.
I DO like the idea of doing a Bible study or devotional on the field. And for those occasional Sundays where you do decide to attend the field, we need to remember that WE are the church, so there was a church body represented on that field.
Sounds like a great opportunity to have 20 or so families attend church on the field. Sing a song, say a prayer and read the Word. What a testimony to the other families and what a wonderful opportunity for witness!
It won’t just happen. Next time, if there is a next time, perhaps you can call the families ahead and ask if they would be interested in participating. Let them know what you plan and where you will meet. If they wish to help with the service, they will let you know. If not, they will likely at least attend! Unorthodox-you bet! But I bet the kids will remember that church service for a long time and you are still instilling the value and commitment to church.services. 🙂 .
Thank you so much for sharing. I agree that it would take forethought and purpose to create an alternative service on the sports field. This particular day that I referred to, I didn’t know about most of the families until after the fact and we were spread on many different fields at many different times.
So what is the message, go to the soccer field and pretend church or just keep the Sundays to teach your kids respect????
What is pretend church? You seem to have a very narrow definition of how to have church. When Christians gather together to Praise the Lord and study scripture, I’m not sure we should call it “pretend” just because it didn’t take place in a building with a steeple.
I mean no harm when i say this but if you practice your religion every single day God hears you the same as on a Sunday in a pew where some people are focused on who is in church and who isn’t. It does no good religiously to be there for show. And im sorry but your mistaken there is no “pretend church” you can worship God where ever your comfortable and he accepts it. I play travel softball and we have devotions before our games and we invite other teams on Sundays… thats a chance to fulfill our duty to introduce a stranger to God. Im sorry if you disagree and feel free to judge but ultimately its not for you to say how is best to worship God.
I notice that often you use the phrase, “I had no choice” and you use the term, “I found myself”. You did have a choice and you didn’t get to your location by chance. I have two grown children who were not allowed to participate in Sunday games…they suffered consequences from the coach. This caused people in my family and even my Christian friends, to persecute me. I lost many of them, in fact. The bottom line is, parents do have a choice and they are teaching their children to compromise when it comes to their relationship with Christ.
Repeating and propagating the “I had no choice” or “I felt like I had no choice” lies, is going to create conflict in your children with regard to how they deal with sin. We serve a jealous God who expects to be put first in our lives. The fact that attendance at a juvenile sport game on Sunday or the Sabbath would even cause debate about attendance just goes to show the lukewarm nature or today’s Christian church. Do you think the Jews would attend on the Sabbath? How about Muslims? No. If they are faithful to their religion, they certainly would not make this compromise.
We are quickly approaching the coming of our Lord, soon, I believe. God is serious about His relationship with us. We need to be separate from the world and we need to be BOLD and uncompromising. Yes, we may suffer, our children may suffer, but He warned us of this suffering. It should not surprise us. If our hearts are wrenched and we are conflicted over attending a juvenile soccer game instead of church, what hope is there if we are ever asked to die for Christ or deny Him? If we can’t even miss a kids soccer game for church, and to be a bold witness, will we be able to stand for Christ at the risk of losing our lives? These seemingly little things are very revealing as to what the future holds for Christ followers. Compromising these “small” things is an indication of what the future holds and explains why many saints will deny Christ and fall away from the church.
I know that this sounds harsh, but I believe our time here is short and we need to start getting serious about obedience. We aren’t doing anyone a favor by debating an issue such as this. God says He comes first. Period. I am not being judgmental…I have lived a life of compromise at times, and suffered consequences. Four years ago I realized that God expects to be first and He expects me to obey Him if I truly love Him.
I read other comments about not being judgmental. I suggest that you read about Nathan’s confrontation with King David. The Bible says that God sent Nathan. Was Nathan being judgmental? No. He was shining the light on David’s sin…which even David couldn’t see clearly. We are to shine the light. We are believer’s here, not lost…we can discuss our sin honestly and head on…if we set the example of being different from the world, that will be the message that the lost hears and sees!
Thank you for your input. I appreciate your point of view and your own convictions.
Thank you for bringing the topic to the forefront. I am following you now and look forward to reading more blogs!
Because of Jesus.
TEll it like it is!!! We all have choices, what rules will your son or daughter use when they are offered drugs and alcohol……will it be soccer rules or the Ten comandments>>> You make the choice, you will only raise these children once, NO DO OVERS!!!
This is not judgmental it is honesty and the truth!!
I do love the fact that you’re basically calling us to bond together and refuse to play on Sundays. That’s really the ONLY way it’s going to change. If we all keep buckling, we’ll never get the word out, but if they don’t have 5 out of their 12 players, they’d re-schedule!
“if we set the example of being different from the world, that will be the message that the lost hears and sees!”
I appreciate the call to be uncompromising. I agree that a watching world should be able to see that we are different. However, I’ve never heard of anyone coming to faith because their Christian teammates refused to play soccer on a Sunday. The differences I hope people notice, and what I think would actually draw people to a relationship with Jesus, would be differences like being more loving, more generous, more gracious, more peaceful, and more joyful; more stringent in church attendance doesn’t seem like something that would make someone say, “THAT’s what’s been missing from my life!”
I’m not advocating skipping church; I’m not saying that we should be lax or undisciplined, I am saying that our motivation for that discipline should be for our own spiritual health (and the spiritual health of our kids), rather than as a witness to not-yet-Christians.
Great point!
Amen! God be glorified!
May I repost this on my fb page, giving you credit, of course? It is so well-put, and so important!
Of course! I just found this reply on an updated version of my app! God bless!
Agreed…..and there is a difference between judging and warning. Our choice of which it is seems to depend on where our standings are, which we all are free to choose. There are bona-fide warnings stated in the original blog, and if we would earnestly seek God’s Word and take an honest look at where we as families are, well, we ought to run back to The Lord and declare His righteousness, and yes, reclaim the Lord’s Day to be what HE Intended!
“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, honorable; 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.”
Isaiah 58:13 & 14
yippers
Amen!!!!! not only are we warned of suffering. We are promised suffering. We should rejoice at the opportunity to suffer for the sake of our Lord. Especially if we actually believe what we say we do about the way he suffered for his people! Thank you for your honesty. There is a lot of tip-toeing between Christians today! like you said it is shameful that this would even be a discussion. is it okay to miss church.. I often wonder what the martyrs and church fathers would think of today’s Christians. I wonder if they would be ashamed to associate with us… oh even to consider giving up church for a stupid game.
I’m not sure why others have to band together to say no. This herd mentality is what can cause so many stumbles in our walk. If you are feeling conflicted and that you made a bad choice, make a better choice for you and your family next time. While I agree that one missed Sunday is not going to blow your Christian walk, having wrong priorities over time will. When we value what others think of us more than we value what Christ requires of us, we walk a very slippery slope. Tough stuff in this me-centric world we love in. Praying you take the stand you feel Jesus would have you take.
Thank you for your input. I would not call it a herd mentality but an opportunity to encourage each other and connect in community to grow stronger in our relationship with Jesus.
I know you’re not trying to say this or anything, but I just want to clarify that saying “no” to attending a weekly meeting inside a church does not equal saying no to God.
And as for sports, I am sure participation has many benifits, but it shouldn’t consume our lives.
Good point…no, I’m not saying that a no to church is a no to God….however, placing yourself and your family in an environment where you can build relationships with other followers of Jesus and learn and worship corporately will strengthen your relationship with Jesus and providing this environment for your children will fuel their faith as well.
To be fair, for some people saying no to the weekly meeting IS saying no to God. All the comments here speak to the diversity of the heart, personal conviction and individual calling that we all struggle with. Some feel very clearly called to represent their faith with uncompromising commitment to church gatherings. But they may have a grumpy day and feel the temptation of disengaging in an unhealthy way. Is that right of them? Some feel a calling to parts of the world where no Sunday gathering exists as a witness to those without Jesus. Is that them rejecting the Sunday gathering or embracing God’s calling to his glory?
Saying no does not have the same implication for everyone. God knows the heart and I pray would surround us with people to speak to our heart and what our “no” means. But just as truly as “no” doesn’t always mean saying no to God, it also is not absent any response to God.
I LOVE that you wrote about this topic. It has been a big deal in my life. Growing up, my parents never let me miss church for a sports activity – not once. One time our championship was on a Sunday morning and my coach BEGGED my parents to let me play and they would not fold. In hindsight, my parents refusal to buckle taught me where my priorities should be- no matter how “important” the “worldly” circumstance might be. They chose the black & white approach – no gray area. I now have two under two so I have not faced this issue as a parent, yet. Though, I’m fairly certain that I will handle it in much the same manner as my parents. Their consistency is a key factor in me not straying from the church in my high school or college days, and now as I have my own family. For your particular situation, I too would have felt really bad letting down the other kids. In that instance, I think a prayerful decision is the only way to go. In my opinion, whenever we are wrestling with these parenting decisions, we should think most about who we are willing to disappoint and at what cost are we willing to give in. Thank you for writing about this. I know you were put in a tough spot and I hope you find rest in making these decisions in the future, whatever the decision might be!
Thank you for sharing
My daughter was a skilled athlete and we missed a Sunday worship here and there to attend her tournaments. We made sure we went to evening services or Wed. night services to ( I am ashamed to type this) “make up for it.” She won many championships and was even a college prospect until… she was injured with a 3rd concussion. Since we still attend church and walk the difficult Christian’s walk, many might say no harm was done. I, on the other hand, beg to differ. We had a chance to say something to the world. We had a chance to put Christ first and foremost in all things we did. We had a chance to show others what Christian living really meant. Unfortunately, we failed. Like Peter. And David. And Noah. What did this teach my children? We will never know what impact our decisions have had on their walk, their relationship with Christ, and their salvation. While we cannot go back and change it, if I could I would do it all very differently.
Thank you for sharing with such vulnerability. I’m so glad that your family maintains a center on Jesus through all seasons. I speak grace over you! As parents we make the best decisions we can based on what is in front of us. And, I appreciate your words of advice for those of us who are in the midst of making some of these decisions now. May our relationship with Jesus always be that….a relationship and not a religion!
Amen.
oh, and I’m so sorry about your daughter’s injury
so playing a sport on an occasional Sunday, is bad? so when we gather at church on Sunday for worship and then get together with some of our church family afterwards at McAllisters for lunch, aren’t we helping the workers sin ? because they are at work rather than church. am I going to be labeled a sinner for working at the fire department when my shift falls on Sunday? are the doctors from my or any other church labeled sinners for not coming or leaving early to go help a patient in the hospital that needs them? I do not believe so, I believe my God is bigger than this trivial concept of “if the doors are open we should be there” attitude. I do believe in being consistent, I do love my church, my savior and my family. we have a daughter that from time to time plays in travel softball tournaments that requires Sunday play. but she also attends worship on Wednsday nights, goes on mission trips etc. I believe she understands the value of attending church regularly and loves to do so. I feel absolutely comfortable with her playing on Sunday’s
Good job ensuring that your family has opportunity to worship and build relationships. I don’t believe I said that working on a Sunday was wrong. The dilemma that I see so often is that other commitments are creating a barrier and pushing out times of worshiping together and building relationships with other followers of Jesus. I appreciate that you have thought about your family priorities and found ways to find consistency with your church family. Thank you for sharing.
I think the point is precisely that, because people are generally bad at setting and maintaining boundaries, what is “occasional” doesn’t remain occasional. I thought she did a good job of highlighting that issue as a regret that she has heard from folks farther down the parenting road.
That said, Christians are going to have to learn how to negotiate the position of “creative minority” and practice our faith without the support of the culture, and even in the face of active (though not vindictive) opposition. We should probably ask our Jewish neighbors how they’ve dealt with so many events being scheduled from Friday evening to Saturday evening… and be willing to have our behavior seen as equally at odds with the culture as the Conservative and Orthodox Jewish communities’ sabbath keeping has been in a “Christian” context.
great point
Exactly….
Interesting to read all the responses..
This issue is a hot topic in our house.. with 2 athletic boys, one of whom plays top level for his city in a sport that goes all year round, it is a constant conundrum. To further the issue, in our city the winter season for this sport is relegated to only Sunday games due to sharing field space and this makes it very difficult as all the games are on Sundays… at different times through the day… not always morning… but with 2 playing.., 1 in 2 sundays sees us challenged.
In addition, my oldest (a high schooler) finds sitting through the adult sermon very difficult as he generally feels he doesn’t get much from the message… so he is not motivated to attend the Sunday morning service. And I see this being a huge issue for my ADHD kid in a couple of years. (There is nothing past grade 6 at our church during the service) (He does participate in weekly youth group one evening a week and enjoys that and has just done Youth Alpha with that group.)
It’s a journey and one I navigate year by year… for right now I’ve chosen to say “NO” to any practices on Sundays (at any time in the day) and “Yes” to games… and to seek to encourage personal devotional reading at home and discussion around the table around Bible issues/passages… not always easy with boys.. but one day at a time.
Thank you so much for sharing your challenges and your solution. I really value your decision to navigate as you go….it is definitely not a cut and dry issue and has lots of gray area and each family must decide on purpose. Thanks again for your perspective.
Thank you for this post. As I once put it to a friend, “have you ever had a friend that would only spend time with you when she didn’t have anything better to do?” That’s how many families treat their commitment to their local body of believers. As pastors of a local church, my husband and I deeply feel the impact when our church people choose other things over faithfulness to our Church Family. All pastors, whether of a mega church of thousands or of a house church with just a few, work tirelessly all week long to prepare for their weekly corporate gathering. They seek The Lord, study, pray specifically for the families in the church and for a word that will minister to them. But when Sunday morning rolls around, it is discouraging when those families are (habitually) missing. Many times these are good people: filled to the brim with potential to grow the kingdom of God and change the world for Christ! But sadly, many never realize that potential because they are committed in so many other directions, they never have time to understand all that God could do through them. How heartbreaking for a pastor!
Secondly, it is true, as some commenters have stated, that WE are the church and we can “Be Christ” to the other families on the field. However, we have six other days a week to be in the world. God purposely commanded us to take a day of rest. It is for our good. And the Holy Spirit strategically designed the Church to meet together regularly for encouragent and discipleship. When we choose to prioritize other things over what God has stated is for our good, the result is, naturally, to the detriment of our families, our children, and our spiritual lives.
Lastly, I so appreciate your viewpoint on the consequences not prioritizing fellowship with believers can have on our children. It is more important than ever for us to be vigilant in surrounding our children with – not just good- but GODLY peers and mentors. Everyone is speaking into your child’s life in some way or another. Wouldn’t you want as many of those voices as possible to be voices that speak life: showing her her value in Christ, and pointing him to Jesus? The argument has been made that if we, as parents, are prioritizing the things of God at home then faithful church attendance is not as necessary. I was a youth pastor for many years and can tell you that the teens who’s families were invested into the life of the local church, serving alongside other believers, and regarding our church family as THEIR family, were hands down more grounded and sincere in their personal faith than the teens who were only receiving godly instructions from their parents. Again, who else, besides you, is influencing your child? I am a firm believer that the first and primary place that a child should receive the Word of God is in his home. I also firmly believe that God, in his wisdom and love, has created a larger Family to support yours in raising your children in godliness and truth.
Take advantage of it and thank God for the gift of your local church. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing.
20 families? Before or after the game could have had “church” at the field and invited your unchurched teammates to join.
Good idea….the families were spread out over many different times of the day and several different fields…even cities. Many of them I didn’t know were playing until after the fact.
As a pastor I often have felt the tug and pull of this dilemma as my own son played Pop Warner football. Our church at the time had 2 services and we always made sure that our family was in Attendence. Are people leading their children down a wrong path by letting them participate on Sunday? I’m not sure. But I do know that there are many things in life that will force us to choose church or something else. My hope and prayer is that the families in our church will serve God, serve each and be a light in a dark world. Sometimes that light ought to shine on the athletic field on Sunday.
As the writer James put it so nicely, “To he who knows what is right and doesn’t do it, to that one it is sin.”
Thanks for sharing. I appreciate your perspective.
When our 3 oldest played soccer, we were blessed to find a church that had a league that had NO Sunday games and NO Wednesday practices. It was a big church (it ran its own “league”!) but most of the players, coaches, and parents weren’t members there, just people who had heard about it and liked the way it was run. We actually drove an hour each way twice a week for it. It was a great experience. I think other big congregations or groups of congregations could get together and create something similar.
That’s really cool. What a great idea. I love that it wasn’t only “church people”. One of the greatest aspects of kids sports for us is connecting with those in our community who don’t know Jesus yet and building relationships with them.
God’s Word tells us to keep the Sabbath holy. To decline sports on Sunday is an act of obedience to God and He honors our obedience. It may be uncomfortable or difficult to take the stand at the moment, but it’s never a bad choice to choose obedience. It sets an example for your children and it is a witness to those around you. There is NOTHING–no sport, no club, no activity, no tournament–that is more important than teaching my children to follow God. We make tough choices now and our children see it and learn how to make tough choices in their own lives.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. Each family needs to pray and think about what it means to “keep the Sabbath holy.” I’m glad that you have figured it out for your family.
That sounds lovely, doesn’t it? It’s a “get out of jail free” card for anyone who really doesn’t want to make the tough choices and follow God completely. Of course we can pray and think about what it means to keep the Sabbath holy, but we have to be diligent to read Scripture and to really be willing to do that which God calls us to do. We have to be earnest when we seek His will. We can justify nearly anything if we try hard enough. But I think He has been very clear in his word about these matters. Let’s not be too quick to let ourselves and each other off the hook. It’s the Lord’s day. Give it to him.
This is actually a reply to Samantha’s reply . . . well kind of anyway, but there wasn’t a reply button on her post. Anyway, I agree that the Word should be our source for all of our choices. There’s a lot of debate and consternation about sports vs. church, but that’s just one issue. If living intentionally is the goal, there are many topics that should be included. Most of them are uncomfortable. Deuteronomy says that we are to teach our children about Him from the time they get up in the morning, as they walk along the way, when they eat, when they lay down. That’s true discipleship – we call it education mostly now. If the command found in Deuteronomy (and other places in the Word) is 24/7 discipleship, everything we do: sports, finances, education, etc. should be focused on Him.
I see the debate about attending a church service vs. playing a game a lot, but doesn’t it take our focus off the bigger issue? The issue is the entire life of your child(ren), not just whether they play a game on Sunday. There are so many finance classes and people going to Financial Peace U – all good and well – but I think God places a higher priority on the souls of our children. Who educates them 5 days a week? Who coaches them in sports? Who mentors them in any other activity they participate in? God tells us (in both Matthew and Luke) that the student becomes as the teacher – who is teaching your children every day? What is the worldview of the curriculum being used?
It seems to me, that whether someone plays a game a particular day of the week, or values sports over attending a service, is trivial compared to: whether our children know that math is the language that describes creation to us, that lets us know that God holds it all together in the palm of His hand – that 2+2 always equals 4 because God is faithful; that 2 molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen always makes water because our God is faithful; that the laws of physics were set in place by the Master and are consistent and dependable because He is consistent and dependable. He tells us that creation sings His praises and to “look to the ant and the lily”. When we allow our children to be taught that subjects are neutral, we tell them that God is not a part of every thing in their lives. We are saying, without words, that either God doesn’t exist, or that He is irrelevant to all of these things. Man didn’t create math – he discovered a language and tool that God had put in place at creation. Man didn’t create chemistry or physics either – all of these “neutral” topics point to a creator, tell us of His faithfulness, consistency, dependability and creativity.
I appreciate the heart’s desire, expressed by so many here, to follow Christ. There has been a lot of good discussion. My intention is not to belittle the issue . . . I just think the issue is so much bigger than sports or whether people attend a service. These issues are symptoms of the disease, but they are not the disease. If we release our children to be taught in a system that purposefully excludes God (and I’m not saying everyone, or even anyone here has done that – I don’t know any of you, I just stumbled across this blog), then does whether they play on Sunday and miss a service really matter? I’ve heard someone say that if you send your children to Roman schools, don’t be surprised if they come out Romans. You can intentionally choose a service over a game, but if at the same time you choose a Godless education/discipleship for every other day of the week, what are you gaining?
Another angle is simply that none of the above discussed things was intended for our Sabbath day. It is truly a day of rest. We are an exhausted society and a way-too-busy church body. Our Creator was gracious enough to provide our needed remedy through required rest. There were no Sunday sports when I was a kid (I’m 35) so this was never even an option for our family. But I know my father would have never allowed that. I now so appreciate the values that placed in me. As far as the Sabbath and all that is intended for it (worship, family, rest, resetting), I feel that this should be our higher focus rather than just a dilemma between sports vs. church (or any other activity). Are we honoring the Sabbath? If we truly explored what the Sabbath means Biblically, we would easily see an easy confirmation of the author’s stance.
I have not even looked at other replies, so pardon if my answer ends up being redundant.
This conundrum is very real in today’s world for parents of kids between the ages of 7-16 (that’s right, 7!). We have a daughter that is now 11, a son that is 8, and another son that is 5. Even at these young ages, we have been approached multiple times by “coaches” and other parents for our two oldest to play travel ball in softball/baseball. One of the teams we turned down for our son included four families from our church, including one of my co-deacons. The “coach” there is also a believer at another church, and the collective promise was to keep the tournaments as close as possible and only play on Sunday afternoons so as not to miss church, and even then only play in 1-2 tournaments per month. My wife and I still, prayerfully, said “no,” citing the fact that we interpret God’s word as Him wanting the ENTIRE day set aside for reflection, praise, and worship to Him, not just what the 21st century church has set aside as times for church to meet.
As the summer passed, 1-2 tournaments became at least 3 per month. And keeping close (there is a complex 15 minutes from our church) did happen most of the time, but so did playing 70 miles away frequently, 100 miles away twice, and over 400 miles away once (to a self-proclaimed “World Series”). We couldn’t be happier that we said no in the beginning. Instead of ending at the end of July, travel ball became fall ball, going all the way to the end of October. After a month off, Sunday afternoon practices have now started, preparing that team for the season that begins in March. Pretty hefty stuff for a team of soon-to-be 9-year old kids.
Providing “church” or “devotional” services at the games or tournaments is great. But, are we leaning on that as an excuse for taking our families away from what the Sabbath was created for in the first place? I can’t imagine that four games in one day to win the “championship” was what He had in mind when it was.
Maybe I’m off. . . wouldn’t be the first time. But, when my kids are in their 20s, I want them to look back and say, “A priority to my parents was that we ___________,” and fill in that blank with the things of God, not “baseball” or “racing” or anything besides the things of God, really. What a challenge for parents today, feeling like their child is getting left behind athletically, but still being firm in our faith. Thank you for addressing this real issue challenging today’s families.
I made that choice for my family when we started one. NO, absolutely nothing else on Sunday or Wednesday night. We were going to be involved in activities helping to know God more. In a lot of places we lived in as a military family, that meant no Boy Scouts, because they met on Wednesday afternoons. I myself am not a rabid sports fan, so sports were not on our horizons.
You should also keep in mind that “church” doesn’t necessarily mean “going to church on Sunday mornings.” We’re meant to BE the church, and you can do that in any way God makes available to you. Your point of view in this post was quite victimized because you “had no choice due to circumstances” – perhaps you should see yourself more as one who has the opportunity to BE the church in a non-traditional setting. Perhaps this is God telling you “Hey – relax. It’s cool if you don’t go to church every Sunday. Getting perfect attendance on Sundays isn’t the point of this whole thing.”
Think outside the manmade church box and start looking at the Church as God intended it to be. You’re already a part of it – so just BE.
It’s a good point to think outside of the box. I really see the value of the church community(not the building) as the way that God has designed for us to grow in our faith and build relationships that will help us to stay focused and moving toward Jesus. As I am looking at how to guide my own children and those in my church family to an adulthood of knowing and loving Jesus and living their lives in light of that love, connection in the church community is a major tool in the discipleship of myself and my children. I agree that it’s not about perfect church attendance….however, you can’t build relationships and community if you aren’t present fairly consistently.
Liz , do you really believe that it is God telling you ” Hey , relax . its cool if you dont go to church every Sunday ” ? It might be a good idea for you to really pray about this .
While I realize the article was about the children playing sports and missing church, I’m curious how many families are congregating around the TV and watching all the sports (football for instance) that are shown practically all Sunday long. And, are the professed Christian players wrong for playing on Sunday? I’m not saying the article is wrong, I’m simply curious about this very subject, as I see it as as a factor.
Pingback: Sports vs. Church … | UNDERGROUND Student Ministries
Children should never be forced to attend Church, it breeds resentment, trying to ban sports on Sundays is both futile and should it ever succeed (which it won’t) it will ruin the opportunity for parents, children and both their friends and families to socially interact on a regular basis.
I have been a youth worker for 30 years and our members over those 30 years have come from a variety of different faiths, everyone has been welcome to attend any of our activities and we have never once tried to persuade any child (or adult) that one faith is more important than another, not that their is in fact an ultimate God.
I also work with a charity that works with poor children in an Asian country and we make it crystal clean that we are a secular charity and our help is given unconditionally, at the same time we see many churches / missionary groups working in the country that only help the poor if they are able to then preach the gospel. That alienates many donors to these groups and many are disgusted to the point that they have stopped giving donations to the church groups.
Trying to convert children to a any different faith other than the faith into which they were born is both repugnant and does nothing to show the church in a good light.
My own three children attended Sunday school in the UK when they wanted to, they were never forced or coerced into doing so. When they reached adulthood they made their own decisions about religion which we as a family respect. My daughter did some voluntary work in Northern Thailand during a break year and this was organised by a Christian group from Canada, she left disillusioned after two weeks because the group insisted that only the children and adults who sat and listened to the preaching of the gospel and read the scripture cards that were given out received food, unfortunately this is not an isolated incident but one that we have experienced in the country we are working in.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I agree that church should not be forced on children. I do believe there is one true God and I love Jesus with all of my heart and my relationship with Christ is everything to me. I desire for my kids to have a relationship with Jesus and to live their lives in light of that love. Not a religion- a relationship. For parents who know and love Jesus, we can and should model and encourage and promote opportunities for our children to develop their own relationship with God. I appreciate your perspective and I’m sad that you have been wounded by people. I also, must agree to disagree on a few points.
No one is “born” into a faith. I hear people regularly say they were “born Catholic” or whatever else… but that -really- doesn’t matter. What matters is, now that they can make their own decisions… what do they think now? THAT is what they are.
My kids are young yet, but we will not be letting our kids participate in sports on Sunday. We decided that a long time ago. I have been very disappointed to see some of the coaches at our local Christian school take students to sporting events on Sundays.
There is pressure there that you are letting down the other kids on your team if you don’t go – I guess that’s a good teachable moment when you have an opportunity to talk to your kids about what it means to “Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy” – a time to go to church with fellow believers. I’m not saying it will be easy, but we do have the help of some friends who believe the same way we do, so we won’t be the only ones.
Standing up to society – even the Christian community – is not always easy and often awkward. I hope and pray that my husband and I have the courage and conviction to say something for those parents who are thinking the same as us but not brave enough to say it.
Great job thinking through issues that will arise in the future. I encourage you to continually revisit the issue as you move through life stages.
Good thoughts. Eric Liddell is a great role model for people who love sports, but want to prioritize their relationship with Christ.
Of course I agree with this viewpoint for religious reasons. But there’s even more to it…like family. As someone above said, there are six other days in the week to play sports (or any other extra-curricular activities people do). What about just one day a week where a family focuses on each other? Spends time together for no other reason but to regroup and enjoy one another’s company? I believe this is one of the reasons God initiated the Sabboth Day. I believe humans need one day a week to get away from the chaos and take a breath. That day should be with family, not a sports team.
Great point. So many of the directives given to us by God in Scripture are “for our own good!” We serve a God who loves us so much that he wants what is best for us and our families….that is the heart behind the command to ‘keep the Sabbath holy’!
I think of some youth I know who don’t exactly have much of a family if any. That sports team, for some, is like family. I wonder about the benefit to that family if the world gets a break from Christians being in their groups every Sunday while they make sure they aren’t missing church and “obeying the Sabbath”.
How much better would it be for that “youth” if you made them a part of your family and took them to church with you?… You think it would benefit the family to disobey God and stop going to church? This is a concerning statement….
When I was a kid, if I had to miss doing something I loved more than anything else, like a sport, in order to go to church on Sunday… I ended up resenting church. Oddly enough, when I got to my high school years, my parents allowed me to make the decision for myself and never let on to what they wanted. As a result, I was happier going to church. And on the rare occasion I had a game on a Sunday morning, I went to that guilt free. The neat thing is that my faith started becoming more real to me in my teenage years once I was allowed to make it my own and not the prescription of other people.
It was a major inner conflict for me as a kid when rules were forced on me in a similar way to how the Jewish Christians looked down on the Roman Christians. It’s like the God of the do’s and don’ts of church was not the same God they taught me about in Sunday School. It’s unfortunate, because in my young life, the opinions of the adults in my church mattered a lot to me and did little more than make me feel bad about myself for wanting to be somewhere else. When I finally learned it’s up to me to make my own commitments to God and to the church, I was finally able to focus on a relationship with my savior instead of making sure he doesn’t get mad at me.
I believe God wants us to make consistent time for him. I think he wants us to have a day to relax and make time for family. I think he wants us to have a community of believers that we are a part of to encourage one another and help build. I don’t think any of this is sacrificed if I play a game on Sunday morning… especially since that is how I relax and refocus and refresh.
I really agree with your point of view that church shouldn’t be forced on kids. It is our responsibility as parents to model and encourage the life that we feel we are called to live. For those of us with a relationship with Christ, this includes worshiping, learning, serving, building relationships with others who love Jesus and connecting in our community with those who don’t know Jesus yet. I am not encouraging families to pull out of sports completely or enforce a rule about Sundays(although I see that’s the point of view of many commenters) I believe my families involvement in the sports community is a big part of our purpose. I still want to be very careful that we don’t put anything ahead of our relationship with Christ and inadvertently hinder our children from building relationships with others in their church community that are so important to their own discipleship….especially as they grow through Jr. High and High School.
“I don’t think any of this is sacrificed if I play a game on Sunday morning… especially since that is how I relax and refocus and refresh.” I think you may have the wrong idea of what it is all about… Sunday isnt for you to relax refocus and refresh.. in fact sunday isnt about you at all… or me. Its about God obeying him, loving him, and worshiping him the way he has told us to.
DM,
We are to love the Lord with ALL our strength, with ALL our mind, with ALL our soul, and with ALL our heart, that is everything we are made of, and every day of the week. God requires mercy not sacrifice. Ask Him, what is it that may be in your life that He doesn’t approve of. Christians have become legalistic with it’s view on going to “church” on Sunday. The question should not be should we not play sports and go to church, it should be, what does the rest of my life look like to God? Then let Him show you. This will only happen if we really want to know what God thinks. My relationship with Him is better because I let Him have access to every area of my life, at least I try to do this, we are supposed to be conformed to the likeness of the Son of God. Our whole lives as Christians are to be about glorifying God in every area of our lives, are we so bold as to think we know how to do this without His help or the help of another human? His ways are higher than our ways and they are different than our ways Isaiah 55:8, Jeremiah 31:33-34.
Thankfully this was not a big issue for when my children were younger – but had it been, I would imagine if a husband and wife are not on the same page – there would be a hockey fight right at home. !
The problem with religion is that if I choose not to worship the conventional way of sitting in a pew for an hour every Sunday, I am judged by others to not put God first? Who are those fit enough to judge me when you have no idea how I worship my God? If I am on the ballfield with my family, enjoying family time, learning real life lessons of sportsmanship and how to be a good person, couldn’t you argue that is the same reason people go to Church?
With all due respect, that is not the view of God’s Word. No, I’m not saying that the Bible says that we MUST sit on a pew on Sunday morning. The Bible does, very clearly, say that we should “…consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
The point here is that, as Christians, we are supposed to “stir up ONE ANOTHER to love and good works.” How can you encourage someone to love others and do good if you are not around them?
Missing church occasionally is not a sin. FORSAKING, however, is. To “forsake” means “to abandon.”
Can they skip church to play video games? Chutes and Ladders? A game is a game right? They have video game tournaments. What if little Johnny skipped Sunday school to play video games but showed up for the worship service while little Suzy skipped it all for a soccer tournament? Who would get more eyebrow raises?
On the other hand, I think there is another cultural shift at play here. Ask your self this, why were we all at the soccer fields on Sunday to begin with? More specifically, why are there so many parents, kids, etc out and about in the name of sports? We have become a culture obsessed with and addicted to the idea of sports. I think it it time for us, especially as Christians, to consider that the balance of time management specific to sports is way off. Sports are good however, to what end?
Great point!
were 3 or more are gathered could have had worship on the sideline, before or after the game. I am part of a small group. We believe you can worship and learn anywhere any time.
I too share your opinion of sports being good, but to what end. A co-worker whose daughter was very involved in volleyball and I were discussing this. Her comment was such; we had hoped that by playing at these advanced levels she might get a scholarship to play. She did to a smaller college but I’ve added up everything we spent from special shoes, registration fees to travel expenses and we could have paid for her college. But no, she got a scholarship, a student loan debt and we got a whole lot less family time. A good question to ask when looking at a league or tournament is where is the money going? A lot of these “must do” activities are making someone money.
As a young person I spent a good deal of time attending a different church from my parents, they had decided for their own reasons to attend a larger church across town, but as a twelve year old I felt out of place and uncomfortable. So one morning I announced that I would be attending our old church up the street and would not be returning to their new church. It would be a lie if I where to tell you that at twelve I was making a mature and calm decision about my spirituality and putting God first. I simply did not like the new church the new drive or the new Sunday school and so I rebelled. My parents to my surprise and my continued appreciation allowed it on the condition that I was attending and that I was accepting responsibility for my faith. At first I was required to bring home bulletins and I am sure in retrospect that they checked up on me with their friends who still attended but honestly they needn’t have. Two things got me to church almost every Sunday through out my teen years, the satisfaction of being empowered by my parents to walk my own path and a youth group that was genuinely a high point of my week (probably both just the Holy Spirit). There where weeks I missed, I experimented with ditching, I went on ski trips, but for the most part I put church at the forefront on Sundays and those priorities became part of life the rest of the week as well. Now seventeen years later I am a regular member and youth leader, my fiancé and I are planning a wedding at our church where God willing we will one day raise our kids.
In my ministry as a youth leader I try first and foremost to be open to God and secondly to foster an environment which is genuine and welcoming for our youth, because it was those qualities that got me out of bed and to church when I was a young person. In the future as we plan to raise our own children I am reminded that at some point regardless of our actions our children will have to walk their own path and that it will be my job to teach them how to find it.
The reason I’ve taken the time to relate this story is to ask a question that nagged at me as I was reading about the perspective of your child? I’m not sure of the age but do they know how conflicted you feel have you asked them about what they think? It is my experience as an educator that children of all ages will surprise you eventually if you continue to ask them what they think. Also the greatest influence on my faith was nightly prayer and blessings, I may have missed church from time to time but we said the Lords Prayer and blessed each other every night until I went to college.
Thanks for sharing your story. I appreciate it. And to answer your question, yes- we did talk about it quite a bit with our kids (the one I was with that day is 13) and my kids(the others are 11 and 9) gave input into the post as I was writing it. I completely agree that kids need to have input on decisions and take responsibility for their faith…my role as a parent and church leader is to model and create environments and opportunities to experience the presence and power of God. Thanks for sharing and best of luck as you begin your family life.
I am sympathetic with the challenges here. I am a pastor and a parent. We’ve declined some activities because of what they’d mean for our family life. I also know that there are times when we will be flexible about such things. I am greatly appreciative of the difficulties and the honest sharing here, as well as the efforts that families make to live in a way that reflects their commitments and convictions.
I’d like to raise one other issue here:
I wonder what this means for our brothers and sisters who have other holy days. If you live in an area with Jews and Christians, for example, would doing unto others as you would have done unto you require no sports on Saturdays or Sundays? Most Muslims have a special time of prayer on Friday, with many refraining from work the rest of the day (though this is not uniformly true of Islam). If a team has members from those three Abrahamic faiths, what is a coach to do? What does it mean to be a loving neighbor in such circumstances?
good point
We could also say this very thing about the attendance on Wednesday services! We are a traveling baseball family and this is something we have struggled with over our 15+ years doing this! Since my husband is the coach we have been able to put something’s into actions that helps us! We only travel twice a month instead of every weekend! We offer devotions every Sunday that we are on a field! We pray with the boys and families keeping the focus on Christ! We fellowship with our families through a once a month get together. Our family attends church every Wednesday along with as many functions with the church as possible! I also lead ladies bible studies! This is what God has called us to do as a family! So please understand that just because a family misses a Sunday service doesn’t mean they are not focused on Christ! The best thing is for a family to seek The Lord themselves to see exactly how God would use you if sports are apart of your life! God will use all means to further His kingdom and will use all who are obedience to Him!
Thank you for sharing. Great job making decisions on purpose. You are doing exactly what I am encouraging families to do…make decisions on purpose! Good job ensuring that relationships are staying current through other means during sports seasons. I have seen too many families who haven’t put the thought that you have into it and without meaning to loose touch with their church family and their relationships with God due to lack of prioritizing.
Love this article. It’s such a struggle out here in in New England. Soccer tournaments are every Saturday and Sunday if you play on the elite teams.. My husband’s father never let any of his 4 Children miss church for sports and my husband still was the starting quarterback for his HS football team. We will be the same with our four kids.
I agree that it is important for them to be in fellowship with other Christians and also teach them where our commitment lies. Nothing shows our kids more than our actions and if we choose sports over church then we’re telling them that its more important. You have a commitment to your team but you also have a commitment to your church…you can do a bible study at the field but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re seat is empty at your church. You never know if that empty church was a turn off for the person who walked through the doors for the first time or if you could’ve welcomed someone but you weren’t there. You have a responsibility to your church to be there too…it’s not just a service that’s provided for you whenever you feel like being there.
Aren’t there any churches in your town with services at different times that you could use as a backup when there’s a conflict like this? If you and the other families from your church could go together to a different church on Saturday afternoons prior to Sunday games, it might be both fun and a chance for all to grow in faith.
We are the parents of 2 girls, both having played club/tournament travel ball. When they were 14 – under we didn’t play on Sundays because we felt they needed to be in church to build their foundation. At 14+ we felt as though they were grounded enough in their faith to survive playing on Sundays. We believe that going to church alone doesn’t make you a Christian. Its the relationship with God. We also made sure they didn’t play for teams that practiced on Wednesdays since that was their typical Awana, youth, etc night. They are now 21 & 17. They chose to attend Christian universities. As for the sacrifice being worth it….yes! Our daughter has been blessed with talent & is in the 2% to play ball at the college level. She signed her NLI in November! You shouldn’t have to choose. If you keep God first, everything else will work out. He just wants a relationship & where or when that takes place doesn’t matter.
I really appreciate your comment of keeping God first and everything else will work out. I agree that relationship with Jesus is what it’s all about. For our family, I feel that the support and relationships that my kids find in the church community are very important to their discipleship and relationship with Jesus and become more important the older they get. I’m glad to hear your girls are doing so well. Thank you for sharing from your experience.
As a long-time coach, I have refused to practice or participate in tournaments on Sunday. I also believe that sports should have a season, giving kids time to explore other activities and to rest sport specific muscles and joints, so I do not advocate playing the same sport year round either. With that being said, I have had many parents pressure me to both play on Sunday and coach year round. This results in kids’ priorities being skewed from a young age. If the pressure to excel in one sport is all they feel from the beginning, what are they missing out on during their childhood?
I opened this article thinking here we go again, another person telling us we are wrong for letting our child play traveling basketball and missing 3 Sundays out of the year. I don’t necessarily think you are telling us we are wrong, but I also know that we wouldn’t change our decision ever. I do believe church is to help you grow spiritually but I truly believe that our children’s growth starts at home. If you are grounded in faith at home first, missing a few Sundays a year won’t devastate your child’s commitment to the church. I believe that forming those strong ties with your church family happen not only at church but also in the small groups that meet each week, etc. My children know that if we are not able to meet with pur church family those 3 Sundays, we will be attending a Saturday night service at a church in the city we are at. I know people may not agree with our decision to miss those 3 services but I also know where my children’s hearts are and one wants to be a youth minister when they grow up and the other a social worker. I’m pleased with how they have turned out and the deep friendships they have formed with our church family. We make it a point to show them that church is important all the other times we attend, even when their mom (me) is fighting a horrible migraine…..which happens a lot. We are still there on those Sundays. Teaching them what is important at home is most important.
Great job establishing the spiritual disciplines and the priorities for your family. Thank you for sharing your ideas on how to maintain connection and relationships with your church family and having fun and growing through the experience of basketball. So many don’t give it that much thought….that’s what I was going after with this post…I want families to make their decisions on purpose!
Oh, and I’m so sorry you struggle with migraines. That must be so miserable. Praying for healing and relief!
Might an even better path in this situation be to gather for worship right there? Tell the coach “Sure, we’ll do that but 20 minutes before game time you’ll need to stop the pregame practice so those who wish can join together for a worship service.” Perhaps even those who don’t normally go to church would join in and it could be an evangelism opportunity. It communicates the importance of worship and allows you to live it out in the world rather than sheltering it in a church building. I know it’s a different situation, but when my wife and I were in China for our adoption, that’s exactly what we did with the families we were with, and invited everyone to come.
Unfortunately many families who claim to be working on this at home are the very same ones who sit on the sidelines yelling and screaming in ways that totally dishonor God. It is, of course their choice, but it also becomes the reason Christians are labeled hypocrites.
We have three adult children and have dealt with these decisions for decades. I would encourage parents to make courageous decisions that exhibit “true choice,” realizing that there always IS a choice to make, although sometimes difficult. Each choice has its benefits and costs. Disappoint the right people.
Thank you for that encouragement!
I think you’ve done a fantastic job of writing this post, inviting feedback while sharing that you’re in the process of navigating this season, and gracefully and humbly responding to folks who are stating some pretty obvious disagreements that I’m sure you’re already wrestling through. I have 3 young kids, and we aren’t in that season quite yet, but having the conversation is so important. Thank you for writing this! Blessings on you as you humbly trek through these decisions. I pray that others will take note and follow your lead and humbly and graciously join you in the conversation. ~ Sarah
Thank you 🙂
I coach a girls travel fastpitch team and decided that I would take church to the ball field on Sundays and share the word through devotional!We have found after 7 years that there are alot of folks at the ball field we can reach that otherwise wouldn’t hear about our Saviour Jesus Christ!
There’s also the issue of taking a Sabbath. Not to be legalistic, but we have been given a day of rest by God for our benefit. After all, the Creator of the universe says we need a day of rest each week. What other day of the week will it be? It’s one thing to have a fun pick-up game on a Sunday afternoon with your neighbors, but it’s another to be committed to an organized sport.
There are churches in other parts of the world that must worship on days other than Sunday. Most churches in Western culture gather for corporate worship on more than just Sunday morning, although their primary corporate worship is on Sunday. Nonetheless, if your primary contact with your church is on Sunday morning, you aren’t doing church right. Being a church is more than Sunday morning. Being a Christian happens all week long.
So the issue isn’t that we have to always gather on Sunday. The issue is that we need the discipline of being an active part of our local church, which includes worshipping together as well as Sabbathing. The fundamental conflict, therefore, is between the discipline of the sport and the discipline of our spiritual life. When the discipline of one’s sport becomes greater than the discipline of one’s spiritual life, one exchanges worship of the true God for the worship of a false god. At that point, intentionally not obeying the command to Sabbath and forsaking the gathering of the saints becomes a breaking of the command to have no gods before Yahweh.
I love your warning at the beginning about making folks uncomfortable. As a parent of two sports oriented sons, a coach for over 20 years and a Christian, I have witnessed the change in attitude on this subject. Not long ago there were no Sunday events that took us away from church. Our oldest son grew up in the era of playing two nights a week with another night of practice, played 3 months a year and that was his season. By the time our youngest came along, the season was 8 months a year and weekend tournaments were becoming a big thing. Whether the decisions we made as parents are right or wrong should not be up for judgement by anyone except God. Far too many times in our lives we find that Christians judge each other and the outside world. This judgement creates walls that God did not put up, we put the up as “Christians”.
I find it interesting that while sports families are somewhat condemned for not being in the building every single Sunday, that pastors, youth leaders, music ministers and deacons that miss multiple Sundays are not put through the same ringer as the sports families. It’s perfectly acceptable for a pastor to miss 12 Sundays a year in today’s church because of conferences, mission trips, guest preaching at other churches and vacation time. At the same time, it is a sin for a soccer parent, baseball parent or whatever sport parent to miss the same number of services.
I am a coach that believes very strongly that the mission fields are not just in foreign countries. They are around us everywhere. The opportunity to lead by example and show the world that God loves everyone and that Jesus died for ALL of us cannot be shown to those that might never enter the “building”. Every Sunday that our team plays we have a time of devotion and prayer at a set time at the facility. All of our parents and players know we are doing it and those that choose to attend are welcome. The tournament directors also know we are doing it and we invite all players, parents and coaches that will be at the facility to attend with us. We have had “services” with as few as 4 or as many as 75 attending. After every single game we play, whether we win or lose, we thank God for giving us the opportunity to be examples to the world through the talents He has given us.
Whether I am a sinner because of my belief that church is us and not a building, only God can judge. But as I do my Bible study and prayer time, I have never felt that God wanted something different from me.
I don’t remember writing anywhere calling anyone a sinner for playing sports on Sunday or passing judgement. I apologize if you read it that way. My intent was to encourage families to think through their schedule and priorities. You obviously have already done that and if you feel your families schedule reflects your priorities, you’re doing great!
I agree with you that our mission field is everywhere we are. Our family has made decisions to be part of city leagues and public school to build relationships with those who don’t know Christ on purpose. Our sports commitments are part of our discipleship journey.
May God bless your family and your teams 🙂
It’s perfectly acceptable for a pastor to miss 12 Sundays a year in today’s church because of conferences, mission trips, guest preaching at other churches and vacation time. At the same time, it is a sin for a soccer parent, baseball parent or whatever sport parent to miss the same number of services.
As a Pastor, if I missed more than 2 Sundays a year, I would not expect to have a congregation to preach to. If i was not the Pastor, if my Pastor missed that much time, I would have to evaluate that church and possibly find another church family.
The Scriptures tell us in Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
The question then needs to be, “Are we gathered at the ball field in His name?” Otherwords when we gather togher in Christ’s name, He is there. There is only one place on earth that people gather in His name, and that is church. Honestly, people do not gather at the ball field for Christ, but for Little Johnny. People gather at church for Christ.
Don’t get me wrong, a group can have church on the ball field, if that is the reason they are gathered there in the first place. Our church has held services at our lcal high school football field, but no sports were involved. We gathered there for that reason only.
Are you teaching yourself and your children to love Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength by spending your Sundays at sports fields? The Christian life is all about SURRENDER of our will to God’s will. It’s tough to surrender. That’s why following Jesus is the absolute hardest thing anyone could ever attempt to do. And that’s why it’s not popular. And that’s why more people are on the wide road to destruction than the narrow road to eternal life. And that’s why many people on the wide road don’t even realize they’re on it. And that’s also why many people who truly are Christians are making little to no impact on God’s Kingdom – because they refuse to surrender daily to Jesus.
I am a mom of 3 young adults now. I can say for me and my husband we always encouraged our kids to play some kind of sport. We felt it was a good way to learn to work with others on a specific goal and learn about being loyal to a team. In other words if you join a team then you stick with that team to the finish and you don’t quit. We also tried to teach them that church should come first and if there was room after that for something then that was fine. Here were our rules for deciding on if our child would play on a team or not. If the games were mostly on Saturday’s or another day of the week except Sunday then it was a good fit. I know today that is very hard to find, was a little easier 10 years ago. We were not against having a game on a Sunday as a rare event. If the games were mostly all on Sunday then it was not a good fit. Two examples from my boys. Our oldest wanted to play football for his Middle School. He went to a few practices and found out that he had to be at practice every Wednesday evening and that meant he would have to quit Awana at church on Wednesday nights. We told him to pray about it and then tell us what he thought he should do. I am so glad that he decided that football was not more important than Awana. Our younger son was asked to be on the Bowling team for his High School and after finding out that all Bowling events were on Sunday mornings and early afternoon and most of the afternoon games were far away he decided it was not a good fit. I am very proud of our boys for those decisions and excited to see that they and their sister all have a close relationship with Christ in fact one of our sons now serve in Awana working with the young boys there. This is all God and I give him the glory for it all.
Thank you for your example and encouragement. Great job guiding your kids as they learned how to make decisions.
Ellen, congratulations on your boys’ being able to make the decisions and being mature enough to make those decisions without parental or peer pressure. Those are not easy decisions to make at young ages. Seldom do parents allow their children to make such decisions without guiding those decisions.
In a world where we, as Christians applaud our brothers and sisters like Tim Tebow, Kurt Warner, Ryan Vogelsong and others, we must also realize that without sports we would not know who they are. More importantly we must realize that their message of God and His love would not be as widely known if it wasn’t for their participation in athletics.
As a Christian, a dad and a coach, I wish games were never played on Sundays. I also wish stores and restaurants were not open on Sundays and that the world was such a good place that police and firemen didn’t have to work on Sundays. But such is not the case.
I also pray that our Christian family would remember to hate the sin and not the sinner as we see others in the world. Almost all Christians, including myself, jumped on the bandwagon for Phil Robertson in the A&E debacle. What Mr. Robertson said was 100% Biblical. Unfortunately the way it was said and the way it was read by millions, turned a lot of people off from hearing what God intended. It is through love and respect that we bring people to know Jesus Christ, not through words that hurt. Mr. Robertson is a lot like my grandfather. He says what he means, but coming from a different era and mindset, the words do not always translate well.
@Kevin, yes sir I believe I am teaching exactly what God wants me to teach and teaching it to those that need to hear. The Bible in every translation I have seen says that it is our purpose to take the Gospel to every corner of the earth. My words and actions are His.
@familydiscipleshippath, I did not mean to indicate that you were being judgmental. My comment came from reading other posts on your board, similar to Kevin’s. It is easy to sit in a pew every Sunday and say we have done our part. Until we have the strength to say yes to what God has called each of us to do, we will never really know what the other’s shoes feel like.
What I also find interesting is that in these conversations that have been going on for several years as a hot topic, not one single time, on any board or discussion has ANY of my Christians brothers or sisters asked how many young people or parents have come to know Christ through God’s work on the field.
Do we ever wonder why people don’t listen to us or His message? Maybe it’s because we don’t listen ourselves to them. Folks the day is coming where Jesus will be coming back. It is time to get out there, get dirty and take the message to the masses. It’s time to take the Word to them where they are, because they aren’t coming to us.
Sorry Mrs. Blog Writer, it was not my intention to get on a soapbox or back in the pulpit today. But condemnation because we don’t agree with an idea is what has kept us from reaching the folks we should be reaching, the ones right here in our own communities!
Mrs. Blogger, are you seeing the condemnation from our brothers and sisters yet? If this was a debate over a political topic or a statement by an actor or athlete, there would be no blinders worn and everyone would easily see the true situation. We seem to have a lot of Christians that think that Sunday is the Lord’s day, but the other 6 are less important. There also seems to be a fairly strong belief that the “church” consists of 4 walls and a pulpit. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord every day wherever we are. And that includes outside on a ball field.
I wonder how many of the posters had an issue with Tim Tebow or Kurt Warner being on ball fields on Sundays. Or how many had issues with Ryan Vogelsong being on a pitcher’s mound on Sundays. How about the thousands of other Christian athletes that our kids look up to? I would guess that the number would be extremely small. Where do folks think that they developed their skills? It certainly wasn’t in a rec ball game on Tues. night.
For anyone that has seen our teams on the field, there is no doubt we are there to be competitive and play the game. But more importantly there is no doubt that we are there as representatives of our Lord and Savior too. Visit our home field, see the Bible verses in our dugout, attend one of our Bible studies after practice and then judge if you must. More importantly, come watch one of our players witness with joy to a friend or an opponent. Watching a 12 -14 year old share the gospel and talk about what Jesus means to them is something that is amazing.
As Christians we wonder why we cannot reach more of the world. Could it be that we are spending far more time judging others than we are in prayer, study and truly developing our own personal relationship with the One that saved us? Is it any wonder the world sees us as hypocrites?
Your comment mirrored exactly what I was thinking as I read this article and many of the subsequent comments. We have been in the ministry for 20 years and have, until recently, been very judgmental in our thinking toward anyone who missed a service because of a ball game. Then, it hit me one day. How many times, from the pulpit, have I heard about what a wonderful, godly testimony this football player, that baseball player, this football coach, etc. has. They are true role models for our kids to look up to. Not that I disagree, but how did they get to where they are now? They most definitely missed services to play or coach ball. They still do, in fact! Many pro games are on Sundays. I completely understand that missing church on a regular basis can be detrimental to you, or your child’s spiritual growth, but we can’t have it both ways. I think a good question to ask yourself is…do the other team mates or their families see Jesus in me? Am I being a witness wherever I am?
great example.
My older sons played travel ball for a couple of years. Our rule going into it & we were very open & clear about it with the coach. We would be there all day on Saturday, but Sunday we would attend church as a family & play ball after that. The coach was very understanding & we never had a problem with it. I think the main thing is to be open with the coaches & with your children the reasons behind your decision. Our children knew that attending church, as a family was important to us. We did not allow a sport to be put in front of God.
You have said it well. I think many families probably believe & feel just as you have said, but they don’t want to be the “bad guy”. Church has lost its importance in lives. Parents think that this will only be a “season” of missing church, not realizing that if the love of attending church isn’t established early, then many won’t see it as important. Regardless of what people think, you can’t really worship God on a ball field…generally most fans are further from Him in their actions & attitude while there.
As someone who grew up in the church I have seen this “issue” countless times. I had friends at church who weren’t there every Sunday because they had a game that day, or a game the day before and were too tired to go to church (that’s what they told us). When I was younger I never understood why church wasn’t a priority to other families like it was for ours. I remember asking my parents over and over why so and so wasn’t in Sunday School again.
My younger sister and I were both involved with the musical arts programs at school. Not athletics I know but we still had competitions on weekends and sometimes wouldn’t get back until the wee hours of the morning. And even though we were tired from performing the day before and only got a few hours of sleep, my parents made sure we were at church on time. Of course, there was grumbling on our part at the time because we were teenagers and never wanted to do what our parents told us 🙂 But I am so thankful that our parents “made” us go because it helped to instill the importance of putting God first in our lives…even when we don’t “feel” like it. Yeah we were tired but it was nice seeing everyone and having people asking us how we did, where we placed, etc. It showed us that our church family cared about us and were excited to celebrate with us!
My husband and I don’t have children of our own yet but I am sure this topic will come up! Church has been a huge priority in our lives, both individually and in our marriage, and we hope to be able to teach this to our future children. We want our children to be involved with extracurricular activities, whether sports or the arts or both, but we want them to understand that God comes first every time. Even if that means having to make sacrifices sometimes.
we’ve handled it simply. We are the church, the building isn’t.
Arrive early/ Stay late and have service before/ after…
Amen and welcome others to join you.
I agree the building isn’t the church…the people are! I need community to grow and disciple my kids in the way that I feel God has called me to.
One I don’t have any children. So for children, so I
My ability to really say too much other than what I have observed. One I haven’t seen this occasional thing that is being referenced. I think the point is not just sports but all extracurricular activities are now being scheduled it seems on Sunday. And as for sports, it is not short term. You have a sport a season, one is done and you move on to the next one. Or maybe you have a local soccer team,then you have travel soccer. Then you move on to volleyball, or another sport. Or another curricular activity. I just don’t see this occasional Sunday, I see it goes for months. I don’t think anyone here is saying just don’t miss church. But it also seems to be some are so quick to defend missing church and calling it judgmental or questioning this idea of sing if you don’t attend church…that they are almost saying church isn’t important.
There is a point that it affects your witness. new Christian see
That you are never there, so why should any of this be important for them. it also means a select few people have to carry more of the burden at church, because when people are gone for weeks on end, there are things that simply must get done so a few people have to do the all. it means the kids know when the adults aren’t there. The youth know when the adults aren’t there. And they also know when things are disorganized and chaotic because there aren’t people there to help. So they don’t come back eventually either. I don’t know maybe church attendance doesn’t matter. I have better things I could do two or three Sundays out of a month. Maybe the only person that needs to be there is the pastor. Maybe they are the only person that needs to do anything. Maybe, when it says in Hebrews do to “not neglect meeting together as some are in a habit of doing” it really isn’t the command that it sounds like. maybe asking God’S people to come together just one time , just one time, and thank him for making them a family through his blood is just too much and just not what God expected. I have seen many people say they are too busy, or they have to be here and there. I have only seen one little girl tell her show choir director she couldn’t participate because she had church. But she doesn’t come much anymore, because all the youth leaders had extracurricular things to do so no adult was ever there. And couldn’t find anyone who could be there. So well she is not there much anymore now. maybe there is not anything wrong with missing occasionally everyone does that. But I don’t think there is anything wrong with telling whatever group you have that you have church occasionally. But we don’t, I guess cause we would not be allowed to participate if we missed? it seems to be there is so many defensive reactions here that there must be some truth to what is being said.
I believe that this is one of the reasons that we see a big generation gap in worship services across America. We have taught our children that it is okay to put other things including sports before the worship of our Savior. It may start as sport but as the child grows into young adulthood the example has been set and it changes to —— (fill in the blank). Hebrews 10:25 the term forsake means to abandon or cast aside. While I understand that we can worship anywhere I also know that based on the word of God, He finds glory in and and through the His church..Ephesians 3:21. The are hundreds of Scriptures that speak of the importants of worshipong together and the importants of church. I cant help but believe 100% of the Word! Im an all or nothing kind of girl. Suffer the little children to come unto Me…. It was important to Christ so I think it is too!
well said 🙂
Good article and reminder of what is important. I think you have to find balance. As a Mom of a sport loving daughter, we encourage her to attend 1 service a week with the youth group whether that be Sunday School Wednesday evening or any other time they meet. We also attended a nearby church last summer during Softball season on Saturday evenings when we knew we would have a Sunday tournament. My husband and I sometimes trade off attending Sunday games so one of us can be in our own worship service. It doesn’t replace being with your own church family but it is definitely better than not having a community worship time set aside at all.
great job finding a solution for your family! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Great article. Our son swims from fall to spring so it’s more than one Sunday here and there. This is his 3 year on the team and we’ve struggled with this every year. This year we’ve decided to scale back and only swim the Saturday sessions of the meets. With the exception being both days now and then. Each family has to search it out and do what works for them. With swim it easier to make that decision. What we have to think about is relays and when we choose not to participate sometimes 3 others miss out on a relay. But these selections of events are made ahead of time so that makes it easier. Many of our families are Christians and we’ve talked among each other and this is working for us in this season.
Church is the body of believers not the building you go to once a week. If you saw other families there on Sunday, why not take advantage of this time of fellowship with other believers, then break bread together afterwards at a meal you could even have bible study sometime during the weekend of the tournament and have worship together and that is church 🙂 You could even invite parents and players that are unchurched and this would be a great way to outreach and spread the gospel.
My family had a policy with the coach before the season started that if he or the league scheduled a Sunday sporting event (during church) that I (the player) would not be there. This placed the coach and the league on notice. Now for us as a family we were athletic and competitive, and very good at what we did, so the coach knew that if he scheduled a Sunday game he would lose one of the team’s best players 🙂 So leverage never hurt. Out of principle – my family (and now my children) will not be missing church for soccer, baseball, football or basketball (I might make an exception Badminton – kidding). I will be involved with my kids and the league to help resolve these conflicts; to find ways around the problems of finding a venue that is available (Sundays seem to be available). Sunday mornings can be protected. I believe in “win win” situations. Who says games have to be played in the morning? Now I know weekend trips and travel enter into the picture, and if these are rare, I see those more as vacations (so I’m not that legalistic), but weekly events dominate the weekends, and I have seen over time this hurt entire Christian family in many ways, that a soccer games is not worth. I believe God will honor those who do take a stand for their convictions. If enough Christian families state upfront that their child will not play on Sunday mornings – this problem may correct itself in time. In studying church history, the Jews under Roman rule (BC), were unbending in what they believed to be their convictions, that Rome actually changed its policies to adapt to these convictions – even had Jewish rulers doing the governing. It was stated that Rome only did this for the Jews (no other cultures held to their convictions like the Jews did), because the Jews were to unyielding. Regardless of the fact that the Jews were under the “Law”, that is not the point, so please don’t go there 🙂 This is just a great historical illustration of people “growing some”, and standing up to the pop culture, and God honoring those who stand up for what they believe. As an adult, who played sports at a high level, and am very competitive, I value today my worship more than a dumb football game 🙂 Go Ducks! 🙂
I would add that my family only held to this personal conviction for Sunday worship. Midweek sports, if it pulled us away, and it rarely did, was an exception, because we were a sports family we gained a lot of leadership and maturity development from sports. God never took a back seat. Sometimes having midweek services on days that do not conflict with a school schedule help, but not always. Churches do this all the time, in offering worship services on Saturdays, and Sundays for families to have options. Adults who are a part of home small groups pick the best nights for them – so mid-week services – outside of Sundays, should not be a part of the same formula IMHO 🙂
I’m a pastors wife. How would our congregation feel if I was missing on Sundays (or Wed night) for the purpose of allowing one or more of my 7 kids to participate in games (or whatever activity I chose) instead of church?
I guarantee people would fuss about it.
It stinks that more people wont take a stand. For multiple reasons. My boys are great ball players. They miss so much of the season sometimes because we won’t let it come before our commitment to church. I know my son has not been picked on a team because he’s the preachers son who won’t play Wed nights.
I appreciated your post and shared it on my page! I hope it challenges parents.
I appreciate you views and I share a lot of it. This is the tough part of being in, and sharing in our husbands leadership – in leadership – we loose our rights, and have to deal with being an example, but, as for my kids, if in High school, and they play basketball at a high level (not riding the pine), I will be at their games on Wednesday nights, and we will find a another day to hold a midweek service. I know my people – and they will applaud my commitment. Sundays are another animal.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? Sunday sport’s practice – perhaps the ideal time to smarten up the temple.
Thanks for sharing your personal conflict on this. I’ve struggled with it myself. I was really surprised that some of the responses here interpreted what you wrote as judgmental and were so critical of you, but I was even more surprised at your gracious and not defensive replies. Thanks for that great example!
I just said these words to a friend this past week. I am one of those parents that wish I could go back and do things differently. It’s not even about standing up for church; it’s about keeping your family connected to God and others who love Him, surrounding your children with the joy of living for Him. It is the only thing that wins against the troubles the world will throw at our children.
Matthew 18:20
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.
How about leading a devotion time before/after or during breaks in playing. Remember the chief end of humanity is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. A topic could be; Is your sportsmanship glorifying God?
People have forgotten what it means to be a member of a church – not the universal church, but a local church. Christians are to be a functioning part of a local church. A great little book on the subject is “I Am A Church Member” by Thom Rainer. It crosses denominational lines. Here are the Chapter titles: I Will Be A Functioning Church Member; I Will Be A Unifying Church Member; I Will Not Let My Church Be About My Preferences and Desires; I Will Pray For My Church Leaders; I Will Lead My Family to Be Healthy Church Members; I Will Treasure Church Membership As A Gift.
If your local church consists of the Christian families you play sports with every week, that’s great. Somebody serve as the pastor and let that be your local church. Support one another. Give to one another. Hold each other accountable. Disciple each other. Worship together weekly. Perform funerals for your loved ones who die. Perform weddings for your family members. Etc. But if that’s NOT your local church, you’re missing out on all of those things every time you’re not at your own church, and just as importantly, everybody at your local church is missing out on what you have to offer, on what God has called you to do as a part of that local church, your spiritual giftedness, your encouragement, your witness, etc.
There’s no excuse for a Christian to fail to be an active, functioning part of a local church. That’s not opinion unless you consider Scripture to be optional. Local churches are struggling to even survive, and countless Christians are flocking to mega-churches where nobody notices if they’re there weekly or not. We shouldn’t even wonder why Christianity’s influence in America has dwindled and we no longer resemble a nation that’s based on Christian principles. It starts at home, and since it’s not happening in so many homes, the trickle-down effect is tremendously awful.
I love this article.. I think it makes great points. My family and I are faithful in going ot church. we do not miss it and will not for any other idol. My kids do Martial arts for 6 years now and never have to miss wednesday or sunday church or even youth service!
As a child, I was the kid who only attended church when I wasn’t playing sports. I played school softball, basketball, and volleyball, as well as travel softball and volleyball (whew!). However, I don’t believe it was my lack of church going that made my faith so weak throughout my childhood. My parents didn’t make God a priority in the home. We prayed before meals and they asked me what I learned in church when we went and that was it. Thankfully God led me to a Christian University where I played volleyball on full scholarship and my faith in God was restored. However, I definitely can’t say the same for my younger sister. I definitely think church is important and my husband and I will cross that bridge when we have children. But I’m going to focus more on living out the gospel in my daily life so that my children can see Jesus outside the church building. I also coach volleyball at that Christian University and thankfully they have a no practice/play policy for Sundays. God bless!
That’s a great perspective 🙂
If you are there with “20 others,” perhaps that is an opportunity to have church together before the game. You show up or meet 20 minutes (or whatever) earlier for your own worship as a group. The main lesson to your children is priority of worship — not WHERE you worship. …. And imagine the witnessing opportunity!
Thank you- that is a good idea. A few others have commented with the same thoughts. On that particular day the families I mentioned were spread across several different fields, teams and times. Many of them I didn’t know about until after the fact when I saw postings on FB.(gotta love it) However, my conflict is more based on the bigger picture and not this one day and one situation. I think having a small service on the field with others is a great witness and a good option on the rare occasion. However, it doesn’t replace the community that a church family provides. In my experience kids and youth benefit greatly from friends that they consistently worship and connect with through a church community. This will give them the support system(along with their family and parents) that is so needed to transition through childhood and the teenage years with a growing relationship with Jesus.
I’m reminded of the movie Chariots of Fire as I read your post. I’d love to post on a couple of my blogs if you don’t mind.
sure
I did not read all the comments, so this may have been touched upon already. I grew up in a rural community. Each year the county fair took over one whole week of our local families’ lives. There was the opportunity to gather together on Sunday morning at the fair grounds for a worship service. The 20 families that were at that soccer tournament could have gathered together for an impromptu Worship Service, even a short prayer. Or sat together in fellowship. There is nothing in the Bible that demands we sit in a church building every Sunday.
this has been touched on a bit…I just gave a pretty thorough response just a couple of comments up from yours if you’re interested 🙂
I agree wholeheartedly with you!! My children are now 26 and 22, but I started seeing this problem about 13 years ago. We took a stand, giving up a place on a traveling soccer team (traveled on Sundays), only to have a family member’s child take our daughter’s place! Parents (and grandparents) NEED to take a stand to put their children’s spiritual growth first…and put sports, popularity and other worldly things second. Pastors also need to NOT be afraid of how their congregation will respomd to accountabilty efforts. I was once told by a mother “I don’t think my children would forgive me if I told them they had to choose VBS over summer baseball”. Broke my heart that’s she chose baseball for her kids. but know this breaks God’s heart more!
My church has a very strong Wednesday night service 6 o’clock meal for all the family followed by bible study in the sanctuary and prayer. Real bible study not just lite verse and story
Great article. For my family, we missed many Sundays in church b/c of sports tournaments. We could have chosen church every Sunday (I would’ve LOVED no sports events on Sundays!) but this was our reality. If my daughter missed these tournaments, she would’ve been off the team. Soccer didn’t define who she was but it was a large but of her life. We did our best to do “mid week church” whenever possible (church activities and gatherings). In addition, worshipping Jesus is a 24-7 thing so she knew early on that going to that building every Sunday was only a part of what being a Christian is. She went on to college with a strong Passion for Christ and involvement in Christian activities. And yes, missed Sunday church sometimes b/c she was on the college soccer team! More importantly, she learned the value of being the light of Christ in some dark places. This was our personal decision. It took great effort and we DID tell her that in “a perfect world” we wouldn’t have to choose. By missing church on Sunday, we weren’t saying “soccer is more important that God” we were saying let’s play for God’s glory! I understand that it appears that our priorities were wrong, but God knows our hearts. Our daughter may have resented it had we made her give up soccer (she would’ve been off of the team if she didn’t attend tourneys). Hope this helps others.
Pingback: A Few Good Reads | scottslayton.netA Few Good Reads - scottslayton.net
I don’t believe in missing church to attend a game. My belief is the games should not be played on Sunday because it is a respect thing for the Lord. And those who have set up games on Sundays simply are lacking in that respect. They are saying this game is more important than worshipping God. It isn’t a sin but instead just clarifies what is most important to you and where your priorities lie. I live by the rule of thumb what would Christ say if he was here and I think he would prefer me to be in some type of service to Him if I could opposed to being on the game field.
Thank you so much for your wise words. I could not agree with you more. This very issue has been very heavy on my heart for a very long time. You would enjoy the book Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. It talks a lot about the cost of truly following God. There are a lot of people that think they are followers but they are really just fans. They say, “Don’t judge my spiritual commitment just because I skip church for sports. You are being judgmental.” Or, they say, “We can do our own worship in the hotel or before we leave home to go to the sporting event.” They will make every excuse to justify. But the truth is – God has said that we shall have no other gods before Him – and that includes SPORTS! I am searching my heart and asking God to show me what I put before Him because we all struggle with some sort of “idol” that we have to overcome. It is just that sports is a HUGE one that Satan has been very successful in using to pull young people away from God – and all because the parent is afraid to tell their kids “No sports on the Lord’s Day”. We want to make sure our kids get the training they need in soccer, baseball, volleyball, football, basketball, or even academics. BUT – isn’t spiritual training more important? Spiritual training determines their ETERNITY! Would we ever miss every Friday at school for a sport? Yet we can miss many, many Sundays. Thank you for your family’s commitment. We stand with you!
Just read this. It’s a timely and touchy topic. I have been saved and a child of God for 43yrs. I have made attendance in God’s house a priority for myself and our children all 43 yrs. I have been a pastor’s wife for the last 20 of those years. Believer’s teach their children that success in sports requires dedication, practice, discipline, and sacrifice. Yet we fail to teach them the same things in their walk and love for God. We’ll spend our time on what we love and enjoy. Looking at this short life with eternity’s values in view, the emphasis placed on sports seems too heavy.
Thanks so much for this thought-provoking and heart-felt article.
Sorry, but the church is a group of Christians banded together to accomplish God’s work, it is not just attendance on Sunday morning and it is not an individual. Something in your own “body” should be missing when you are not there, it is also a commitment. If your church is first, do you ever not go to a game when church and game conflict? If not, your church is not first, though you may wish it to be so.
Our children are just now getting old enough that this could be an issue, but it is something my wife and I have been struggling with and praying about since before we started trying to have children.
One commenter on a facebook post that linked to this commented that, perhaps the church should also consider ways to accomodate our modern culture in this area…. There’s nothing sacred about Sunday morning, per se. Worship services could certainly be at a different time on Sunday.
However, on the other hand, the chuch should also be careful not to conform to the world. It’s a tight balance between being true to the faith and relevant to the culture.
yes, my husband(both pastors and parents) have many conversations about that balance. I believe the church has a great responsibility here to adjust and maintain relevancy in today’s culture. We(as church leaders) also have the responsibility to create an environment in our church that puts people in the position to experience the presence and power of God….that will make it easier for people to make the decision to prioritize church attendance. As parents we must carefully guard our priorities in every season and every circumstance…it’s not easy and it’s certainly not as black and white as some of the commenters on this post have presented it. May we(as leaders and parents) continue to press into God in every situation and respond to HIS leading. My prayers are with you and your family as you navigate this next season 🙂
This is a really good article considering youthful sports events as Sunday Worships biggest competitor. We call it seasonal, although there is virtually a year round seasoning of these sporting events. All so many good comments and discussion.
Hebrew 10
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
This is a struggle that my family faces as well. My son wrestles and most tournaments are on Sunday. We are also worship pastors at our church so I really get a lot of flack from people for letting him miss. Church is important, the gathering of the body is important. However, sports are important as well. They teach teamwork, responsibility and commitment. Church isn’t Jesus, it isn’t our relationship with God. I know that the few Sundays he misses aren’t going to out weigh the other Sundays, and Wednesdays that he is at church. We have had to make the decision that is in the best interest of our family and what we have peace with. We know that 1 family can’t change the whole season of when they have tournaments. However, we are very vocal about our preferences.
Don’t worry so much about “going to church”. “BE the church” wherever you are. Worship of God isn’t something you do once a week on Sunday…”at church”. You worship God with every breath you take, with every thought you think, with every action you do. Do ALL things as unto the LORD. Glorify HIM, even at the soccer field. Makes no difference which day it is.
Yes- we worship God whenever and wherever we are….we are also created to be in community with others who are going after the things of God. For me and my family it’s a both/and type of answer 🙂
Here’s a thought regarding your notion that we are created to be in community with others who are going after the things of God…ALL the Christian families that were at that soccer field on that Sunday…why couldn’t they gather right there at the field? Either before or after all the games? You don’t need mortar and bricks or steel girders and sheetrock to be a community of believers. Where two or three are gathered…right?
Jeff,
First: “Where two or three are gathered…right?” That’s a misunderstanding of that scripture which is in the context of church discipline.
Second: “…why couldn’t they gather right there at the field?” As long as those families are the church you are committed to, they could. But I imagine you have a church elsewhere that is missing a finger, an eye, a spleen, something that is valuable to them as a member of the local iteration of the Body of Christ. Unless you have their direct support in fulfilling the mission of the church at the soccer game, I would say you are leaving the Body lacking.
There are approximately 8760 hrs. in a calendar year, God only asks us share around 48 to 50 hrs. each year to praise and thank him for his many blessings, especially Jesus. That leaves around 8712 hrs. for the rest of the year to schedule sports activities. I wonder- what would Jesus say?
Reading many of your comments raises the uncomfortable spectre of dogma so characteristic of religion practised in Iran, Saudi, India, Afghanistan and the United States of America. Even the name of this thread “Church vs Sports” denotes conflict, competition, right or wrong, good or bad, winner or looser. You want to know why Bush initiated a religious crusade in the middle east? Just read this thread.
Jim…There’s no misunderstanding of Scripture. Do you really suppose that if two or three come together in His name for any reason other than church discipline, that HE will not be there with them? As for the church one is committed to…is that not the Church of which Christ is the Head? Perhaps it is the various congregations and not the individuals of those congregations that are the fingers, eyes, spleens, and other valuable somethings? After all, the Body is found not in one building alone. Or one town or one city. Or one country. The Body is all the 2’s and 3’s…all the 200’s or 300’s…all the 1000’s on any given day in any given place. CHRIST has given the needed direct support to carry on His mission. What other OK do we need?
Sure, he is here even if there is one believer. However, it’s a misuse of scripture to say that Matthew 18:20 teaches it.
Sure, all Christians belong to one Body of Christ, but unless we each have our local congregations to which we are submitted, we cannot pretend to have full accountability. The fellow believers on the field might hold you accountable at the time, but I doubt you would want them to. For what it’s worth, most churches aren’t doing what they are supposed to do in this respect either as they once did. Part of the problem is that we have allowed the uber-individualism of our culture to change the way we think about church and it has undermined the function of the church. I think that’s what’s behind the idea in the article.
I think it can also leave a mark on the other children, it did on me. My sister played competitive softball from the age 13. They had tournaments every weekend almost year round, except there were fewer tournaments in December, January and February. I was old enough to choose to go to church by myself. I got rides from friends and eventually was old enough to drive myself. I always felt so alone at church without my family. My parents and sister never went (even though we grew up going as a family) because of tournaments and even when they were canceled they still didn’t show up because they were resting. Everything at my church was very family oriented and my family was never there. It was really hard on me emotionally. They still don’t understand how alone and abandoned I felt during this time.
Matthew 18:20 Is not about church discipline, verse 16 is. When we meet, and there are 2 or 3 present that meet in the attitude of Christ – will substantiate and discern the reading of the Law. Jesus is present and in authority and guidance.
The problem I have with the idea of getting everyone together after a soccer game in the name of Jesus is this… It will never happen. It’s a great Idea that will never take place. It is like the idea of having a treadmill in the house. A great idea, but the only thing that happens is that is sits in the corner never used with boxes on it 🙂
Dane. sadly, I do wholeheartedly agree with you. It WILL never happen. And therein lies the rub. We’ve become so dependent on man’s model of the church that anything outside of that model leaves us feeling…uncomfortable and awkward.
I can relate to your thinking outside of the religious box. I do believe that organized religion can be just as much a distraction as sports. It is all about motive. One may be playing sports, enjoying the pleasures of this life, controlling their schedule and participating in a lifestyle directed mainly by an ungodly majority called society all the while rejoicing in religious freedom and seeing their very flexible relationship with God as a perk to this life. Another may be so moved and impacted by the purposeful of our creation and the call to please the Lamb that was slain and worthy of all glory and honor and blessing, that worship and the gospel of Jesus is the goal and this life is a rescue mission for believers to reach the lost and I will seek in all places where there are people to reach them. Which is the purpose and which is the perk for you pleasing God or pleasing self? That is the question every person must ask. Sometimes people use their religious practice on the field as an excuse to help them feel better about their lack of Sabbath practices. I think their religious practices are just as much useless and on the sidelines as they are at those games. Too many Christians. Sitting on the sidelines instead of in the game which affects your eternity and playing hard (all out) for the purpose of the gospel and giving God glory. Since when does winning a game bring God glory. I am so sick of hearing that. “We won, to God be the glory!” That does not glorify God. Not in a biblical definition of glory. I am not saying either way. Just saying, only God knows our motives. Our prayer should be, ” Search me o God and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, see is there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”
I really hope that it is not “Mans Model” of church at all – I don’t think we are smart enough. My hope and believe that Jesus has built his church that we have today, and the gates of hell have not been able to stand up against church’s advancement into the world. I don’t believe we have made the church model, but that it has made us. The church is the “called out ones” the “assembly of Jesus”, the “set apart people”. In the home, in the theater, in the store front, or in a building, it is those who meet – that are the church. But, the church is not the “small group”, but the small group is a part of the church, under its authority. Hope that makes sense.
Church is not “the gospel”. The “Church”, rather is a result of the gospel. Why not take this chance – with the sinners – to show them what the writer of the gospel is about.
Might I put a plug here? Check out Upward Sports. They are a Christian Sport’s league that is nation wide. We’re currently looking into doing this for our daughter…. They not only give kids the biblical basics while they’re practicing and playing. They also encourage families to keep Sundays as the Lord’s day. Like I said, we are just now checking this out but its worth a look!
http://www.upward.org/Site-Upwardorg/UpwardExperience.aspx
Our church has sponsored Upward programs for years: soccer, flag football, cheerleading and basketball. Wonderful program! Games are on Saturdays for one hour, practices are for one hour during the week (not on Wednesdays since we have a service that night). It teaches kids the fundamentals of each sport, but there are also memory verses and devotions at practices and games. Most participants are NOT church members, and yes, people have been led to the Lord on the field/court!
Well stated and written. Would you give permission to reprint this in our State denominational magazine? We
of course
Having been raised in a Christian home, I also was an athlete that put sports at the top of the priority list. I played college sports as well. I was living a dream. My dream would continue with my kids, right? Not so much. I found sports with youth getting out of control… 3rd grade basketball used to be the starting point… Now it’s 4 yr olds… My oldest daughters were not interested in sports but many of our friends’ did have kids in sports. At the same time I saw many great athletes go off to play college sports only to quit because of burnout. Now, my son is in a basketball program geared toward building the family and the skills of the sport… We don’t run everywhere all the time chasing after all the other basketball families. Instead, we have fun, work hard and hang out together-and we don’t have to miss church! I would recommend doing that!
Well stated!
I took my son out of wrestling when I realized many Sundays would be required of us to attend and participate in tournaments. It broke his heart, especially because he had no interest in other sports. Years later he reminded me of that decision and used it to “blame” for his lack of Christian commitment. Sad, but true. He’s 31 years old now and still alienated from God and unwilling to make a full commitment to life in Christ for fear of what God will require of him. Please remember Thomas in your prayers.
Praise God that He will forgive our sins and mistakes in raising our children. We thank Him for that all the time. Don’t give up on your Thomas; just keep giving him back to God every time he blames you. God doesn’t have any grandchildren. Thomas will have to be a child of God based on his own decision, not anything you did or didn’t do.
The church in the bible is not a building.It is more important to be a good Christian 24/7.You don’t have to gather in a building with other people to be a good Christian.How you conduct yourself in everyday life and treat other people is more important than going to church.Although church is a good place to go to learn and rejoice you can teach your kids about the christian way of life day to day.We need to be concerned about being good Christians out in the world at all times and not worry about trivial things like whether we are in a building on Sunday morning or whatever time we feel guilty about.
And if people are really concerned about keeping the Sabbath holy they would make a concerted effort to not go shopping on Sundays.Too many people are forced to work on the Sabbath but I never hear Christians displaying any sympathy or outrage towards this matter. When I first got into retail stores were closed on Sunday.Yes I just accepted it when it changed and I am a hypocrite and shop on Sundays but this matter is still something to think about.
I recall passing by a youth baseball park and nearly every Sunday the park was filled with young children there early to play baseball. My wife and I discussed this several times of why they had to play on Sundays. I always have to ask, are the children there because they want to be or is it an ego thing for there parents who dream of them being a star athlete. I have been in this same situation to the point of a make up game on Sunday and if our team didn’t play they would have to forfeit a regular season game. We played, but after church. Why can’t these games, if they absolutely have to be played on Sunday, be after church? I know many see know harm, but if we tell our children that God should be put first, then put everything else in front of Him what are we really saying? Our children are smarter than we give them credit for. One other question, if the games was during the week would our employer understand why we are at the ball park all day every Monday instead of showing up for work?
I’m a youth pastor and I have several parents who are committed to their children’s sports teams, especially baseball. It’s become a year round thing rather than just the spring. One of these parents is our song leader. But people give them room because sports are so highly valued in Texas.
But what I would ask is this. Not a criticism or judgment on you. Rather, instead of worrying about not being in church, why not take the church to the sports field? 20 other families. That’s enough to have an impact on the field. I know we should choose church but maybe this is a time to make God known on the soccer fields. Just a thought.
One of the decisions that help us make up our minds about participating in a particular sport is what the schedule is like. If it involves Sundays or Wednesdays (including practice times) then we find an alternate league that understands the importance of Wednesdays and Sundays. It’s a choice. If you’re feeling convicted by the choice you made about being at the soccer field on Sunday then you didn’t make the right choice.
I stand with you and choose church over my kids activities.
The best way is to be upfront with the coach before the season starts and explain that your children are not available on Sundays normally and it will do no good to blindside you by publicly bringing up Sunday activities without talking to you privately. You are the parent and it is solely your responsibility to do what is best spiritually for your children and family. Most coaches have big dreams they live vicariously through their teams. I know, I dealt with these people during the years I coached.
Take a firm stand and show your children that church and spiritual matters are the most important thing we can do in our lives. Every time an activity takes precedence over church you are sending a message to your children that there are things more important than church sometimes. The importance of church lessens with every activity that interferes with church attendance.
As a grandfather I have learned lessons. One lesson is I will give an account to God for decisions regarding my children. I’m am sure there will be no acceptable reason for making church a lower priority than other activities. If I could go back and change things, church would have always been first and other activities second. That is simply training a child in the way they should live and love.
Sports has become my field of ministry. Because of sports I have been able to start and be a part of sports ministry on three different continents. Growth for me happens corporately on a Monday night. In a somewhat large town, I have the privilege of attending a small group study during the week and worship on either Saturday evening, Sunday morning or online. I don’t get to know people through worship services but small groups. It’s different for every person/family but you’re right, time must be guarded and intentional efforts made to continue in faith and relationship with God and His people.
Oh, but think of the elite athletes who are Christ followers…obviously they committed to some sort of continued growth process but is venture to say they had odd schedules and missed church. God has a purpose and I see now why it is so important for the head of the family to be the leader in the faith and able to make decisions in faith. Good stuff!
I am in the “it’s not worth it” camp. Many parents go all in for sports thinking their star athlete will get a free ride through college. It seldom happens, and never for female athletes. We had a child in Olympic development and traveling leagues. We should have saved the money we spent on that for college and had fun with rec leagues.
I understand your internal spiritual conflict, but have you considered attending the Sunday evening service if your church has one? Or perhaps (depending on your denomination) a Wednesday evening service? If you are using every opportunity to attend church when you are able, and using other occasions to teach your children about God, then you should not feel guilty. Use these sports Sundays as lesson days. There is no reason why you can’t turn a game day into a bible study day & attend a later service. Church is just a building, you can have a service anywhere.
Sadly, you can take your child to church every Sunday, and he or she may still reject it when they are grown.
This is so true…
Consider this…is your child more or less likely to become an accomplished athlete if they miss practice every time it’s held?
Are they likely to become scholars if they never attend class?
All choices parents must make…attending church in and of itself is not a sign of salvation, that’s true…but intermittent attendance, absent a reasonable replacement, will almost certainly assure they’ll never embrace a real relationship with Christ.
I don’t envy parents who must make these very difficult choices.
I do appreciate this article. Our son is just starting sports. We use the upward league so there’s never anything on Sundays. However my husband and I have a business and sometimes are away on weekends. Sometimes our family travels on weekends. My newborn takes a nap 9-11…and our service is 1030-12. When I was pregnant I had some issues and had to rest a lot. All of these things have kept me from attending church sometimes….and I do not feel that wrong in any way. What about people who work retail…or shift work…or at hospitals…or cops…who can’t make it Sunday? Are they more spiritual because its their job and not a sport? My husband grew up catholic…they had saturday services. I see nothing wrong with that. I believe chuch is vital…however I don’t think of myself as less spiritual or even sinning if I have to miss sometimes.
Than you for sharing! I remember stopping by a fast food joint one Sunday afternoon and there was an entire little league team there. I did the math and figured if they were there eating that means they were at the field hours ago DURING CHURCH. Made me sad for the children. They are learning ways that say YES to sports and NO to church, like you mentioned. In the case of what to do perhaps we can ask coaches and tell them at the beginning of the year we are Christians and will not be able to do anything on Sundays. Coaches should be willing to adjust team roster or schedule. If not, you probably don’t want your child playing on that team anyways!
I am a youth pastor, and I appreciate the spirit and content of the article.
I think a good way to go would be to teach kids that even though they may occasionally miss Sunday worship because of athletic (or other) activities, they need to practice consistency in going to church, and more importantly, have a daily devotional relationship with God.
The reality is when they become adults in the work force, they may very well have to miss many Sundays because of work. Many people in the medical professions, food service industry and protection services (Fire and Police) have to work on Sunday. Does this make them less of a Christian? Absolutely not. Many churches have midweek services, and have church services archived for viewing online. This coupled with a small group, every day friendships with other believers, opportunities to serve, plus a consistent devotional life can certainly allow a Christian who misses the occasional (or due to work, regularly misses) corporate worship service to have a growing Spiritual life.
IMHO, I think we prioritize church attendance too much (I say this as one who’s vocation depends on people coming to church). We have made people believe that the end-all-be-all of being a Christian is coming to church. All the while many have no personal devotional life the other 6 days of the week. I think we’ve gotten the cart before the horse.
When my Father pastored a small town church in the 1970’s there were a lot of kids in his congregation, including my brother and me, who played Little League baseball. The games were usually on Wednesday night.
Dad spoke with a good many of his people about adjusting the mid week service (prayer meeting if you will) to Thursday night during baseball season. They agreed and that’s the way it was done while he was there. Other local churches followed suit.
This was just one small way in which the churches actually had some flexibility to hold service another night and still allow the kids and their parents to be engaged in community activities.
Sundays was another matter altogether, and in those days we didn’t do anything like is being done now. It’s certainly a difficult decision that parents have to make, but I agree with the author of this article. Each family must prayerfully decide what ultimately is in the long term best interests of their family.
Peace to all.
We attend a relatively new church and our children are young (3 yrs, and 8 months). Our church had service on Wednesday night’s alone, and has small group (we call them family’s) on Sunday morning. However my husband and I have for years kept Sunday sacred. Just with busy lives we all need a day of rest. Looking ahead, my son (the 3 yr old) will be a great soccer player, however I’m at a loss as to join a league and not participate on Sundays. Thanks for taking up the fight to get our Sunday’s back to what they are suppose to be!
The conflict only becomes real when you view both church and sports as extracurricular activities. I felt the same way once as a student pastor. Then it hit me one day. That’s is where I want my kids! Being an influence on their peers. Church isn’t an extracurricular activity. It’s life! If you guys had twenty or so at the game on Sunday then Holy Jesus! That’s where He wanted you! Not counting the believers who aren’t in church but counting those who didn’t have a church home. Sticking it to sports is not what Jesus wants. He’s probably suck YOU to sports but that’s just my opinion.
Great concept but do you really go to a sporting event to evangelize? I have seen our fellow brothers and sisters involved in the emotional And the heat of passion of competition that “We” forget all the learned at church and we start acting foolish. This is not very Christlike and examplary to our children.
This was a great read. Looking at it from my angle may shed further light on why I totally disagree with Sports on Sunday.
My husband and I have been in youth ministry for 16 years, we’ve seen the decline in participation from families, this is not isolated to Sunday mornings. This type of approval sets a precedent for what is expected, what is encouraged and what/ whom to put first. I know that many will argue that it’s seasonal…. But is it really? Many families we know are involved in more than one sport, or they have have multiple children in various seasonal sports. Once the approval of missing our sabbath is set in motion, it leaves an open door to choosing not be be a part of the “extra” things we do as a church family. For one, these people have become strangers to us, for two it’s simply not “fun” enough. Who can compete with the invigorating physical challenges sports give us?
This is a tragedy indeed. I think that the discipline is lacking and parents, it’s your discipline, not the children, they are only doing what you’ve allowed. Why is this allowed? I just don’t get it, there are no excuses. With the extra curricular school activities and homework, adding more sports leaves little time for God. I’m sorry families, it’s true.
Many times I have had arguments with coaches who schedule activities on Sundays. If we fail to stand up and object to the continued disrespect of the Sabbath our nation will continue to dismantle as a God fearing and God loving country which was founded upon Chrisrian principles. We are teaching our children that the only day we have designated to worship and adore our Creator and Savior is not important. We give him one day of the week and He gives us a lifetime of love and happiness. What a merciful, loving and forgiving God. I love sports but I will never allow them to take priority or precedence over my love for God.
Sunday School was a part of my life all through my youth and early adult years, and helped develop my love for God and His written word. When other things interfere with this early training in Biblical life principles we send our children a mixed signal that leaves them confused about what is important. The end result is a compromised spiritual life that leads to a rejection of the Christian World view and lifestyle. My grown children were never part of a Sunday sport activity and they grew up to be socially well adjusted adults. Jesus called us out of this world system and wants us to be a different kind of people, not like this world. We should never be trapped by the herd mentality of this world.
One thing about this that stuck out to me was the fact she said church was the way we have to teach and learn about God which we should be doing at church, but if were only growing at church then it must just be a Sunday thing. As followers of Christ we need to be learning everyday we can, reading and praying to God everyday. It was a good article because it goes way beyond sports, it goes to the decisions we make everyday and I get that but what I don’t get is some people on here condemning people about it, sounds self righteous to me. The bible says were sinners saved by grace and faith in that grace which comes from Christ, also says Christ himself comes not to condemn but to save. I think we have to watch that we do not stake our salvation on how good we are but what Christ has done for us and we can add nothing to it, but understand the freedom Paul expresses to us that is in Christ not the freedom to do what we want but the love for God to please him. Some people still need to learn to stop throwing stones, and maybe pray for someone instead of bashing them.
I am on a church staff and also have three daughters. This is an important topic and I am grateful for your comments. In my personal experience I have found that it is important to discuss this BEFORE kids reach the age to be involved in extracurricular sports and other activities. It is almost like the “make your decision before you find yourself in the back seat of a car” talk. Christian parents of preschool children need to make their decisions early on. They need to decide prayerfully what they will and will not compromise on before the find themselves in the middle of it. My family made the decision years ago to attend church on Wednesday evenings and eat dinner as a family there. My husband makes many sacrifices to leave work early and meet us at church. It is simply what we do and have always done. When my daughters began to be involved in activities that met during that time, we were able to say no from the beginning because we had that commitment. One of my daughters swims, and the majority of her meets are on Saturday and Sunday. When she was eight, she went to her first meet, and realized we had not signed her up for the Sunday events. She was devastated and cried herself to sleep that night. However, today, at age 13, she signs herself up for Saturday meets only and knows that is just what we do. It is become a part of the fabric of our family and is simply expected that we will be at church on Sundays. However, in order to keep legalism at bay, we allow the occasional missed Sunday if there is a good reason- family trip, needed rest, etc. I encourage families to talk about this issue- to pray together and wrestle it out together. Make a decision and stick to it- which is a good practice for all issues. As I tell my girls, “be the one that stays the same.” That way you always know what is expected and there is no room for guilt.
Individuals that have a problem with sports on Sunday also need to have a problem and boycott shopping and eating out on Sunday. If an individual thinks that attending church on Sunday is a necessity then they should understand that if they run to the nearest restaurant or shopping center on Sunday then they are preventing others that work in those establishments the opportunity to attend church. Write an article about that!
I completely agree with your comment. My response to the article was spot on with you…
I wish everything would shut down on Sunday, including businesses. Remember that when you leave church and go eat or shop, you are interacting with people that have to say no to church because they have to provide a service to others, including you because you are there. (When I say “you”, I mean society). My husband has to work almost every Sunday and although he asks every week if he can be off on Sunday to attend church and spend the day with his family, he is turned down. Yes, he has looked for another job, but until then he has to provide for his family. Basically, even church goers do other things on Sundays, like lunch after church or shopping, but like I said….you are the reason they have to say no to church. Just another perspective….
There are many people who have to work on Sunday on a regular basis. So they come to midweek Bible studies. Most churches stopped having Sunday evening services and Wed. evening services. Can’t really blame folks for not coming the 2 hours the church is “open” during the week. Another alternative is for the church to start a sports program. Upward Sports is popular across the country. The Assemblies of God also has sports centered ideas for outreach.
Very good! As we grow closer and closer to God we should see that He should be number one in our lives.If we choose to put other things before Him it will hurt our relationship with Him as well as our relationship with our church family.I believe the more faithful we are to God the more faith He puts in us.And knowing this it should thrill us to think that by our faithfulness that makes our children faithful that He would choose to use you,or one of your children,to do something great.
The “church” is made of people. I wonder why… if you saw 20 other families there.. that you didn’t come together and worship before or after the game? Doesn’t the bible say “when two or more are gathered in my name”? I don’t think God intended us to choose between sports or a regularly scheduled meeting of like-minded people.. I think He intended us to BE the church (not GO to church). So in the future, why not edify one another, partake in the Lord’s supper, and even invite the other members of the team who do not attend church to do so with you?
Problem solved.
I have a few things about this church is very important to my family first and foremost . but to say church is a habit is wrong you should get up every morning like it was Sunday not a ritual . I have 3 kids who have have tournaments on Sunday mornings at i first i felt the same way but that first tournament the coach ask the whole team and parents to meet at the hotel pool the morning of the tournament we had a devotion prayed( the amazing thing is other teams and parents joined in ) and went on our day with games so I or my children did not miss out on GODS word that Sunday morning . Romans 14:5-12
Heidi: Do you really feel that the 15 minute pool side devotion takes the place of a 1 hour Sunday School lesson? Are you replacing the 1 hour Bible study time with 1 hour on Wednesday night? I think it’s interesting that whenever the Holy Spirit pings our conscience we run to Romans 14:5-12 for solace. Consider these verses Judges 21:25, Proverbs 3:5-7, Hebrews 4:12-13
if you want to be legalistic the do you watch sports on sunday or have you ever? do you go out to eat on sunday or have you ever ? the people playing sports didnt go to church but im sure some had a devotion .and the waitress ,cook ,dishwasher, all working on sunday because you chose to go out to eat.or watch the game on tv. if you are bringing up old testment God says honor the sabbath and keep it holy.(sabbath being on saturday) Hebrews 10:24 -25 HCSB And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works,not staying away from worship meeting as some habitually do ,but encouraging each other ,and all the more as you see the day drawing near . Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”
Heidi: The issue here was Sports vs Church on Sunday Morning. How are you going to replace the 1 hour Sunday School lesson your children were taken away from? The 15 minute pool side devotion was nice but not sufficient. You are making excuses rather than dealing with what God is speaking to your heart. Jesus said; “Follow Me” Mark 8:34
Lisa’s comments above say it well.
It’s a matter of choosing ahead of time, purposing in heart.
It also involves simply being up front with coaches about our God and values – and being willing to walk away when it doesn’t mesh.
And seeing that in the end, we stand before Christ, and not coaches, has helped our family make the sacrifice. Also, thinking of the far greater sacrifices of believers before us and in other parts of the world has helped.
Sunday services help our families in the obvious ways of teaching and fellowship. But it goes a lot farther than that. It’s giving God the first day of the week, as a sign of our priorities, and it’s witnessing that Christ is risen from the dead on this day and that we believe that makes a difference in our lives and specifically in what we do on this day.
Sports can supplant the position meant for Christ. It can easily end up being what we do on Sundays, where 10% of our money goes, and what claims the deep passions of our heart.
Love this article. Note that it’s not just sports though. It’s also birthday parties. Many families are planning birthday parties for their children on Sunday morning because it seems a convenient time and I have seen children missing church because they are at a birthday party. I was surprised one day when I found out a woman in our own church was planning her own son’s party for a Sunday morning because other moms were pressuring her as that time suited them best.
I agree with the author of the article that it’s time we, as Christians, take a stand and make our time of gathering together a priority. We NEED to do this! Show our children that God comes first. The Word tells us to come together for a reason! It’s so important!
There are multiple services – early, evening, and even Saturdays. Why can’t a family have both church and sports/activities on Sundays. I have some Seventh-Day Adventist friends who say the same thing about Saturdays. I think there’s a way to strike a balance without giving up one or the other.
In my faith, it actually is a sin to miss mass for something other than illness or genuine emergencies. We have had honest discussions with our boys that sports will not interfere with our love of church and our obligations to it. I imagine that it is like anything else one gets out of the habit of doing–once you miss it a a couple times, it becomes easier and easier to find excuses to not go at all. In all honesty, I would rather offend 11 families for missing a game than to offend my God for making alternate plans on Sunday mornings.
Very good article! Wednesday nights are another time frame that church is losing. This needs to be stopped.
Great article! We are beginning to enter this and I appreciate your insight. Your words reminded me of my first year coaching…at the time I was a church goer and basketball was my God. Our junior high team was entered in a Sunday tournament and one of our top players was going to miss the first two games so she could go to church. I was shocked, but held nothing against the girl…I can remember thinking, “Would I ever choose church over basketball?” Ten plus years later I’m thankful I now do, but my point is by making this decision we as believers can send a message. We can talk about God and faith being important, but when we live like He is number one our actions are seen. Thanks again!!
This is a struggle for me. I believe there is nothing better in life than the Lord’s Day. I love His people. I love the preaching of His word.
But, I have a kid who is bound to be a major Division 1 athlete and will get a full ride to a major college. He plays about 10-12 weekends a year, mostly in spring and early summer. We try to make it to the best Bible teaching church in that area most of those weekends, but some games are in the mornings. I have gone as far as to ask tournament organizers to delay the Sunday games, which usually falls on deaf ears.
Pray for us. It should be such an easy decision, but my son’s travel team has invested a great deal in him and I feel guilt on both sides. Lots of people depend on him, even at such a young age. A lame assessment, I know. Thanks.
you can attend church on Sunday nights, or Wednesdays and sports are not year round. It is very important for kids to play sports and get exercise. We choose sports over church when we must and have absolutely no regrets. If we ever told our kids “no you can’t play because we MUST be in church” they would begin to hate it. Balance is key, extremism is very dangerous.
I agree it can be a serious struggle.
Ruth & I prayed quite a bit prior to joining the travel ball circuit. I have had several conversations with family members who have questioned our decision.
Travel baseball is our mission field.
We reach, touch and impact families each week we are not in church who……aren’t in church!
We pray before games, after games, between games. I have had the opportunity to share my witness with a couple of team parents and their players because they wanted to know about this “praying thing.” I have had the opportunity to counsel young men who are unchurched and be a positive role model for them. All of our teams have heard the true Christmas message and understand the importance of God bringing Jesus into the world so He could give us the gift of salvation.
” But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8
So many times we focus on going to the ends of the earth to carry Christ’s message we lose sight of the opportunities right here in our own back yards.
I believe God prepared us for this season in our lives while we were serving in Awanas, VBS and children’s ministries. Prior to serving in those ministries I am not sure I would feel as confident in sharing what Christ has done for me, and my family.
As a father I have a responsibility to show Zach how to be a man. Lord knows I can do a better job in a lot of areas. But part of that responsibility is letting him see me in the real world being the best Christian I can be. Sharing, caring, interacting and witnessing in my daily life, not just on a two week or one week mission trip. The opportunities we have been granted in baseball allow me the chance to show him without just pushing him into the deep end of the pool and saying “swim, God will save you….”
To answer your blog I would say take the opportunity to witness, share and show the world Christians are real people. Take the opportunity to teach your child in a “safe” environment how to witness to your peers through your actions on and off the field. How to stand secure as a Christian in the world knowing your child will face different beliefs and lifestyles while interacting with his/her team mates.
This is a season for our family, it won’t be long and Zach will be moving on to other seasons in his life where Ruth and I won’t be able to participate on the level we are now. Ultimately, as a parent, I feel sports (even those which take us out of church sometimes) help teach Zach some important fundamentals which will prepare him for those seasons. I truly feel preparing him to share his faith is one of them.
Thanks for sharing this and the opportunity to dialogue.
As a “grown” child myself (25 yrs old), I can honestly say that my parents’ decision to take me to church on Sundays instead of letting me play in my sports games was (and STILL IS) very impactful. I was frustrated when they did it, and I’m sure other players and parents on my teams were frustrated too. But I am so thankful they did it. It taught me that nothing is a priority over worshipping God with fellow saints. When my husband and I have kids of our own, I have a great example to follow; I know first hand that it CAN be done!
I will also say that this helped me trust my parents more growing up. Thank you for this honest post and for your desire to be a better disciple! The love is contagious. God bless ya!
This article didn’t make me uncomfortable, or mad. Well i guess it maybe got me a little upset, but not for the reasons noted in this article. It’s sad to me that we Christians always seem to be pointing our finger at something. Way back when it was rock and roll music, movie theaters, and even playing cards! God forbid anyone play a game of cards! Currently we seem to be stuck on homosexuality. In 10 years I’m sure it might be something different.
I take a number of issues with this article. The biggest being the emphasis on church ATTENDANCE. There was a shift hundreds of years ago in church history when church began to be about a building, rather than a group of people, and unfortunately has stayed that way ever since. Far too many christians ATTEND church, without knowing they ARE the church. Big different. The last thing i want my children to do is attend church. If that’s all my children, then i am failing as a parent. I would much rather teach my children to BE the church than simply make sure we ATTEND church every week. There is so much more emphasis on attending, rather than being, and this i believe to be the reason your child is 20 and has no relationship with God.
And if your child is 20 years old and has no relationship with God, it won’t be because you didn’t attend church weekly. Even if you attend church weekly your child can grow up not knowing God. AS A PARENT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO RAISE YOUR CHILD TO KNOW GOD. It is not the responsibility of the church. Let me repeat that. IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHURCH TO RAISE YOUR CHILD TO KONW GOD. The church can come along side and partner with you, but the church does not exist to raise your child to know God. Scripture is very clear that that is the responsibility of the parent. So if your child doesn’t know God at 20, you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself what you did to introduce your child to Jesus. Being part of a church should be part of your answer. What also needs to be part of your answer is how you modeled your relationship with Jesus to them. If your sole source of measuring is church attendance, i can almost guarantee your child won’e know Jesus when they are 20. Statistics prove that a child’s relationship with their parent is far more important in determining if they come to know God than any other factor.
What if on the days you can’t attend church youtake your kids to a local homeless shelter and love on the poor. I think Jesus might have done that. What if on the days you can’t attend church you find a needy family and go buy a bunch of groceries for them? I think Jesus would approve of that. What if on the days you are sitting in the grass with 20 other families at a soccer game you tell everyone to gather around. What if you said you wanted to start off each game with prayer? What if that group of 20 slowly grew to 25, then 30, then 40? What if over time that group began to see other soccer families showing up to pray for safety? What if one week you shared a bible verse and people who didn’t know about Jesus heard that verse? What if you be-friended some of those people? What if those people came to know Jesus? What if that group of 20, by very nature where the church, started acting like the church wherever they went? What could God do with those 20 people? I don’t know, but i do know what he did with 12..
I didn’t read all the comments to this post, but i did notice one where someone was trying to argue the importance of the Sabbath. Unfortunately anyone trying to argue the “command” of the Sabbath is wrong. Jesus and the New Testament writers AFFIRM ALL BUT ONE of the 10 commandments. Can you guess which one Jesus and the New Testament writers said we don’t have to follow anymore? The Sabbath!!! There isn’t time here to go into detail, but basically because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we are at peace and spiritually at rest.
I am in no way trying to be harsh. These are just my opinions. I think its time Christians started acting like the church everywhere we go. Like it or not, we live in a world that doesn’t’ play by our “Christian Rules.” We need to learn to live in this world and adapt to it. In my opinion the last thing the world needs to see is more Christians taking a stand against trivial things. The world is going to hell. Lets remember that.
Adam….I couldn’t agree with you more! Very well said!
I’ll apologize in advance for my long reply but felt it in my heart to tell you my story. And that is just what it is….”my story” from my personal experience. I hope I do not offend anyone as that is not my intention at all. So here goes……
When I was growing up, we did not attend church. My sister and I would occasionally spend the weekend with my grandparents who took us sometimes. We also had a neighbor that was a very sweet elderly woman that attended church. She lived by herself and my sis and I would help her do things around the house or some yard work and we would also go over just to hang out with her and talk. We spent many hours talking with her and asking questions about God and Jesus. She was very inspirational and I came to love her very much. My sister and I started praying every night because of my grandparents teaching us the Lord’s Prayer and also because of my neighbor. We believed in God because of their witness to us.
I look back at my neighbor who had the biggest impact on me and think that all of those hours we spent talking was like having a bible study or “church” even though we weren’t in a church building and I did not realize that at the time. You see, when I was growing up, I had an alcoholic father who was “made” to go to church as he would say when he was growing up. He always had opinions of “church people”. He said that they were all hypocrites and that he would see people go to church on Sunday and drink on Monday, and that they all just want your money, etc. etc. In his eyes, you had to be perfect. You could not drink, use profanity, or do ANYTHING bad in order to go. He did not paint a pretty picture of church for me when I was growing up. But yet – I was still drawn to my neighbor and my grandparents who exposed me to church. When I attended church with my grandparents and when I talked with my neighbor at her house I thought to myself….well they seem like pretty nice normal people. My dad must not know what he’s talking about.
I started going to church when I was 20 years old. I was baptized when I was 23 years old in the same church that my neighbor went to. I met my husband when I was 19 and we’ve been married for 22 years. We dated some before he went into the service. He was in for 5 years and we ended up getting married 6 months shy of him getting out of the service. We have 2 beautiful daughters and who are both baptized. We attend church regular. He is my rock. I look back at the time I spent with my neighbor and time spent with my Grandparents and wonder what would have happened to me if they had not exposed me to the bible? I think we all fall sometimes and that’s human. I try to ask myself “What would Jesus do?” when in a situation that could go south fast. It’s hard sometimes but I know that God will always be there when I fall. He’s my rock. I know I feel guilty about missing a Sunday or two or about whatever else that comes up in my life, but I know that God will always have my back. And I also know that as shy as I am in person to talk to – I must get out of my comfort zone and do the same kind of witnessing that my neighbor did to me. Maybe I will be an inspiration to someone else. I sure hope so…….
I too feel like you can have church even though you are not in a church building. There have been Sundays that we have missed for various reasons over the years but I don’t feel like it has made us weaker Christians. However, attending church IS very important and there’s nothing like a church family. I love going to church and the people that we attend with. But I also feel like there will be times that we miss a Sunday here and there but it does not make me or my family weaker because of it. Life happens and God knows my heart.
Again, I apologize for the long story. But in my own personal opinion, I don’t think missing a few Sundays will make us any less of a Christian than someone that is there every single Sunday. God Bless!
Ugh! Constant internal struggle for a family with 3 kids in three different competitive sports in three different seasons. We make sure we have our kids at youth on Wednesday and encourage them to use the Sundays we miss as days to be a witness to those around them by their actions on the field (because we ALL know how parents and kids can act on competitive sports). It’s the best we can do as we work through this…no good answer though. If we are traveling and there is a church near the field, we visit it…regardless of what’s on the sign. We figure it’s the intent to worship and we’re doing the best we can in the situation.
Thank you for your article! For those who are on the fence on the issue of sports, I HIGHLY recommend this audio download:
http://www.titus2.com/sports-friend-or-foe-session-download.html
It’s only $4.00, and it is a WONDERFUL session on this topic!
Steve Maxwell has also written a series on this topic that you can read for free. You can read the first of the series here:
http://www.titus2.com/corners/dads-corner/sports/part-1.html
I highly encourage us to do what is right rather than what is just easy!
And for Conservative Christian Moms out there, I hope you’d join me at my website for hot topics such as this:
http://conservativechristianmom.blogspot.com
Thank you for writing truth on a tough subject!
As a Texas High School Mountain Bike coach we have races on Sundays and most races all year on Sundays. Jesus said “I am the sabath” and build my church. It’s the only thing he said to build so we bring sabath to the masses and build up church outside the tradition. we started Church On Friday and soon to have a church of Two wheels for sat race night. It’s about bringing church to them sometimes. When not racing. Sunday church for sure. Great article.
In my opinion the decision should always be God first.
To me it is about prioritizing. I’m sorry but if you don’t go to services at *all* for at least an entire season of sports- let alone multiple seasons- I feel like it is making sports into a god- which it already is for enough people. To me you make sacrifices and have balance.
Go to Friday night contemporary service if your church has it- heck, even if you are Protestant, go to a Catholic Saturday night service. Or strike a balance of only missing a certain amount of services- stand up for your beliefs- we worship in community- not just as individuals. It might not be popular, you might have coaches that won’t let you- but I personally think that it is the right thing to do.
Of course the fact that I’ve *worked* in Christian Education for a number of years and have seen parents that *say* they value the Christian education of their children but don’t seem to show other than Christmas and Easter and baptisms and confirmation- I know that makes me biased.
Oh… and I understand the struggle, but I also think that when we make our choices that it shows our priorities. I’m not going to make a judgment that a person is “less” of a parent or “less” of a Christian because their choices are different, but there is a part of me that will really question their priorities- I probably should work on that (“attending to the log(s) in my eye vs. worrying about the specks in my neighbor’s eye”)- but for now it is there.
Yes! Go check out a Catholic Mass sometime. It’ll surprise you!
This is a struggle in our family too, with three in hockey. Games are on Sundays. We are open about the sacrifice we are making to our “God time” with our kids, and clear about how important fellowship is. However, we feel as parents that every minute of every day is our time for God, to place him ahead of all else (that is open to definition), and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus to our best ability. Sure, it’s great if you can get to a church “service” every Sunday, but that is not a gauge for how deep a person’s faith runs. And besides, WE ARE THE CHURCH. Church is not a building. Someone said that when we forsake CHURCH, we sin, but I think many commentators are confused about what CHURCH means in a biblical context. It is us. Jesus goes where we go. Our faith is embedded in our hearts. Bibles fit in a hockey bag. What an awesome opportunity to be disciples! How sad that so many are caught up on legalism. It is exactly the stuff that creates a battle-field amongst believers. WAY worse than missing a few Sunday church services. We can all get fed, no matter how we worship/gather/serve. Trust the Lord people – He will make your paths straight. Stop being so afraid of judgement by other “Christians”. NONE of us are free of sin, and none of us knows each others’ intimate relationship with God. WE are the CHURCH. Even at the ball field or the hockey arena. Shine your light, lead with LOVE, stay in the WORD and fear not. Gracious me!
Pingback: Sports vs. Church | Fire Shut Up in My Bones!
Would anyone call their boss on Monday morning and tell him, “Sorry, Boss, just can’t make it today, the kid has a ball game.”…….. Why is your job more or less important than God? Your actions tell the world what your real priorities are……. you are telling you kids what your priorities are…… do you show them the ball field or church….which is more important?
Foresaking not the assembling together on the ballfield as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. (See you can fellowship anywhere). Right?
Years ago I mother stated to me, “I’m going to allow my children to grow up and decide whether or not they want to go to church, it’s not my place to make them.”…….. To which I replied, “Do you do that for them in regard to bathing and going going to school?”…………….. why is church the only issue a parent feels they can’t train in regard to….
Our son wasn’t allowed to play or practice on Sundays or Wednesday nights, and God honored him with a baseball scholarship after high school. Matthew 6:33 says to seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteous ness, and all of these things shall be added to you. Because our son stood up for his faith, he had a tremendous witness with his friends,
Here’s what bothers me. We as church people tend to think that church can only take place at church! Why not use these times as opportunities to take the church to the people that need it most. Why not have an early morning devotion around some donuts and coffee at te sports fields instead of in the lobby at church. Every choice we make does not have to mean we can be at church, it means we teach our kids how to take church to the world around us and in turn reach people who would never darken the doors of a church.
I grew up where church was every Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday. You don’t miss it. Nothing else comes first. I live in the Bible Belt. Most people I know grew up this way. You know what? Most of us resent the church for it. The church picks a day to meet and mentally masturbate on whatever they feel is the proper way to understand a very clearly written book, say prayers that are meant less for the Lord, and more to sound good to to the congregation. I’m not a Christian anymore. Many of us who grew up that way aren’t. There are many ways to worship, but I’ll bet sitting in a building wishing you were somewhere else isn’t what God had in mind.
First of all, I am a pastor. So there’s that. So what I’m gonna say will not be what you’d expect.
If you truly believe that church attendance isn’t the goal, then cut yourself some slack. I know, you want to do what’s best for your kids and your own personal relationship with Christ…but if you also believe that you are being equipped and discipled to ultimately GO….the time is now. You are being sent. Don’t begrudgingly say no to soccer…go with a mission of building a relationship with those outside the church. Also, don’t try to get them to come to church with you the next Sunday you don’t have a soccer game. Make the relationship the goal.
My daughter played basketball thru high school…and she had games/tourneys on Sunday. I went when I could…but she did have a commitment to the team. We met our best friends thru my daughters basketball team. They had been out of church for 17 years after getting pregnant before marriage. We never once asked them to church. Never. But we intertwined our lives with theirs. What was important to them (kids, birthdays, school, basketball, music, college fiitball) was important to us..and what was important to us (including our faith and how we chose to live it OUT) became important to them. They invited themselves into our lives and our faith community.
So before crusading against sports on Sunday, be sure that God’s not wanting you there.
Although I do understand the feeling you get when you don’t go to church due to a game, work, etc I think you are missing on a great opportunity.
Just because you miss out on Sunday morning church doesn’t mean you can’t have your own service with your kids after the game and/or go to night church. I think your missing out on a valuable opportunity to share your thought or lesson with your own children. A good example is when I was in highschool we had a soccer tournament that had 2 games on Sunday. In between the games we went to a parents house (local in town tournament) and we watched a movie, got hydrated, and rested. During that time a parent talked to his church and got some notes from the sermon that day and the parent announced he was gonna have a small quick sermon in the other room and everyone is invited. Going to church is important, but showing your kids that no matter what reason you give for not going to church there is still a opportunity to have worship.
Do you do anything on Saturday? Do you cook? Fish? Clean house? Do you now the yard? Do laundry? Even walking more then 100 meters? Drive a car? All this, and more is work. If one person holds one hay holy, and another person holds another day holy,..,…….. Didn’t God make all the days? By theway, if no one worked on Saturday or Sunday, I would hate to see someone have a heart attack, or house catch fire, or loose phone service, internet, electricity, or have a water leak…… I love how people will harp on others not being in church, then all pile in cars and go to a restaurant to eat while all fancied up, then they don’t even life leave a tip after running the wait help ragged and taking up a table for two hours… Oh yeah, come into walmart with a flat then decide you want an oil change while you are there and blow your stack when there is a 2 hour wait…why? Cause they are short handed because all but a couple people refuse to work on Sunday…
If a person breaks one part of the law, they are guilty if the entire law.
That is why Christ came, to save us from the penalty of the law….
Why not gather with the other church folk and have a song service at the ball park .
The kids who were out of church for their sporting events are not in church at all now. Every single one that I can recall. They are following their personal dreams and goals. Some have kids out of wedlock. Some have been or are currently on drugs. One has been in and out of prison. NONE are in church currently, some are trying to come back in, but are having a hard time.
On the other hand, not all, but most that didn’t miss church for sports, myself included, are still in church. Church is an important part of their lives, and now their family life.
It’s not a legalistic thing. It’s a love thing. I’ll pick church over sports any Sunday of the week. 🙂
Amen, Very well said and so true
Its never been a question in our family even when my husband coached, luckily we have multiple Masses offered at different times so even if a game was on a Sunday we were able to attend both. Even if it came to a choice, our kids already know where we stand on this issue. As for anyone who considers it being a judgement call and that we should not judge people. In most cases, we as Christians do not judge people, but rather the actions that people take. It is our job to hold each other accountable and draw people closer to Christ. God bless you all!!!
If there were 20 other families from your church it seems to me it would be a simple matter to band together and say “not on Sunday”. Our sons played all kinds of sports from swimming to baseball to basketball to volleyball to soccer – NEVER on Sunday. Sunday is explicitly to be a day of rest, and we’ve added church and worship. I never saw anyone doing any of those things at a sporting events. Yes, it’s called PRIORITIES. Make excuses if you will, but it’s indefensible
It only takes one good example to make many more good examples happen… Saying “No” to Sunday sports is not being judgmental… If people feel that, then it is the gospel of Christ that is doing the judging… We are told that Sundays are set aside for worship… When we make that choice for our family, then there is no other choice to be made… God has said that we cannot serve the world and him at the same time… There is no straddling of the fence…
While I do understand the main point behind this article and agree with it to an extent, I think we as Christians have kind of screwed up what it means to be part of the Church. It doesn’t mean we gather together every Sunday in the same building to listen to someone preach and sing songs of praise together– at least that’s not the most crucial part. The book of Acts talks about the Church as a people who were together every single day, breaking bread in their homes together. They supported and encouraged one another and praised God together every day. It was meant to be a lifestyle, not a weekly routine. People have this misconception that it is their “Christian duty” to be in their church building every Sunday; but the truth is, Church takes place on the soccer field just as much as it does in a building with pews and a cross. We need to remember that.
Agreed.
I don’t think this article has to do with sports. I think it has to do with “Whatever we put before God, we are saying it is more important than growing as a Christian.” We are battling this issue with our teenager who wants to miss church for this or that. ” As long as u live under our roof, you will be in church. ” we r not saying if u miss once in while u will go hell but it will create a pattern.
In life you must be taught from a early age priorities, for they will define you as you get older. I grew up in a family that God comes first. Very challenging for God gifted me with athletic ability and musical ability. While friends played on sunday, I was in church, frustrated with this at first but I was presented with alternative , practicing on fundamental and much more through the week and on Sundays after church. As I grew in christ I realized that only what you do for christ will last. I made the choice to never allow world pursuits to over shadow what and how I serve for God. The time that was set side for God was never touched. And I reached every Goal I set. I learned this simple principal I cannot conform to this world. But I had to learn that early. So I teach my kids the same principle, with a choice. But as far as my mind set I wanted to be used by God in every way and now I’m in my retirement years of sports, all the rewards were great, all the praise and recognition was great, I can say to this day I never chose sports over God. And he elevated me to heights that I couldn’t even imagine. Sports to me are truely about how you think and react. And as far as my house we’re going to serve the Lord. If God said it that’s what he meant.
This will not be a popular post, but this is how we (and many friends), Chose to deal with this. No sports. Seriously, most families are so bust trying to get kids to practices and games they can’t really enjoy family time. I was raised this way, we’ve raised our children this way. Instead we encouraged them to be involved in church activities. They learned team building and all the things people list as a reason for sports. No problem kids, drugs, alcohol, etc., to deal with as a result.
We practice the scripture: “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together…” Usually spend far more than 2-3 hours per week at church. It’s good for all of us and builds strong families.
On the other hand I have a good friend who had her children in sports from the time they were old enough. Yes they missed church frequently (and they had prayer or devotionals). Two played in college, one w a permanent injury. Today… All three are far from God. So sad.
I’m so glad to hear that you’re not taking any chances! It’s not a popular decision. Sports in itself is not sin. However, as wordly flesh, we tend to take something that could be good and use it to satisfy our own entertainment. Just because something is not sinful, does NOT mean it’s not edifying!
This is something I have REALLY had on my heart lately. You can read my thoughts on edification here:
http://conservativechristianmom.blogspot.com/2013/10/edifying.html
I agree we should just all go to the church and hide our children from the world. if they don’t see the world they won’t know it’s out there…
sorry this was meant for the post above
I agree we should just all go to the church and hide our children from the world. if they don’t see the world they won’t know it’s out there…
I’m seeing a lot of comments on here defending their point by saying, “You don’t have to go to church EVERY Sunday.” Certainly that is true. Nowhere in the Bible is it found that you must go to Church twice on Sunday and on Wednesday nights….although, many churches try and make you feel guilty otherwise. The important thing is that We are not forsaking the assembling of ourselves. We are in constant fellowship with believers…holding one another accountable. It’s not just about us walking right, but being there for other believers to hold them accountable as well.
However, I have a feeling that most people who miss church to do “sports” are likely not replacing that fellowship time. One, because most churches don’t offer those times. Two, because if they’re willing to sacrifice fellowship for sports, I’m confident there are some who do….I just think it’s less than 1% of those who play on sports. If you’re one of those, then I’m not talking about you. But search your own heart. Does church interfere with your ball schedule? It’s not about how many days a week you go. Honestly, three days a week is not enough. We need to be in CONSTANT fellowship with believers. Yes, we need to be witnessing to the unbelievers daily, but we are not to be in fellowship with them (read Proverbs).
If you are on the fence about this at all…PLEASE read this free article on sports….I think it will in the least give you a new perspective on sports…
http://www.titus2.com/corners/dads-corner/sports/part-1.html
good reply…
our chidren are grown now, but when they were young, we refused to let them participate in soccer leagues that scheduled games on Sunday mornings. period. end of discussion.
There is another side to this as well. I as a teen chose sports. My parents did not support me in my decision. They were very involved in the church and refused to miss an occasional service to attend my games that occasionally fell on a church day. I resented and still resent them and the church for that reason. Church is important, but so is supporting your child. This was all at the time of the WWJD movement. I asked my father one day about it. He said he would go, but then who would fill his position. Amazingly there was always someone to step in and fill a position when someone had to work. Yet, my parents wouldn’t ask for someone to step in so they could support their child.
Also in the scenario in the article. If there were so many families being involved in the activities why not plan a bible study or prayer group at the event. It could be a good ministry opportunity to the community and would likely get people from other churches involved as well. You might even find out there were enough with reservations to push for no more of the events on a Sunday or for the events to be around church activities. I know when my son was playing hockey there was one team with several that attended church and the league was always willing to schedule them such that they could still participate in both.
good reply
You make a great argument and definitely food for thought. I grew up in Church and missed very few Sundays. As an adult and father of 3 boys, I realize attending Church is very important but teaching them to have a daily relationship with Christ. Two of my sons are involved in Travel Baseball and it does involve Saturday and Sunday play. We have included devotion and prayer with the entire team at practices and at the beginning of each weekend tournament.
I agree that a Church family is crucial in a child’s development. Discuss with your Coach the dilemma and volunteer yourself as a devotional leader for the team. If your Coach declines the suggestion. Find a team of believers and watch your kids grow in Christ and sportsmanship.
Plant a seed and watch it grow!
I totally agree with this article. The only thing I would add is that not only are we not making church a priority, but we are not making family a priority. As a mom of four boys, three of which play year round sports as well as seasonal recreation teams, I constantly find myself very upset that we are going different directions. But yet we are the ones that are choosing this! For what? 14 year old baseball, 12 year old basketball, etc. Really? But yet we sign ourselves up for it year after year. I wish I had the strength to say no.
I think it i a shame that schools and organizers of sporting programs do not take church meetings and quality family time into consideration.
Chariots of Fire…
Great blog post. We will face persecution if we follow Christ, Jesus said so.
. . . . but that persecution will not come from Christ Jesus, it will come from the crowd.
When our 7 children were younger and they were all involved in recreational sports, we had a no Sunday play rule, unless the activity was after 2PM ( which allowed for Sunday School, church, lunch and a change of clothing, so that we could all get to the activity together as a family) By stating this up front to the directors and coaches, we then never had to experience the pressure of “not being there” or letting the team down, because we just were not available. During those fundamental years, we were blessed to be able to instill in them, the love of the Lord, the importance of church fellowship, and the understanding that indeed Christ comes first. As our children got older and more mature, they were there presented opportunities where Sunday activities were available to them. Most often we allowed them to choose if they would participate or not, knowing full well that they would be there alone, (unless it was after church) we would get them to the coach, and would return for them at the completion of the game, or when they could drive, we would see them at home for lunch. While I would like to say they always chose church, they did not, but I will say that they are all aware of what day it was, and how they should honor the Lord on that day, regardless of what they were doing. Many insightful conversations have ensued, about attitudes and behaviors and setting our selves apart regardless of the day of the week that have been challenging and encouraging to them and to my husband and I along the way. Our society as a whole does set our kids up to have to choose, however as the parents, we have to set the examples, and the guidelines and be the example until we as the parents are certain that our kids are mature enough to make decisions on their own. Are my kids perfect, heck no. Do they all have different personalities and maturity levels – oh for sure! But child by child, we set them up with the foundational truths, live by example and trust in God for the rest.
The Church is not the building. *We* are *the Church*.
We don’t “go to” the Church; we “gather with” the Church.
One thing that I see being missed in so many of these comments is the idea of consistency in attending our home church for the purpose of developing and deepening relationships with other believers in our church family. Can we still put God first and attend another church while following the sports schedule? Sure. Can we find fellowship with other believers whom we don’t even know? Of course. Can we still find corporate worship and fellowship by having a small service of our own with others in the same situation? Absolutely. But one of the main points I found the author making is that to develop and deepen relationships, we need to consistently spend time with people. Jesus said that the world would know we were His by our love for one another. One of the biggest weaknesses I see in our churches today is in our love for each other. If we are honest, many of us know very little about what is going on in the lives of others in our church family. Many of us can probably count on one hand the number of people in our church family who we really know. And is it any wonder? It seems as if most churches only offer one opportunity for gathering together anymore anyway (one of multiple options on Sunday perhaps, and maybe a Saturday option for those who work on Sunday). Is it any wonder that we don’t know each other and participate in the lives of our church family on more than a superficial level? In so many cases, we are given one opportunity each week to spend time with our church family, but we treat that occasion as if it’s no big deal if we miss it. Yes, we can (and most of us will for various reasons) miss a Sunday now and then. But we really do need to guard this time and make it a priority. As was stated in the article, it doesn’t seem to take much until one Sunday becomes two, then more, and after a while, meeting with the family at our home church becomes the exception rather than the rule. I doubt anyone starts off thinking that this will ever become the case for them, but it sure seems to happen a lot. Christianity was never meant to be something that exists in a vacuum. It is all about relationship, not only with God, but with other believers as well. I’d encourage a reading of the first few chapters of Acts to see how the early church operated. They were together all the time. They worshiped together, they ate together, they shared their lives together. We could learn a lot from them.
Well said, Mike. I’ve made that point, but few here are saying it.
I know everyone in my church and the things going on in their lives. One of the problems with church today is the lack of love for the body. But one of the biggest, is not understanding what church is and what worship is about. IT’S NOT ABOUT US. IT’S ABOUT HIM. how much harm would the church have taken had she said no to the Sunday game, I assume the family has fallen into ruin since they missed a Sunday. My son plays baseball and knows the need to be in church on Sunday and other days of the week (we spend a lot of time there) but also knows the commitment to baseball is going to conflict with that. it’s his choice and I’m not going to one: hurt his view of church and see it as this, because I’m a Christian I can’t play baseball because I might miss church, and make him think he has to be one or the other. Two: allow his teammates, who he made a commitment to, be let down because he’s not there because of church (this will really make them excited about going to church one day) and three: make others think I’m this Holier then thou Christian who can keep the Ten Commandments and don’t need Christ in my life. I can be a bigger witness on the ball field then I can at church. Why you ask, because there are more lost people at the ball park on Sunday then in the church.
J.R. Horsley
Music Director/ youth leader
Friendship Baptist Church
Hardinsburg, KY
Personally, I think sports have become a “god” to many. I understand how it slowly happens and that our society values sports, but even if your children are not involved in organized sports, there are sports all Sundays and Sunday nights for folks to just sit and watch all day. After morning service, folks are rushing out the door to be in time for the game instead of enjoying the sweet fellowship that happens after a morning of worship. Folks are late to or nonexistent at evening services because a game went late or a play-off game is happening. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are lots of other reasons too and I am not looking at this in a legalistic way…but more of a practical way. We hired our pastors to do a job and that is to study the Word of God and impart it to us (among other things)….and then, folks stay away. That’s like hiring a caterer to feed you and then not going to the feast…only with far greater implications.
I have two married and one still at home. We always made the decision that sport actvities were excluded on Sundays, until I broke my own rule with Pro teams. We set the example, we must say to our kids ‘Do as I do, not as I say!’, because Our words at time MAY contradict our actions. My children always attended church on Sundays & Wednesday nights as requested and knew the importance of their relationship with Christ and the church family. But I’m afraid to say that they have witnessed our family being hurt by church members & pastors, that my oldest two at this moment do not attend but LOVE GOD with all their hearts, My wife and I have found a loving church and we with our 16 yearold attend and our involved. We can guide our kids, take them to church, instill in them the values of the Word BUT as adults in the end they WILL make their own choices NO MATTER what. They know what they are suppose to be doing we just pray and believe what the Word tells us ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.’ God bless!
As parents of five sons, we have been faced with the sports decision on Sundays many times. We have managed to avoid it most of the time by researching the team in advance to see what their Sunday playing habits were. So our boys have been in church the majority of Sundays. However, I have two adult sons who do not go to church now even though church and Sunday School were always an important part of their lives. I just want to make sure that people understand there is no guarantee if you skip sports to go to church even though I believe that if you choose sports over church, you will also reap the consequences. It always comes down to the heart.
there were 20 families from church there? Sound like an opportunity to have an unplanned Sunday service before or after the game, and the kids to make friends with other kids involved In both church and a sport they all like.
BRAVO!!! WELL SAID
As a pastor I remember vowing not to let anything interfere with our family’s Sunday morning church time… and then I actually had a family! Watching my son grow as a player, learn sportsmanship, enjoy being part of a team, etc… I can now see why so many wonderful, church-going families struggle. My perspective, as a pastor and a mom, is that playing the victim doesn’t help. In other words, we can all hold on for dear life to the “good ole days” without sports on Sunday, or we can do something constructive as a church. Let’s face it, most towns don’t care about our spiritual struggles, so we have to be the ones to do something! A slight change in the Worship schedule? A church family dinner and service on Saturday or Sunday evening? Flexibility and change are not always words that we embrace as a church, but maybe it’s time we spend less time whining and more time actually doing- something I learned from my son’s coach 🙂
If we observe that people will be off the team, or viewed as not dedicated to the team, or somehow less of a team member for not attending a ball game, how is it not more so for attending church?
If we observe that people are being judgmental for observing that it is important to attend church as a member of that church, how are we not being judgmental for saying so?
If our goal is to justify our participation in events that harm our relationship with our fellow church members, how are we not guilty of placing commitment to those events above our commitment to our local church?
We think that by conducting a Bible study at the ball field we are effectively replacing what we get out of going to church without realizing that what we put into church is at least as important as what we get out of church. When we aren’t at church, we aren’t helping our fellow church members. I don’t know about you all, but I get to find out how I can help others in my church family when we gather for our regularly scheduled worship. And out of the abundance of this help we can turn our efforts outward at the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Church is not about you… it’s about worshiping God. Too many people have the mindset of “I just didn’t get anything out of church today”. Worship service is for worship of a God, who lived, died and lives still for my sins and He is the ONE church is for…
So we agree then: Corporate worship involves the fellowship of believers which entails accountability.
There is an old, old hymn that says:
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord, Abide in Him always and feed on His Word. Make friends with God’s children, Help those who are weak, Forgetting in nothing His blessings to seek.
Take time to be holy. the world rushes on; spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone. By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be; Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, Let Him be thy guide, and run not before Him, Whatever be tide. In joy or in sorrow still follow thy Lord, And looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul, each thought and each motive, beneath His control. Thus led by His Spirit, to fountains of love, Thou soon shall be fitted for service above.
I realize that there is a lot of King James verbiage in this old hymn, but the thought and message is there, even in the translated version.
What’s wrong with attending on Wednesday or Sunday evening if you miss the occasional Sunday morning? You still show your kids that your family prioritizes church. Maybe the “Sunday morning only” mindset isn’t working for the modern world. Maybe families aren’t sinful and not prioritizing God; maybe the church itself could be more flexible about service times. There are no demands in the Bible to place church services at just one point in time. The Sabbath is a symbol of God’s rest that has traditionally been celebrated on Saturday and Sunday, but traditions can bend. The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath, right? Jesus himself was a bender of established Sabbath traditions.
Well said!
The church is making adjustments to bring the families together to worship and for Bible study – Saturday nights, Sunday mornings, etc.But when it all began on Sunday was when Jesus rose from the dead, on the first day of the week, that the believers began meeting each first day of the week to worship (John 20;1, 19, Acts, 20:7, 1 Cor.16:2). My point… the church made it the practice of meeting together to worship on that day. Is that a tradition or is that an example of remembrance for the church each week? Then, a reason for the individual or the family to gather with other believers is to support each other in their faith, learn the Word and practice spiritual disciplines together. That creates relationships, fellowship, that helps us walk in Christ as we grow. If a family is just looking for what’s convenient for them to go to worship and not involved in the fellowship of believers, learning, growing, and serving together, then you are still teaching your children to have a consumer’s mindset, rather than a servant’s heart like Christ.
Let’s clarify that you, a stranger, have no idea how I parent or what I teach my children. That said, Sunday morning is a tradition, not a law. Jesus was comfortable with bending traditions in the Sabbath, wasn’t he? I have a tough time believing that the God who spoke the universe into existence gives a fig when we worship with our fellow believers as long as we’re committed to the practice. If I’m teaching my children that the family makes time for church every week, then they’re getting the message. As long as priorities are emphasized, then who cares when churches meet as long as it’s working for God’s people?
My family has always made it a practice to be in the house of God on Sundays. This year we were required to be at a band concert at 3p or suffer consequences (affecting my middle schooler’s overall grade) We have a decent drive back to and from church (45mins) and we live in MI with a snow storm coming down, it was a close call for getting my clarinet player there on time. Hardly a Sabbath day! Flip side of the coin, this is the only time in 10 yrs of kids in school we’ve ever had anything on a Sunday that was mandatory.
As a youth pastor, I’m finding this problem on Wednesday nights as well. About 15 youth have to miss because of basketball, volleyball, football, soccer, etc. depending on the time of year. Parents choose sports over church, at least here they do.
Read the 10 commandments! Remember the Sabbath a Day and keep it holy.
so that’s the one we should keep… we can’t keep any of the others what makes you think you can keep that one… that football, nascar, basketball or whatever game it is on TV really keeps it Holy… or the lunch at the restaurant where workers are having to work on Sunday? that helps keep it Holy as well…LOL Read the Ten Commandments…why is this always our response… like we keep them, if we could… What did Christ die for???
I remember fighting this for many years while I was coaching in multiple sports. The ones that are not into the “church thing” don’t see the problem.
The better their kids are in that sport makes it worse as without the rest of the team their child will not get that schlorship they “deserve.”
We as Christians have to get some backbone and refuse to be jerked around by those with other priorities.
I refuse to buy that its just seasonal argument. The seasons keep merging
Excellent article written. If one feels offended or “judged,” it’s because one feels convicted by the Holy Spirit. Conviction is supposed to feel uncomfortable because it’s supposed to move us to change.
I think it’s important to remember that whatever we do instead of church tells our children that this activity is more important than church. It tells them, it’s okay to miss church IF it’s for ___ event or activity. I sure want my kids to know that nothing is more important than gathering with God and the believers… including work.
You only get ONE chance to raise your kids. There’s no second time around, no rewind, no starting over to do it better. I personally am taking no chances.
I agree to a point… We are the church so wherever we are the church should be. seeing 20 families from one church sounds like a chance to share with others (where two or more are gathered). even if it was to gather in a parking lot and pray as a group. Did anyone think of that or does church only happen in a building on Sunday morning. anytime you allow your child or yourself to be involved in a activity outside the church you run the risk of missing a church service. how many times have you missed because you were tired? did it bother you then or just when people saw you miss. Had you decided to say no you would have made a lot of people mad and therefore placed a stumbling block in someone’s path. You choosing to let your child play may have had more of an impact then you saying no. Those who would have been mad wouldn’t have blamed you, the blame would have fallen on the church. I agree with your conviction of needing to be in church on Sunday morning. But I also see the need to teach a child the fact that a commitment made is one to be kept and not just at church. Always show the church for the light it is and never become a stumbling block.
As a mom of a son who played travel baseball for 8 years while growing up, I can totally understand where you are coming from and how you feel. I will tell you that we would make ever effort to attend services somewhere before or after his games. There were times he would wear part of his uniform under his dress clothes and we would leave after the sermon or Lord’s supper, depending on which was last. Our worship services start earlier then most so it was a little bit easier for us. We also have attended with family or friends in the town we were playing in. There were also times we would be late for the game because of it, we were lucky though because for the most part our coaches were very understanding. Another thing was that he was a pitcher, so on the days he wasn’t scheduled to pitch, he might not have to be there or could be late. Looking back I don’t regret what we did, but I am one of the luck ones. We have two sons who are 23 and 20. They are in college out of state and are very faithful members of the church. The one who played baseball is a councilor at the church camp he attended when growing up. That is something parents should look into for part of their summer activities. Our boys attended Camp Deer Run in Winnsboro, Texas. There was one time that he was at camp and would have had to miss a game, so we went and got him just for the evening because the game was not far away. It was a one time thing. He was telling us just a few months ago that camp was one of the main things in his life that made him the strong christian he is today. There are ways to instill a love and respect of God in your child’s lives. Always talk about HIM as a friend, and your children will think of HIM as one. Good luck to all of you who are going through this right now. May you be able to train your children in the right path and when they are old, they will not depart from it. That is in Proverbs, but I can’t remember the exact chapter and verse.
I always talked to my sons coaches before they started playing for them and let them know our stance as a family on playing ball on Sunday (and Wednesday) and ask if that was a problem. I let them know we would not be playing and if it was a problem we would remove our boys before the season started, never had a problem and never was ask to play on Sunday.
I made a statement about things like this around October. When people respond with the judging card, it’s a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is trying to convict your heart. Just be happy for someone else’s conviction that’s a godly conviction. Making decisions that will draw your family closer to The Father is always good. When faced with any question of what should I do here. It’s simple. Ready? If Jesus was in the situation would he choose ball over Church? Easy. Don’t forsake the assembling of Gods people together! Period!
I’m am 53 yr old man, over 40 years ago, i played football at the local grade school. We practiced during the week with games on Saturday. The first week of practice on Wednesday at 6pm , my dad came to pick me up. Coach said practi was not over. Dad said, Wednesday night is our regular mid-week church service and we attend. You are welcome to continue practice, but, my son will be leaving to go to church, and we . he next Weds night, my mom simply blew the car horn at 6pm, I excused mself and left. The followng Weds, practice was completed by 6pm, and, each Weds thereafter was the same. We went on to win the city championship that year. Probably a coincidence, I don’t know. But this I do know, the coach later accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, that was not a coincidence. We are in the situation we are because we did not and do not stand up for the little things, now, the world refuses to listen when we stand for the big things. Just my 2 cents worth.
I appreciate this article so much. This very thing is something that we have struggled with so much in our area. Thankfully my kids for the most part have chosen sports that do not play their games on Sundays so we have only had the occasional conflict. But I see so many families in this poor area laying their kids on the altar of sports for the purpose of getting a free ride to college…most of them don’t get any money for school.
However, sometimes the issue arises that the persons coaching/organizing the sport or tournament in our area are Catholic and they prioritize having Saturday off for their Sabbath. When we’ve felt that we have to play a sport or travel for a sport on Sunday (only a handful of times in the past 8 years), we make sure to do it as a family, have a devotion and prayer time together, and then pick another day of the week to have a Sabbath. Let me explain a bit…Before I got married and had kids, I worked in the medical field and had to work most Sundays, 2 to 3 out of 4 every month. I made sure that I found a small group Bible study that fit one of my days off each week, and that would be my Sabbath day. Because of doing this with our kids over the years, they now all thoughtfully prioritize church over a multitude of things, not just sports, that can draw them away from church.
I should also say that many churches in our area have added Saturday worship services to encourage families to find time to fellowship, learn, and worship.
We in the Catholic faith have an obligation to attend Mass every Sunday. Unless it is simply not possible due to extreme illness or traveling in an area where there is no Catholic Church nearby, we must observe our obligation. Most churches have Mass on Saturday evening, and many also have a Sunday evening option so that morning sports don’t have to interfere. However, if the decision came down to sports or church, sports would have to lose.
Thank you. I awoke this morning with this topic on my heart, because baseball season is on the horizon. I want to be on board and on the same page as my husband. My husband took a stand when my children were young. My parents, who have never been regular church attenders, wanted the children to do something on a Sunday afternoon. This caused them to miss a church service. My husband made a request that our children not miss church activities on Sundays.
Then came baseball. All rules from before were thrown out the window. I fought the inner conflict all last season. This article reaffirmed two things for me. 1)My concerns are valid. 2)Ultimately, my husband IS our spiritual leader, and I want to find a way to be respectful. I am praying for a 1981 breakthrough, but will find a way to make it through even if it never does.
My husband also has a Bible study on Sundays with our son, or they watch our church service online. I think every family has to decide for themselves. Sometimes it’s not the perfect answer that wins. My battle is in choosing to honor my Lord when I have been trumped.
To all who were offended by this article, she totally gave a warning before she ever started. 😉
I know as Christians we have different takes on this issue. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our “Sabbath Rest”. The Bible is clear that we are to regularly meet together as believers for worship, edification, teaching etc.. That being said we are not under the Law regarding the “Sabbath” since the purpose of the Sabbath(law) is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
My point is that we as believers should make meeting with a local group of believers on a weekly basis a priority, but missing church in itself is not a sin. The Church I attend and love has Sunday morning services. I miss services off and on for various reasons. This act is not necessarily a sin, but in my heart the reason I am choosing to skip Church may be a sin.
“You are what you eat”. Church is where believers go to get the best food for growth.
The goal is to make meeting together with believers a habit, and instill that same habit into our children.
When I miss church, do I MISS church?
Excellent thoughts. I whole-heartedly agree with you. I run a Jr. High baseball program in the spring and summer and I have taken a strong stance on not scheduling any games/practices on Sunday. For families that don’t go to church anywhere but are upset at the “loss” of potential games I have told them that if they are that concerned with their sons baseball talent then they are free to play catch with them at home, or join another team. I won’t be responsible for putting a stumbling block in the way of any fellow believer worshipping our Lord.
We went through the same thing when our kids were young. Soccer practice Wednesday evenings, games Sundays. We finally decided when our children die, they would not be standing before some coach but before our Lord. That is when we told the coaches our kids would not be participating in Wednesday practice or games on Sunday before church was out. After we made our stand, several other parents did the same thing. Practice times were changed and games/tournaments didn’t start until after 12. Only one coach, a high school football coach is the only one who gave us fits. Again, I told him he would not be the one our kids stood before on judgment day. What could he say to that!
Our kids are grown now, therefore I don’t know if this is still the case. Sometimes it just takes one family to stand up for what they believe to give others the courage to follow.
I want to go one step further. My husband is a coach and has coached from Junior High to College. When he was on the college level I followed the team but only a few Sundays. Because of the collegiate rules he could not avoid taking the students away from their opportunity to worship on Sunday…however they always had Wednesdays open. That is a unfortunate part of college sports. We have been in the public school for over 11 years and the chance to schedule is more flexible.
As a Christian family we strive to not miss any opportunity to worship..Sundays or Wednesdays. Our daughter is now in softball and our rule is that if it interferes with church then we aren’t available. This does not mean we do not teach or live by our commitments but we do not allow them to rule our priorities.
I was raised this way but my parents allowed my brothers and I to stand for the principles they taught us. In high school we were on the tennis team. Our coach scheduled practice on Wednesday evenings during church. I felt so convicted that I talked with my coach and we were not penalized for coming to practice after church. It made for late nights but worth it. In college I again ran into a similiar situation with my college band practice. Again I spoke with my director and I was not penalized for being late. I always schedule work around services and have found people are more understandable as long as we are not offensive in our walk.
I am not sharing to “pat myself on the back”. I simply pray thay these examples can be used as strength to those struggling with standing for God and what your family prioritizes. Our service to the Lord takes many sacrifices and the Bible plainly states that this world is not our friend. However, as parents we must strive to raise adults that will seek to put God first and walk in His ways.
Thank you for your honesty and I truly pray that His children will stand for His truths and be His examples! Thank you for your article!
I don’t see judgement, it’s choice. We are fortunate enough to have 2 services on Sunday and our rule is if you can’t make it to one you don’t play. We set examples for others and have had no issues with our choice. We need to stand up for our God, if we did maybe sports wouldn’t happen on Sunday mornings. It is so easy to let the simple things change perspective. It is important for our children to put God first. It can start as one game, then two, and so on and we’ve missed church all summer, Others should know what our priorities are.
I didn’t read all the comments but notice one that said, we shouldn’t “blast” people. No where in the comments did I sense a attitude of blasting. I saw someone who is struggling with what decisions to make and how they can affect our children. Also, no where in the article was it even hinted that to miss one service was a “sin”. Come on people, read what it said and don’t add thoughts or intent between the lines.
I remember ten years ago leaving Wenatchee Washington and driving home from the annual Apple Cup Soccer tournament with my 12 year old daughter and being thankful that we were going home on Saturday night and not Sunday night. We were going home to enjoy the Sabbath. Ever since I’ve been grateful for that and similar decisions.
First of all I’d like to say that everyone should do what they are lead to do. With prayer and fasting, the Holy Spirit will guide anyone who is open.
I must say that this is a bit short sighted on solutions though. My son plays baseball 9 out of 12 months. His team won the National Championship this past summer so this is an extremely high level of competition and missing games/practices pretty much doesn’t happen. But the church doors aren’t just open on Sunday morning. Our family goes on Saturday night sometimes if there are Sunday morning games. Or we get up early on Sunday and go to a 7 or 9am service so we can be at a game by early afternoon. We also attend Wednesday night services sometimes when we know we will be out of town over the weekend. We even go to church in other cities when traveling to tournaments. Outside of that, we host 2 small groups at our home. One every other Monday night and the other every other Friday. On top of this, we spend 30-60 minutes every day worshipping with our children at home. Our kids also go to a Christian school that we selected not based on academics but on the standard of Christ being the center of the philosophy of the school.
My point is, there are many opportunities to worship other than Sunday morning. I think a bigger issue is the amount of time we spend amusing ourselves with things like television. Our family doesn’t watch much TV. We don’t watch American Idol, The Walking Dead, How I Met Your Mother, or any other “Regular” programing. The word amuse comes from the root word “muse” which is something that moves you to greatness. The prefix “A” means “not” or “anti”. So, the word “A-MUSE” means something that leads you away from accomplishing greatness.
To much “AMUSEMENT” and not enough “AMBITION” to accomplish great things for the Lord!!!
We began at home with our children before any commitment was made to sports or any other event. They understood that from our perspective as parents, their relationship with God was the most important thing in life. That was the foundation of how we raised our kids. Worshiping God with other believers was/is a vital element in building that relationship (along with praying, reading and studying God’s word, serving God and ministering to others, giving, etc.). As our children grew older, we allowed them to make more and more of their own decisions, encouraging them to consider if the choice would interfere with keeping God first in their lives and then loving and supporting them even if/when we did not agree with their choice.
I believe that if parents don’t show a real relationship with God Monday to Saturday going to church on Sunday won’t help the kids. Our children are the first to know if we have a real relationship with Jesus, and that is where they really learn about God, Sunday service is just the cherry on the cake.
I have seen so many kids that “hate” church because their parents lift their hands to God on Sunday and the rest of the week lift their hands against each other.
If we are not parents to our kids, pray with them, read the Bible with them, it will be hard for them to call God “Abba” (daddy)
It seems that Jesus said it best. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I would imagine that usually your body follows your heart.
The writer is concerned about letting down the other 12 kids on the team if the family says no to the tournament. What about all the other churchgoers that are let down when we’re not in church?
What if you the parents could start a church service or bible study of some kind at the soccer, baseball, volleyball tournament? There are so many people who are consumed with this every weekend and there needs to be someone step up and be the church for these people! Something like FCA for parents to keep plugged in to the important things in life.
When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s in small town USA, NO sports activities were scheduled on Sundays OR Wednesday nights out of deference to the churches. When my children started participating in extra curriculum activities, we made sure the expected place for our children were at their Sunday and Wednesday church activities. I only remember 1 exception for my daughter, and that was for her to attend a “just say no to drugs” rally sponsored by her school district on a Wednesday night. When my son began playing Little League, his practices were scheduled for Monday and Wednesday night. We told his coach up front that he COULD not attend Wednesday practices and why. The coach made a permanent exception for him but offered make-up times with other teams JUST for practice purposes and SOMETIMES would schedule one-on-one times with him. Only ONCE did we make an exception to our rule…his team miraculously and VERY Unexpectedly came from the bottom of the pile in the playoffs to be in the championship game – held on a Wednesday night. As it turned out, that night was “end of year activities party night” at church – no instruction, just fun and fellowship. We made the exception and the boys WON the championship. I wish I could say that my children handing the same kind of dedication down to their children, but they were given the best prayerful example we knew how to give!
There are hundreds of comments and thousands of opinions. Nothing else can be said that hasn’t already most likely been said. I want to thank you, the author, for writing a great blog article. I believe it hits home for a lot of folk, especially in areas where sports takes priority over family. I want to address two sides. There are those who believe sports build character which is why it is so important. If this were true than the NFL would be dominantly filled with men of great character and it is evident that is not the case. There are great men of character in the NFL but it is a minority. This applies to any major sports league. To address the judgmental comments. If you claim to be a follower of Christ than you are giving permission to other disciples to call you out on your sin. But we are to do it with grace and not carelessness. As for the non believers, we do not have permission to judge them. It would be unfair to expect a Christ-like attitude from someone who doesn’t know Christ.
When uncertainty is present, refer to God’s Word.
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:1-2
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism… – Ephesians 4:1-32 (refer and read on)
Don’t be afraid to call out a fellow believer with grace. Come along side him/her and help them to find their way back. Judge each other in righteousness.
The scripture that angry and convicted people love to quote, “judge not lest ye be judged”. Don’t stop there, read the entire context and use it correctly. God bless all of you and I pray that the Lord works great things through you to further His Kingdom.
How about this? Make your decision before the season starts. Let the coach know in writing how your family will handle conflicts between sports and church attendance. Then discuss it face to face. Solves the problem.
I understand the predicament but most churches have more than one service on Sunday. The likelihood of having a game during both of those time is probably pretty low. Another solution is to try to attend a service at another church. My family has sporting events on Sundays quite often but we always make it to church. Even if it is not at our church as long as we go somewhere we are getting something out of it. Going is better than not going at all. Another thing I would like to say is, do you watch football on Sunday? If you enjoy dOing that, you are saying playing sports on Sunday is okay. This situation doesn’t have to make us choose between church and sports but I think people use the excuse I have a game on Sunday so we can’t go to church.
A quote I’ve heard a long time ago that resonates strongly with me is “What parents do in moderation, the children will do in excess”. Just look at what is morally acceptable in our society and that should be enough to convince you. That slippery slope can be applied in so many areas especially in how our actions can speak louder than words when we are setting up Christ and church worship as a priority in our family’s lives. I know that however I want my boys to turn out as young Christian men, I must do even more then the bare minimum to get them there. The outcome of our children is a scary and awesome responsibility. Definitely not to be taken lightly. Thank you.
No more sports on sundays!!!!!!!! i want to go to church and spend time with my f amily…life is so hectic as it is there r si x other days in the week please give me back Sundays
Our rule was that the coach knew right up front that is they had games on Sunday that our boys would be there after church and Sunday school.another thing we also did was find a church near the site of the game and attend there prior to event. My boys are both grown both continue as Christ followers 🙂
The point of Sundays is not first and foremost, being connected with other believers and developing biblical discipline. God commands us to keep the Sabbath day holy, not attend church from 10-12 on Sunday morning and then do whatever we desire the rest of the day. God has commanded this not because He doesn’t want us to have any fun, but bc He knows 1. What we need is to find our rest in Him. 2. Corporate worship and observing the sacraments are a means of grace in our life. 3. When we submit in faith to what God’s word commands and take advantage of these means of grace, then our hearts will feel God’s perfect rest, desire more and more to live all moments of our lives for His glory by putting His kingdom first, and the good pleasures of hobbies will take the proper place in our lives as amusement and not something to order our lives around. As CS Lewis said: we are far too easily pleased. We are content making mudpies in the street, because we have no concept of what is meant by a holiday at the sea.
Not every family that participates in organized sports is Christian.
Nicely written. If parents stood together and refused to compromise their beliefs whether it be for sports, shopping, whatever, and chose to keep Sunday as a day of worship and family, these issues would not arise. If there is a sport your child wants to play, yet it would include violating your own beliefs, why not create a new league (possibly with inter-church rivalries) to be played on Saturdays and weeknights? The more that stand together, the stronger you will become. Just the ramblings of a tired mind.
There is nothing wrong with saying no. The world will make it just fine without one more crappin’ sports event.
Amen!
I am an old country preacher!we should always be an example for our children.Many times our children can’t hear what we are saying for seeing what we are doing!If we say we love Christ let us worship!For those that miss on Sundays to do these Activities.Take down your calendar and mark the days you spend serving the Lord,then mark the days you spend doing things for Christ.I have been Pastoring a long time.Those that spend there Sundays doing activities most of the time in my experience are not serving the Lord like they should.We are not to judge ,but we are told to be fruit inspectors.Do you have little fruit or Big fruit for our Lord?In Everything give Him Praise!!!
My oldest daughter plays travel softball, which is pretty much a year-round sport. We are fortunate enough to play for an organization that holds a church service on any Sunday that we may play. No team is allowed to play or warm up during the service which is nice. It not only provides an opportunity for those of us missing church, but also reaches a large audience of young children that don’t go to church on a regular basis!
As a children’s pastor I see this a lot! This is a frustration to me. There is an affiliation called upward sports! They practice once a week and have games once a week. It teaches Christian principles and every child gets to play! They never play on Sundays!!
when I was a Children’s Pastor my children’s church would clear out half way through the service or attendance would go down during certain times of the year because of sports. Some of my kids played every sport and were hardly ever in church. They are not in church today either.
Pingback: Sports vs. Church | Learn of Me
This is a discussion our family has shared many times over the years. Our son has been involved in travel hockey and baseball since age 7 (he’s now 18 and playing his first college baseball season this year.) We have always found time for Bible study, worship, prayer, and discussion even though we were not always in attendance at our home church. We’ve also continued to financially support the church as well. There have been criticisms for our attendance decisions I’m sure, but the choices were right for us as a family. How do I know? I base it on our child’s decisions during his college recruitment process and the maturity of his decisions now that he’s more or less on his own. To our pleasant surprise, one of his first actions was to find his own church home in his new college town. (He is 5 hours away.) We now have a church to visit when we visit him. It’s obviously important to not lose perspective, but I continue to believe the two can mix if approached the right way.
My children are not athletic but are more musical, gifted singers, electric guitars, drums. But because of their ages cannot use their talents(gifting) within the church due to church policy(which we wholeheartedly agree with). But wondering would we be looked at the same and given the same acceptance if we scheduled “gigs” for our kids on Sunday mornings and started missing in order to grow them in their talents? It even sounds absurd as I am typing this…. We could “gig” them out on Sundays but I cannot imagine making this choice for our family.
Good question, Momtothree3.
I’m a musician myself. The group I sing with outside of my church has a general policy not to sing on Sunday mornings. There are rare exceptions like when we go on retreat we will typically find a church near where we are staying to sing in. But our thinking is that we should be involved with our individual churches as much as possible, especially on Sunday morning.
I also lead worship at a nearby retreat a couple of times a year, fill the pulpit at nearby churches occasionally, and find myself in churches on Sunday mornings in other parts of the world as part of mission trips. I do none of this outside of the auspices of my local congregation and what I do is therefore an extension of the ministry of my church. Even with all this I’m normally in my own church on Sunday morning.
So, my thinking is this: If your children grow in the development of their talents and your church endorses their musical activity as an outreach ministry during Sunday morning, go for it. Otherwise, I’d say you need to keep them from playing elsewhere until they are old enough.
I keep the Sabbath so I think that having Sunday games allow my children to participate in activities. We honor God on His day and we go to church and fellowship and be with God’s people. I know there are other people who prefer games on Saturday, so if there is variety in scheduling for different sports besides just Saturdays, then more people would benefit. That being said I believe that whatever day you choose to worship, you should put God first on that day.
Our children’s minister told me one time that his son had committed to his baseball team, and therefore that commitment came first. Made me wonder where the commitment to the youth group came… I myself have 4 kids who swim, and luckily we are usually able to choose not to swim the events that are on Sundays, though generally every couple of months we will swim (or be gone) from our home church on Sundays. I agree with all those who have said we can ‘do services’ and devotionals at the sporting events, and that is great – but the main thing is the fellowship with fellow believers preferably in your home church, and making sure that is priority, and that it matters.
After raising 4 children, it is my and my husbands belief that each child watches what the parent does. The bottom line is if the parents don’t have the commitment to be in church instead of sports, when the rubber meets the road, the child will not either…We all are sinners…Sinners will use any excuse to not be where they should be. As a parent, I don’t want to do anything that will hinder my child’s following Christ. In the end, it is between the adult and God. It is important to say, the parents decision will affect the child forever! We are not judging to make these
statements. It is out of guilt that people make the excuse that they are being judged. Why in the name of Heaven is there even a debate. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, THE SOUL OF YOUR CHILD OR A SPORTING EVENT?
This is AWESOME!!! I agree with you 100%!!!!!!
I have not read all of the comments however, I did read all of your post. I have recently found our family struggling with the same but I always go back to the same thing. When we choose anything over God we are making that our God. The 10 Commandments states we should have not other Gods before Him. Decisions to be a faithful follower of Jesus is not always the easiest decision because it often goes against the flesh. However, when we realize God holds our future then we should also realize that when we follow Him and do His will, nothing is impossible. He will give our children the opportunities He feels is in their best interest if we allow His will to be done in our lives.
AMEN Carol!! My thoughts exactly!!! Very well said!
Regular games on Sunday should be a definite “NO,” but we had a good solution to those occasional tournaments that had us playing Sunday morning. We had our own church, complete with guitar/singing. We would look at the game schedule and find a spot before or between games where those who were interested would gather, worship and then have a short lesson (which actually was more like a Sunday School lesson, i.e., lots of interaction). For some of the kids, this was their first church experience.
I realize that I am a bit late to this party, but… 😉
I read through many of the posts to get a feel for whether or not I would be offering something that had already been stated many times. I don’t think that I am, but apologize in advance if anyone feels that it is more of the same.
My husband and I first faced this issue in the late ’90s when our boys were in junior high. Basketball practice began to be scheduled on Wednesday nights, which had always been, in my husband’s and my opinion, the most important service of the church week. We did not want our son to miss out on a valuable hour of Bible study for practice. We felt that the hours he spent in practice each week far outnumbered church every week. After explaining our decision to our sons, we explained our decision to the coach. He was not pleased, but that was not our concern. Our son came home many times in the next few weeks to tell us that his friends parents had decided to make the same decision since “nothing had happened” to our son. Eventually, there were so few players at practice that the coach changed the end time of practice. The team’s performance did not suffer for it.
While our boys were in high school, one of them played soccer. He had made the All Star team every year but one. And each year we attended church services and then went to the games. Sometimes we were on time, and sometimes we were late. My son never complained. He enjoyed both church and soccer. The year that my son did not make the All Star team he came home from school one day appalled at what he had been told by his friend, the son of the All Star team coach. The coach had “not allowed” him to be on the team because he knew that my son would arrive at the tournament only after going to church, and he didn’t think that demonstrated team commitment. My son knew that I would find out if this were true if he asked me to, which he did. So when I saw the coach again, which happened to be after the All Star tournament, I asked him about it. His initial response was that he would have to tell his son not to go to school and tell what they discuss at home. He missed the point of my questioning. 😦 His next response was that “it didn’t matter in the end. So many people went to church and skipped the game altogether that they had to forfeit.”
I have always been of the opinion that our busy society will take what they can get, whether it is from family time around the dinner table or worship time. It has grown accustomed to Christians frequent willingness to give up some of their worship time, which, as I stated earlier, is already less than the time investment into most sports.
I don’t judge anyone for their individual choices, but I do wonder if anyone ever considers the witness that they are giving to the world when they conform to the world in ways that seem insignificant. I recently read a statement that went something like this: We are not on this earth to live in ways that feel good for the moment. We are on this earth to spend our time preparing for eternity. Each of us that claim to have a personal relationship with God must determine how He wants us to spend our time preparing.
Good evening,
I am wondering how I can unsubscribe from this blogpost and also not receive emails from this particular subject. I know I submitted my info to receive it, but have since changed my mind.
Thank you!
Denise Rogers
Sent from my iPad
>
I’m sorry, I don’t know how to do that either….usually there is an unsubscribe button on the bottom of emails.
Denise,
FamilyDiscipleshipPath got it right. The comment subscription is handled by WordPress and if you scroll to the bottom of the email, you will find where you can unsubscribe.
I am a child of a Children’s Pastor at our church and I was very into my sport (rifle). Even though it wasn’t a team sport, there were several matches that would fall on Sundays. I worked really hard to be as good as I was at rifle and wanted to be able to play at the collegiate level, but from day one my parents told me that church and God would always come first. The only time I missed church for my sport ambitions was if it was a state qualifier for nationals or junior Olympics. I missed more school days for rifle than I missed church. I went on to not only compete in college but to be on a division one team. I really attribute my success to getting to be a student-athlete at a division one school to God. I remained faithful and made every Sunday a priority because I knew rifle would not give me eternal life. Because I followed and seeked God, he gave me the desires of my heart. You don’t have to weigh between God and sports, pick God and he will reward you!
I am a coach and have coached for 25 years. In order to be able to have kids play/ and me coach, many leagues will work with coaches. You can’t “not” play on Sunday, but we always request that we DO NOT play on Sunday mornings. This is for all league games and my teams play 10 months a year. For tournaments this is not possible, but found if families are missing 1 Sunday every 6 months that’s pretty good. If you coach or your kids play have the coach ask the league for some help with scheduling. It works! And typically if you ask earlier enough in the process they can help out. And when it does a nice “thank you” gift is always good too!
Our pastors have a young family and as Jesus Christ is the Sabbath we alternate our services. One week it is Saturday night 6.00pm then the following week it is Sunday at 10.00am. Our leadership group has also been trained to run our services so there is slways a continuity in teaching etc. works very well for us.
I agree with you although to get the answer all you have to do is look around. The world is becoming more liberal, not more conservative. Hence more agnostics and atheists. Therefore the powers that be (people who make decisions in this country), whether it be a principal or a soccer league organizer, decisions are now being made to accommodate what is becoming the majority.
So the bottom line is, Sunday will soon be just another day and me and you will be the new minority fighting for OUR rights.
Our problems have never been Sunday morning games. We have had to deal with Wednesday afternoon practices, meets, and games that extend into the evening. Finally my youngest son is a Sr and I thought we were finished with activities interfering with Wednesday night activities. I have pulled my sons from practice many times to get them to church. Games have been a different story. I never felt I could pull them from a game when they were committed to the team. This year the Sr. Football mothers wanted to feed the Sr boys on Wednesday nights after practice. I asked if we could move it to Tuesday night because my son said if he had to choose dinner with the football Sr’s or church, he would pick church. They would not change it so every Wednesday night the boys met and my son went to church. At 18, he was old enough to make his own decision. I am proud of him that he stood his ground.
We found ourselves in the same situation with baseball. My husband and I decided that we would let our boys play ball with the understanding that if there was ANY way we could go to Sunday School, morning church, or evening church; we would go for that portion of the services. Sometimes we got home at 5:00 and church would start at 6:00. There was never a question of “Are we going?”. It was understood that we were. We felt that giving our boys this opportunity to do play ball was also important. We didn’t want them growing up resenting church because it kept them from doing something they loved. We made sure that they understood the importance of church and its role in a relationship with God. As they have grown older they are choosing different paths that do not require them to miss church and they both see the value and importance of being at church, being involved, and attending church activities. In the end, for us, it worked. Praise God!
From an athletic perspective: sports teach things that church cannot. Unfortunately, being part of a team means be physically present. While it is difficult to find time that works for everyone’s schedule, generally children are only available over weekends. Last time I checked, church is open all the time and there are services multiple times on most days of the week. While families might prefer going on Sunday, what’s the problem with being flexible and going to another service and perhaps meeting new folks? I know, undoubtably, my God doesn’t care what day and time I show up.
Not all churches have multiple services during the week. I grew up going twice on Sunday and once in the middle of the week … sacrificing some school activities and practices because of that. However, the church when my children grew up was different. No Sunday PM service, but small group fellowship, and only a Wednesday night class service. My biggest issue with missing on Sunday is not taking the Lord’s Supper. THAT is my issue. If other services are available where the Lord’s Supper can be taken on Sunday, then I can be flexible. I have a son who wasn’t allowed to participate on church conflicting teams. He started refusing to attend church when he was in high school. He’s nearing mid-twenties and is now in rehab. Maybe if we could have been more flexible, he’d be in a better place in his life now. Children can be taught what is priority without having them make sacrifices they do not yet understand. There has to be a better way. I think it needs to start with the sports organizations and athletic directors … they need to understand compromise as well.
You can take the Lord’s Supper anytime… I eat His flesh and drink His blood at home all the time. Come on people, He is everywhere!
I totally understand where you are coming from but I think the most telling part is the phrase “when we were kids”. You grew up in a worldview that saw things like church attendance as the measure of spirituality but has led to the black and white sacred and secular thinking we are trying to combat now in the church. Yes it’s important for children to develop relationships with Christian youth but what about the relationships your child is building with kids on the soccer team? People they can invite to church and witness to. One of the students in my ministry misses periodically for sports but he invites more friends than any other student I have because he isn’t trapped in his Christian bubble. I think it’s important to move from the idea that the Church God established is something we do on Sundays and that the only important comrodery is Christian.
wow!! read your bible the whole bible. you do not have to miss church to witness. I cant see how missing church to invite someone to church will work. We need to take a stand!!! Christ is either first or He is not!!
Thanks Randy for bringing some common sense to this discussion. Most of these replies sound as if the ONLY time to be a witness or Christian influence is on a Sunday while missing church to attend a completely meaningless game. I am the parent of two athletes. We traveled to tournaments on weekends and missed some games because we found a place of worship to attend on Sunday mornings. It was an amazing witness to the other families that we loved God and His Church so much that even when we were out of town and away from our home church we found a Body of Christ to connect with. We taught our children 5 priorities; 1) God 2) Family 3) church 4) school/work
5) hobbies/sports. These are in order. They know that the church is not God, they also know that sports are not God. To be a good athlete you must attend practice. To be a good Christian you must be connected to a community of faith. I find it laughable that so many are so quick to make the accusation of legalism to those of us who believe Church attendance matters. The results of a soccer game played on a Sunday morning are soon forgotten while the results of building a relationship with The God of all Creation and His Church are eternal. Sunday Morning is not the only time we can do that, But it is one of them.
Oh, you make a statement here that I’ve seen a lot in this discussion. It’s about relationships with Christians. While that is important, that is not what worship on Sunday is about. Worship is not about us or others. It’s about God. Worship is to pay homage to. Sunday worship is all about God and our worship of Him. We have all the other weeks, days and hours to form relationships with Christians and others. Sunday worship is all about the Father, and remembering the sacrifice His Son made. IT does not trap us in a Christian bubble – it frees us. Please don’t confuse worship of the Father with building relationships. That misses the point. Failure to worship the father is not an option. Who would want it to be?
At the very end of your article you ask your readers to pray about it. My parents taught me and my sibs that we should never need to pray about non-negotiables when it comes to our Christian principles and Godly responsibilities. We never prayed about should we give a tithe or offering, should we read our Bibles and pray daily, should we share a gospel witness when the opportunity arises, etc. I am 60 years old now and I know of countless numbers of people who have gone astray and left the church because their parents refused to take a principled stand for “…not forsaking the assembling of themselves together as the manner of some is…” Today, my four sibs and I are all still faithfully attending church and serving our Lord with our mates. I don’t believe a true believer/parent should pray about whether or not to attend church or a sporting event. JUST DO IT!
Quick story. 40 year ago I was an 8th grader who’s parents put a priority on attending every church service available to us. I enjoyed church and made friends there but more so I learned about Christ and gained a healthy view of the faith community and my commitment to them. At 12 I joined the town basketball program during its first year of existence and did not think to ask when the games would be played. During the first week of practice the coach announced our game schedule as being on Wednesday evenings, prayer meeting night. Without hesitation, this 12 year old walked right up to the coach and announced that I could not make it due to church. It was my decision. Then, at practice the next day they announced that the game schedule had been changed to Sunday afternoons. I learned a big lesson from this about trusting God.
I know this is a touchy subject and our family has wrestled with this in the past. The Bible commands us to come together on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) to worship God and have fellowship with our Christian family. Our church family had services on Sunday morning and evening so we tried to work it out so that we could make one of the services. However, there were times we would be out of town on Sunday. On these occassions we would try to go to a congregation in the area if we had time or we had our own devotional as a family. I think the important thing is for your children to see that your commitment to God and his commandments are the priority. Being a Christian is not just attending services, it is about how we live our lives and being a good example to our family and those we come in contact with. If, however, missing services was more than just a once in a while occurance I know for us the decision would be not to miss worship services.
Or imagine if the 20 families who missed church used that chance to connect with the other families who have never been to church or don’t go regularly.. To be distracted by a sporting event on a Sunday is not the sports fault, is the fact we let it distract us. Get rid of T.V on Sundays or stores being open, movie theaters, restaurants etc. They are distractions as well!! Or use every chance as a opportunity to spread the message of Jesus. Walk up to a parent you never speak to and strike up a conversation like “man missing a great message today from my pastor” or something like that. A relationship with God is not about missing or making Sunday service. That mentality is what is wrong, every minuet of every day is to make disciples by spreading the word not just attend Sunday services. There are so many other FALSE IDOLS going on, on a Sunday besides youth or adult sports.
I think the bottom line is about family. The coaches, the teachers, the whoever, aren’t in charge of a family, the parents are, and ultimately, God. I see a lot of families where sports run the whole show, and they are more important than family time, than school, than church, etc. Because you wouldn’t want to let anyone down! Who are you really letting down? I agree, parents need to stand up and say, my kids will not be able to attend games or practices on Sunday, or nights they have church. Period. Set the priority and stick to it. Sometimes it might be hard, but then your kids will learn lessons about sacrifice, and being a good example.
I appreciate the author’s final thought, “I will encourage you to take some time out to prayerfully consider this, talk it over with your spouse, and make sure your priorities determine your calendar and not the other way around.”
The easy answer seems to be “no” for all Christian families. The danger here in saying “no” for every family in every situation could be legalism. God’s will for someone’s life could very well have different answers for different families. I’ll share my personal story in this exact situation.
When I was 9, I asked my parents, (who happened to be missionaries to the First Nations people in Canada) if I could play youth football. When they found out that the games were played on Sundays, they told me no. The next year, when I was 10, I asked again if I could play. They told me that they would pray about it and discuss it with me after they took some time to pray about it. When they discussed it with me, they told me that church was a priority and that I needed to be at church every Sunday, BUT if the games were during the morning service, I could attend the evening praise and worship service instead of the regular morning service. I had to be at one service or the other. Period.
When they prayerfully considered the situation, rather than just saying “no”, they felt that God was warning them that I could become bitter as a young person and rather than seeking God, I might be upset for missing out on something, such as sports, that was not in and of itself sinful, as long as it was kept in it’s proper place in terms of priority.
I had accepted Christ at 5 and was baptized when I was 12. I regularly attended church all of my life, and my family and I are church members today.
Today I am a Head Football Coach at a High School in Washington State. The opportunity that I have to model Christ to many students and athletes every year is my calling. Had my parents not prayerfully considered this dilemma, but rather just said “no”, legalistically, they would not have been seeking out God’s will for my life.
In closing, I’d like to re-quote the blogs final sentence: “I will encourage you to take some time out to prayerfully consider this, talk it over with your spouse, and make sure your priorities determine your calendar and not the other way around.”
Very well stated!!
People risk their lives in many places to choose Jesus. If our big dilemma is how to say “no” to a game….we need to think about how little faithfulness to God we have in this country.
This makes me so sad that people buy into religious duty and misunderstand the nature of God. He is fun-loving, affirming of us and our kid’s passions, He lives outside of the four walls of a church and relationship is not determined by church attendance. I know more alive, free and passionate God-lovers outside of church in its current state, than in it.
I was raised going to church every time the door was open. Wednesday night service, Friday night youth activities, Sunday morning and night, even Saturday mornings to help with whatever community service was going on, plus Bible school and youth camp was a must. As a child and a teen that is where my social group was, and that is where I found Jesus. Now as an adult in my 30s I am so utterly burned out and fed up with church and it’s politics. Some days I don’t care if I ever set foot in church again. I feel more of a desperate need to protect my son from the selfish, narcissistic, paranoid, dominionist organization it has become. Sometimes a soccer game can be more important than going to one more service. Sometimes it is good to go out into the world and see it the way Jesus did. As a place filled with people who have hopes, dreams, and who love their families. Instead of seeing them as the evil others who are out to get us.
I believe that a family can win.
We are faithful church goers. We also knew the pressures would come to our family.
When our children were young, before the pressure presented itself, we sat them down and explained what was coming.
They played sports and were musically talented. We told them that as they began to excell, and as they got older, opportunities would begin to present themselves to participate or perform on Sundays. However, it always started on weekdays.
We helped them understand why it was important to decide their choice before the pressure came. We taught them that pressure can cause irrational behavior and ultimately uncalculated decisions.
Sure enough. It happened. In their early teens, the coaches and headhunters began their approaches. The championship game was scheduled on a Sunday, and my son was the pitcher. Without everyone there, in their place, the team would suffer.
This was it. My 12 year old son had already made his choice 2 years prior. It wasn’t difficult for him either. Was the team disappointed? Yes. Did he get phone calls from other players? Sure.
He never did miss church. He later went on to Bible college to further educate himself, to find a wife of like faith and follow God in raising a Christian family.
The girls did likewise with their opportunities.
As a parent, it wasn’t easy. It was very difficult. In the beginning, it is hard, but the ending is much, much easier. (Ecclesiastes 7:8a) “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof:”
Someone said that at the end of our lives we will make one of two statements. “I’m glad I did” or “I wish I had.”
I’m glad we did!
I love that you started early in your children’s lives. It totally makes a difference. We did the same thing and our children have followed our example with my grandchildren. We have been fortunate that where they attend school has not had huge amounts of activities on Sundays. But, many schools are even having graduation on Sunday. Some are on Sunday morning, not even in the afternoon. There are many pressures on The Family. It is not easy to keep families together, especially to attend Church together.
Thank you for your beautiful testimony of the Lord honoring your commitment to honor Him. And when you followed up with what later happened in your son’s life (He never did miss church. He later went on to Bible college to further educate himself, to find a wife of like faith and follow God in raising a Christian family.) it just showed us the reward God has for being faithful. Again, thank you for your comment.
Yes church is very important. As a preacher’s family with a star athlete we were in this predicament (and received much criticism from our church family). There will always be people in the mix who do not make church a priority and keep this Sunday sports thing going.
My question to all of you is this….where do you and your child make a bigger witness in the church building on Sunday mornings where most people there already know the message or on the athletic field where many do not know the message. Do you and your child make a witness for Christ at these athletic fields? Aren’t we told to go into ALL the world? If your child shows Christ in him on the field and you show Christ in you on the sidelines you’ve witnessed for Christ in a way you couldn’t have in church.
This is an “easy out” or “kinda sorta good excuse” to keep doing sports on Sunday… Remember the Sabbath and keep it HOLY…set it aside as different. If Jesus sitting in front of you when you were making the decision of whether or not to honor His father’s command or to go “witness” to those poor lost souls playing Sunday sports by being a really good sport and an awesome sideline parent…which would he tell you to do?
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Heb 10:25
Amen to that ,I was just going to say the same thing. MUCH MORE AS YOU SEE THE DAY APPROACHING,! and look at the empty pews at church….Also JUST ONE LIFE WILLSOON BE PAST ,ONLY WHATS DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST!!
amen!!! 4th commandment!
I was a Youth Pastor for sixteen years, obviously I wanted to see families in church. That said, God created family before He created the church. The place where children will receive their greatest influence will be in their family. If God is present seven days a week in your family then it is okay to miss Sunday morning service every now in then. Your children need a well rounded life. There will be a day when they will move out from your home and go to college, or move into an apartment with friends. They need experience in dealing with life outside of Sunday of church. allowing them some room to do this and approach things in a Godly manner is important. Feeling as though if they don’t go to church they are doing something wrong is not healthy. My experience is, it can be one of the things that can end up driving a child away from God. Allow your child to see the love of God in everyday life doing everyday things including sports. Teach them that they don’t have to be in church to take a few minutes to honor God and to show Him that they love Him and will put Him first. Then go out on the field and play their best have fun, and do it in a way that would make God proud of them. I have seen teammates come to the Lord because of this. Don’t put God in a box. What you might think the Coach meant as manipulation, God may have created as an opportunity for something else.
Thank you! I love this reply – we choose not to play on Sunday mornings – but even then, we sometimes find ourselves out of town on Sunday due to an away tournament. We had a wonderful coach one time that said special prayers every Sunday morning we were out of town in the Hotel Lobby. It made such an impression on everyone – Here we were a bunch of families, made up of different religions – but sharing our love of God with the group of people we were spending our whole weekend with. Coming from the Coach it made an impression on the boys on the team as well.
Church attendence is down for a multitude of reasons, not specifically sports. It is not provided by God, it is provided by man, and as society progresses intellectually, the need for organized religion decreases. People I know maintain their relationship with God without the interference of men collecting their money every week, and acting supieior to everyone else.
Why does it feel like the author has made a god out of having church on Sunday? Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
I understand the author’s moral dilemma. It is difficult to maintain spiritual traditions in our modern society. I would like to offer a simple suggestion that books are made readily transportable precisely for reasons such as these and that this may reflect God’s will to present an opportunity, rather than a challenge, for families in this situation to literally take the Word to the field, thereby fulfilling the great commission, to “go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” (Matthew 28:19).
“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (Corinthians 6:19)
Perhaps there are some souls finding themselves on a soccer field on a Sunday morning because some other souls have been placed there themselves for they have something important to teach? There is no rule that I know of which says fellowship of a spiritual nature must occur in pews rather than on the bleachers. 🙂
I was certainly looking for the right words…but THIS is exactly what I wanted to say. I had a wise person remind me more than once that Jesus didn’t walk the earth for the righteous but to save the sinners. And you are very right, we know not where God will lead us to find the lost. I have found my most spiritual answers, renewing of faith and blessings, and heartfelt prayers in more places than inside the walls of church.
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching (day of the Lord)
What does a man profit if he gains the whole world but loses his soul.
I would like to share my experience with you in hopes that it might give you better insight into this battle. My husband is a pastor, which might I say had nothing to do with our decisions. We raised 3 children, 2 of whom were boys and were extremely involved in sports at the christian school in which they attended. Needless to say, my husband and I were appalled when the baseball coach began scheduling Sunday make up games and tournaments in which he demanded that all players attend. You can imagine how unpopular we were with not only our boys, but their friends, their friends parents, and yes, even the school, when we made the decision that our boys would NOT miss church to play sports. They could play any other time, even after church, but not during. We simply felt that their consistency in attending church was more important to them, their witness to others, and to the church than any ball game that they would play. We were the parents, we made the decision and it was not open for debate. Oh they wanted to debate the “we can be a witness on the field” issue, but we felt that it was a better witness to others that they be in church on Sunday morning learning about Jesus and worshiping Him. To be a witness for Christ, you have to live like a christian. After all, there were six other days and Sunday afternoon that they could play. Well, our youngest son Eric went to college on a baseball scholarship. Tragically, his first semester there the car in which he was a passenger was hit by a multiple offense drunk driver! During those horrible months as he fought for his life in ICU and then the long physically demanding rehab it was not the sport that he loved so much and was passionate about, the coaches, or even his fellow teammates that gave him the courage and strength to fight, but his tremendous faith in God that had been nourished and his knowledge of God’s Word! When he speaks to schools, youth groups and churches he always exclaims ” when you are staring at the ceiling and the only thing that you can move is your head, you have a lot of time to talk to God and reflect upon His promises. Eric did not come to know Christ on a baseball field although he took Him there. He did not learn about God’s Word on a baseball field, but he used it there. When life dealt him a really bad hand, Eric had a heart and head knowledge of Christ that had been nourished both in church on Sundays and in the home that carried him through this tragedy. I am certainly not passing judgement on anyone, but wanted to share our experience with you. I have always felt that if Christian parents would take a stand against things that seek to undermine and destroy our basic beliefs and values, the outcome would be much different. Above all, we are the parents that God has entrusted these children. How many hours a week are they playing sports verses how many hours a week are they learning the biblical principles of everyday life? We sometimes are not their best friends, and that is okay. When we look at them as they raise their little ones, may we look at them proudly with a “no regret” conscience that we did everything humanly and heavenly possible to give them the tools that they need to be responsible Godly parents,
Wow. Brought tears to my eyes. So true and such a great example. We are just beginning baseball and have had to tell coaches that we will not be able to be part of travel ball because we would be away on Sundays. I had a mentor who often reminded me of the verse that says not to forsake the assembling of the believers. If we are not with one another consistently it is much more difficult to sharpen one another.
What an amazing testimony!
Sports are the new religion….when the team scores its fine to jump, scream and run around..if you say amen in church you are some kind of religious nutcase….the new religion is here and it has gobbled up our kids…anything you can do to hold the line is a plus…if you want to do both..sports and church , consider a Saturday eve service…there are many.
We have basically said that we will not sign our kids up for activities that routinely play/practice on Sundays, but an occasional tournament or activity is usually accepted. We believe that church on Sunday is out first priority and where we should be on Sunday morning, but perfect attendance is not the goal, rather making worship a priority, but not a ritual.
These are my (our) thoughts exactly for our family! Thanks.
I appreciate all of the back and forth in the comments. I’m so glad to see that people are thinking about it and making purposeful decisions for their family. The suggestion has been made many times to just catch a different service or a different church….this is a good Plan B, every once in a while. I don’t think this is a good solution on a regular basis for kids and youth. Children need consistency and routine and relationships. If you are attending a different service, even at the same church each week, it is impossible to be building relationships and making friends. If kids don’t have friends at church they will start to fight going at some point! I also appreciate the comments about being a witness in the sports community..YES! I love it–as long as somewhere in your normal week you are connected with your church community. This entire blog is about growing our children as disciples or followers of Jesus. If we look at his example he spent time with those who already believed and were followers “building each other up according to their needs” aaaaand time with those who don’t know him yet. Balance is key. Both/And! not Either/Or
I agree about scheduling sports activities on Sundays but because every high school in the state schedules games on Friday May not be a good time for scheduling church services
Totally agree with you. However, there are those of us that have no friends in the church due to the cliques that isolate those of us that don’t fit in the typical church mode — and sports becomes a place our kids can make friends…
There is also the possibility that by going to a different service you might meet people who become new friends, people you would not have met by staying just with one service. If the children understand that by choosing to participate in an activity on a Sunday during your regular service they have to commit to going to another service during the duration of the activity… then they will learn that connection to the church community is just as important.
I play travel softball and have a strong Baptist faith. I play on Sundays. That is a decision i make. But the KJV bible says anywhere there are multiple people worshiping God is to be considered a place of worship. we hold devotions before every Sunday game and invite other teams to join. To me spreading the gospel to others on a Sunday at the ball field is just as amazing as sitting on a pew.
We had one football season that had games on Sundays. Usually afternoon games, but the few times we had morning games, we went to another church that had a Sat evening worship. It was even a different denomination, but I figured God wanted us in HIS house and that was what was important. It also gave us a chance to talk about some of the differences, and why there are differences between denominations.
May we have permission to publish this “as is” for our church family to read?
sure
I think C.S. Lewis said it best in The Screwtape Letters, when writing as Screwtape, the senior tempter to his nephew and apprentice devil, Wormwood: “A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all-and more amusing.” Chapter 9, The Screwtape Letter by C.S. Lewis.
Of course we all miss church from time to time because we’re sick, our kids are sick, we’re traveling, etc, but ultimately, that should be the exception, not the rule. Church serves an important function in the Christian community, not only for what we get out of it ourselves, but what we contribute to it for others. If we are not engaged and committed to attending and participating in the worship and fellowship with our fellow believers, we are not only missing out on the edification, encouragement, exhortation that we get ourselves but we are diminishing and depriving others of those benefits as well. It might feel overwhelming to be “responsible” to others in the form of fellowship and service through church, but that that’s exactly the picture God draws for us. We are a body and we need all of the parts to function fully and properly. And just like a nuclear family suffers when the father, or mother, or kids don’t participate, so the church family suffers when a member of the body abstains form participation.
Where we invest our time, our money, our talents and our attention is the true barometer of our priorities. We can’t say in one breath, “God is my first priority” and then demonstrate with our actions that He is, in fact, not our priority….one of those statements is untrue and our actions are the symptomatic expression of our heart’s true state.
I understand why people get upset in conversations such as this. They are often in a position where they have to choose between two things they hold valuable, and enjoy. I don’t like to have to choose either, I want to have it all. I want to be able to be on the yearbook staff and in the concert band but they meet at the same time….I must choose and my choice, ultimately, reflects what’s more valuable to me. There is only so much time in a day, a week, a month, a year, etc. You must take time away from one activity (rest, sleep, work, school, church, sports, hobbies, etc) in order to give it to another activity. Corporate worship and fellowship are not a suggestion in the bible. I would suggest that people who are offended consider that perhaps it is conviction….not judgement….that is working on their hearts and consciences. After all, another intrinsic value of Christian community and fellowship is that it provides accountability….a system by which the Holy Spirit can check our hearts and our minds against the realities of our actions and reflect back to us a less biased image of whether we’re pursuing the right goals or not. God uses other Christians to call attention to areas of sin, and opportunities for growth in our lives.
That being said….I think there are solutions and flexibility in the Christian community as well. The issue is that you need to be setting SOME time each week aside for corporate worship and fellowship. Sunday is typically the day we have culturally adopted for that, but the point is that the Christian community is engaging one another and God, offering Him corporate worship, offering each other fellowship, and allowing the Holy Spirit to use the intrinsic value of those activities and community to produce fruit in the lives of believers. As such, a possible solution, if Sunday is your sports team practice or game day, is to find a church that has its worship services on Saturdays and commit Saturday to worship, fellowship and rest.
Ultimately, the priorities of your heart are evidenced by your actions, not your words. And your kids will see that clear as day; that will be the example you set for them. If you find yourself saying, “I can’t adjust anything in order to go to church, or else I’ll never get everything done / be able to participate in everything I want to participate in”, then God is not a priority in your life. There will always be more demands for your time than there is time to accommodate them. You must decide and those decisions will tell you where your heart lies.
Many people with strong faith llive in areas of the world that do not have churches or a place of worship. They just live correct in the eyes of God and that is true faith.
Churches were not built on sacred ground, there built at a location that was priced right after being approved at a city council meeting. It’s just a building. What makes it a true house of worship is the however genuine the flock is to God’s word.
Point is, you could never go to church once in your life, but can still hold the same place God’s eyes if you live your life daily within his message.
I don’t follow your argument about being built on holy ground. I’m not sure what that has to do with the conversation unless perhaps you were trying to say that the church is not a building, but rather God’s people. If that is what you were getting at, I agree 100%. The post is not about convening at a building once a week, it is about communing with a body of believers once a week. The fact that the original churches met in peoples’ homes does not change the fact that we now have churches available to us for that purpose. That’s like saying, “well, they didn’t have pianos in biblical times and so piano music isn’t holy worship music”. You could attend church in someone’s home, or a field, or a campsite, or any number of places. But the point is not that you show up to any particular building that’s called a “church”….the point is that you are regularly committed to be involved with a body of believers, and that you set aside a regular time to be involved with them for various purposes as outlined in scripture.
It is true that we are called to demonstrate our faith in our daily lives (Matthew 5:16, 1 Peter 2:12 are just some examples)….but it seems like a a great many of folks use that as means to justify not being involved and committed to a body believers. God did not call us to one OR the other, but to BOTH (Hebrews 10:25, Romans 12:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, James 5:16 to illustrate just a few of the commands and reasons for gathering regularly), and Jesus himself regularly went to church (Luke 4:16). What many people are doing is substituting one for the other. I’ll witness on the soccer field INSTEAD of going to church. I’ll witness at the Volleyball tournament INSTEAD of going to church. Rather, they ought to be saying they will do those things in ADDITION to going to church, or AS WELL AS going to church. There is flexibility out there….Maybe you don’t attend church Sunday morning. There are churches that meet on Saturday evening. There are churches that meet on Wednesday evenings. But the point is, you need regular fellowship with a group of believers who you can come to know, trust and encourage one another.
But you shouldn’t do it because someone else told you to do it. You shouldn’t do it because it’s part of some holiness equation: Church Attendance + Witnessing + Good Deeds = Salvation. It isn’t. Salvation is by faith alone. You should do it because you love God and you desire to demonstrate your love for Him through obedience to Him. If your heart isn’t in the right place, you might as well not do it because God is most concerned with the state of your heart.
And I think the author, when she says, “go to church” probably doesn’t mean just the logistical details of arriving, sitting in a pew, numbly singing a few songs and half heartedly listening to a sermon. When we talk about worship & fellowship as described in scripture, we’re talking about actively being involved and invested in other Christians’ lives. Encouraging one another, exhorting one another, admonishing one another, celebrating with one another, bearing one anothers’ burdens….Yes, there is learning that takes place (if you are open to it) through those other things (sermons, bible study, etc) and those things have tremendous value, and worship can occur if your heart is actually in it, offering up a sacrifice of praise. But “church” is a lot more than the mechanics of the service. It’s all that God is doing through and amongst His people during that time of fellowship.
Prayerfully, measuring the merits of your stance against scripture, make the best decision you can for your family. That’s the best you can do and maybe you’re at a point where you truly are witnessing and leading people to Chris on the baseball field. Or maybe you’re just playing baseball. Only you and God know. But don’t use the argument, “Well, I’m sure there’s someone in outer Mongolia who isn’t near a church but is a Christian and therefore, because they arent involved in a church body every week, I’m not called to be actively involved in a church body” That’s like saying to the officer who pulled you over, “Yes, I was aware of the speed limit was 45 mph but I’m sure there are people somewhere who are dyslexic and reverse their numbers in their heads and so they think it’s 54 mph and not 45 mph, so therefore I shouldn’t be accountable for exceeding the speed limit even though I was aware of it.”
I agree, people basically attend church just because it’s engrained in their system from their parents. And the truth is they are not really sure why they go to church. Your replies aren’t really logical, but I respect your attempt. I’ll pray for you.
Pingback: Pesky Priorities — Preacher's Study
I agree with this. Nothing should keep you from attending church regularly, especially sports. However, I do just want to point out that making sure your kids go to church every Sunday does not automatically mean they will continue to do so and have a relationship with God. My parents forced me to go to church even though I didn’t want to and I eventually stopped going. Thankfully, as a wife and mother myself now, I have come back to the church. I am not saying that simply making your kids attend church with you every week will make them not want to go. There were a lot of other factors in my leaving the church as a teenager. Mainly not having a good relationship with my parents, especially my dad whom I hated for a long time. So please make sure you have a great relationship with your kids while raising them and “practice what you preach” especially when it comes to living like Christ and not just going to church every week and leaving it at that.
A word of caution. Only a few years ago I would have joined you in this argument. And then my deeply held religious convictions were overturned when I realized that God’s command to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” actually does and has always referred to Saturday, and that contrary to church doctrine, He never changed this to Sunday. Since we have chosen to honor God’s Sabbath day, we have run into many, many more conflicts with sports and other activities. We simply do not participate in these activities on Saturday. Period. Ever. So be careful. What you are willing to fight for today, could cost you tomorrow.
Actually, the pattern in Acts is Christians gathering on Sundays to honor our Lord’s resurrection. We (the universal church throughout all time) believe that this pattern was inspired by God since it is in the New Testament, and that is should be the normal practice of all Christians.
We are a family that has seasoned through the years of sports and the struggle for Sunday worship. However, in the scheme of things I am reminded of a song called “We are the Church”….The church is the people. What we ended up finding were teams that had other worshiping Christians. The families would take time to find a church to attend while we traveled. It sometimes meant going on a different day that usual and while we traveled we might have even attended a church not of our denomination. Hearing God’s Word and being in fellowship was most important. Over the years, we have even had team Bible study among families and among teammates.
As our children when to college and played, they started athlete Bible studies so that being in like circumstances the kids kept to the Word and worshiped as often as possible.
Today, our children are faithful to their God in Word and in practice. They are, because of our teaching them about their faith, convicted to make their faith first priority. Our children have been the light among the dark of those without faith. Often they were asked what makes them so different…God is alive in them! They witness to others through their sport experiences. I have seen our children mature into a relationship with their Lord that will secure them wherever their lives, work, or sports may lead them. They know to go with GOD first and He will show them where He needs them. While I miss the regularity of weekly worship, I have seen the reason we worship emulate in other ways through our children in their lives. Many of their teammates have since come to faith because of the witness of faith our children portrayed.
We must as families train up a child in the way they should go….and when they are old (er) they will not depart from it…but cling firmly to God’s Word.
My prayers for each of you and your children as you pray about where and how God would like to use you in His plans to bring others to Him.
My kids played some soccer and our son played Little League. Fortunately, we never ran into Sunday morning games. If we did, we would have told the coach that we will be there after church.
The rituals we choose to honor are for our benefit, rather than God’s. We perform rituals to remind us to keep God in our hearts; reminders because we are easily distracted. God says over and over again that he wants us to love and care for one another. And he’d like us to love him, because he already loves us. That’s the message. It’s we who feel a need to complicate things.
Here is my blog on this very thing. Nice article.
http://publiclookin.blogspot.com/2013/10/guest-post-its-just-game.html
great article!!! understand you will get slammed simply for speaking truth, as truth makes those uncomfortable, especially those who are doing this very thing. A long time ago my husband and I made the decision we would never miss church, not even on vacation, unless of course someone is sick…. we are not so spiritual we would harm our family. anways….. my son was looking to play football in highschool, when we learned he couldnt play in the game if he missed one practice that week, (which there was always practice on wednesdays) my son looked at me and said, well mom, looks like i wont be joining football. He is now in his first year of college, Bible College, and he is fine, he still had an awesome Junior and Senior year of highschool, and he has played football at his college and gotten so many doors opened for him and amazing opportunities. I have no regrets teaching my children, church is important…… see in 5, 10 or 15 yrs down the road those trophies, awards etc wont mean much… but a real walk with God, yes that can echo into eternity… Is church important,,,,, well Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God….. (preaching)…. we are strengthened through fellowship with other believers….. we are uplifted, encouraged, equipped, and changed by being in church…… yep as some of my family feels, i was a horrible mother for standing back and not letting him play…… well i believe the fruit of faithfullness is already bearing precious fruit in my children…. NO REGRETS!!
Beautiful testimony! My kids are still very young, but my conviction concerning church is quite similar. Way to push through and be rewarded with godly young adults! That’s my goal!
I totally agree CALI mom’ s comments.
I grew up forced to go to church three times a week, Christian school, etc. etc. I am now one of those “early 20s” that has absolutely nothing to do with church or people associated with church. As far as my peers from private school, 1 out of every 10 (that’s being generous) is still in church. The way that kids are forced to go to church is what will eventually decay their relationship with religion. I know this from experience. Why would children want to go when they’re told that going to church isn’t about the attendance, it’s about the heart. Then they’re forced to go while not having the right heart? It makes no sense. I know I’m a bit off topic here, but there’s my two cents.
Many comments here have echoed my thoughts, and yet I’d still like to share. I’m not sure I even want my children to grow up thinking that the ultimate display of their faith in God is showing up every Sunday, even if they are serving, leading, or teaching on those Sundays. The early church (Jesus included) didn’t reflect this type of emphasis on a large weekly gathering as the primary means to encourage, be encouraged, serve, worship, praise…all the things we tend to think happen almost exclusively w/in buildings we call churches. Seems, in my studies, the early church’s emphasis was on frequent gatherings in homes to build this strong community, and Christ-expression in everyday living (on soccer fields, at the market, at work…). My point is that American Christians generally have a narrow view of what ‘church’ should look like. I held this narrow view for the first 10 yrs. of being a follower of Christ. I understand the mindset. It has been amazing to step outside the box.
Well said, and I agree 🙂
As a family with 9 children, we often have scheduling issues, but Sunday worship is a must for the family. We have allowed the boys to miss part of church because of a championship game , once ever couple of years, but that’s it. No, I don’t think it’s going to get my kids into heaven, but our schedule DOES reflect our priorities and my husband and I wanted our children to grow up in a culture of God first. That being said, we also not work on Sunday and the teens can’t have a job where they are required to work on Sunday. It’s interesting that even among Christians, the Sabbath isn’t sacred (set apart).
Pingback: Food for Thought Saturday Digest - Family : Story : Legacy
I belong to a church family. So if we miss Sunday AM there’s always Sunday PM or get up early and worship with the oldies whom my kids love… Support Christian Sports people by ‘going into all the world and preaching the good news”. I firmly believe that passive attendance will do little for the development of a disciple in the tough choices to come…
I would just like to point out one thing. I’m in my mid/late twenties and had parents who brought me to church rather than sports. What ends up happening is when the kids don’t go to sports, they often get ridiculed and insulted and segregated from the rest of the team. And they in turn resent their parents and Sunday church for that. It happened to myself and several other people I know. So think that spiritual development also happens at home and that taking the kids away from a sports team on Sundays could divide them from the team and cause great problems for them there. Remember to think about the effect on the kids current friendships, not just that they can have weekly fellowship. It’s a tough decision, discuss it openly and unbiased and maybe you can hear how they feel also! Communication with this is key, kids need to understand and be understood ! 🙂
I’m no professional parent, but I do understand from the kids perspective because it happened to myself
Agreed. I was banned from every single activity that fell on a Wed or Sun and as an adult with three kids, I remember thinking how stupid it was so now that I have three boys of my own I truly don’t see the value of it. I know this is against the grain, but you asked for comments.
Everyone chooses which parts of the bible to follow, everyone. Even the “best” Christians. Women wear jewelry, teach and speak in the church and are rarely wearing head garments. Men have entirely stopped marrying their brothers wife when he dies too, it’s utter chaos!! Don’t even get me started on tithing and people who “choose” to be gay.
My point is, your decisions are yours to make and mine are mine. I’m not frustrated to be at the soccer field on a Sunday – pretty sure you could’ve checked into when the games were played before enrolling your child, right?
David,
Leadership in the family is the Fathers responsibly. If you think this is a hard decision to make wait till later in life. Sports vs Sunday is a easy an pick, Sunday is the right answer. Children follow , parents lead. When parents don’t lead, you get parents thinking and acting like children.
Richard
Richard. I am not saying it is a difficult decision, because for me it is not at all. Although I disagree with you, it is both of our own opinions and I respect both.
And Chris I agree with you also, I have checked and it’s impossible to not have sports on Sunday. out of town tournaments are a regular occurrence. Of course most Sundays are open, but the odd one that has something, most of the time we will go to their sporting event.
David, another thing to consider is that we all make choices about how we will react to things that happen in our lives. We can choose to look at things in a positive way or negative. It’s all up to us. Cain chose to look at God’s requirements for sacrifice as God rejecting him so he made a terrible choice that changed the direction of his and his families life. He was given the same instruction as Abel but failed to submit to God. Kids can choose to look at their parents decision as them doing what was what they thought was best for them or that their parents just don’t understand them. It’s all up to the child. As parents, most of us make the best choices we know how. yes, sometimes we make the wrong ones but God has given US the responsibility in making those choices. You cant make your choices based upon your fear that it may turn your child away from church. you have to make it based upon what you feel God wants you to do. After all, God is the best example of a perfect father that I know and he didn’t tell Cain, “Oh, I understand your pain and confusion Cain. Sure you can bring whatever sacrifice you want with whatever heart you want to present it with.” No he told him to do what was right and he would be accepted. There was no gray area with him. Our children need to know that we care about their wants and desires and how our decisions affect their lives but also that we are given the responsibility to make the decision so we are responsible for the outcome and we must do what God wants us to do. They can choose to grow from our decision or rebel against it. That responsibility is the child’s.
I’ll say something that may REALLY upset people. This isn’t about church – it is about sports. Sports is what we used to call an “extra-curricular activity. It was not to interfere in the education of our children, and it CERTAINLY was not to move into some of the hallowed places of life. And yet the idea that this is “only” sports is treated as anathema to so many.
At some point, if we are gone from our employment “just for sports” again and again and again, we will be viewed as untrustworthy (if not unemployed). When we let sports now become the religion, whether it’s called a “tournament” or whatever, what will that eventually (and inevitably) do to our spiritual lives. And what lesson are we teaching – children, community, everybody.
I’ll say it again – it is ONLY sports. Keep it where it belongs – and keep church where it belongs. Bluntly, our lives benefit hundreds of times more from every moment we spend in church vs. any minutes we spend in sports.
Amen!!!!!
My husband and I faced this very issue almost 20 years ago when we began to realize that some of our church family members were participating in soccer leagues that were starting to practice and schedule games on Sunday mornings. Given that we were living in the Bible belt at that time, this came as a real eye opener to us. We decided then that our three children would not sign up to play in leagues that were doing this. Of course, that meant that they were denied the opportunity to play on travel leagues and other very competitive leagues, but that was okay with us. They did find other soccer leagues in which to play and did not grow up feeling deprived by or resentful of our decision.
I recall writing the soccer coach of one of the church families when his practices were at the same time as our church service, which meant that those children could not sing or play instruments in our children’s choir on those days. When I inquired with him as to the possibility of choosing another time to practice, he curtly replied that anyone who wanted to go to church could certainly find another time to do so what with all the churches around. He totally missed the point of what being a part of the Body of Christ means and the importance of keeping that Body intact. Yes, there are many churches and worship opportunities, but staying connected to one’s particular Body of Christ is important.
If there are other Christians at these events then get together and have a christian service before or after the event. At the very least pray together. Church does not just happen in a building. Now wouldn’t that be a witness! Prayers for parents and their children.
This is a fantastic idea! However, I feel that a parent who says “no” to a sporting event is an even better witness because they are not letting sports come first.
Of course it is about balance.
I became a Christ follower in my early 30s so I haven’t experienced the years of rich tradition like my husband and many others may have. While there is value, a sense of belonging, and a deeply rooted heritage in church tradition, Christians are ultimately Christ followers not necessarily church members. Jesus often chided the church people of his time – sometimes quite harshly – mostly because they were so concerned with the rules of faith they had lost sight of faith altogether. I think that still happens today. Too often, we cloister ourselves with other church people, busying ourselves with church activities, fussing over traditions, getting bogged down in philosophical arguments, congratulating ourselves on our church achievements and ultimately creating a subculture that has little influence outside – and sometimes even inside – our buildings. Our youth are exiting the building and the faith. It’s not because of too little church attendance. It’s because there’s too little Jesus both inside and outside the building we call church. If we are to be imitators of Christ, we must encounter him, immerse ourselves in him, be transformed by him. Then, we can know Christ and imitate him. Then we can discern God’s will. Then we can be effectual in loving, serving and demonstrating the transforming power of Christ. Then we can be the body of Christ both in our church gatherings and in our encounters with those outside the family of God. We are encouraged to meet together regularly. We are commanded to go and make disciples. If we only stay, then we are disobedient. If we only go, then we miss the fellowship of believers. I think there is a balance of gathering and going. I heard the message of the cross outside the gathering of church and am thankful for those who knew Christ and the balance of gathering and going. A godless or nebulous god culture will always encroach on church traditions and, while it can hamper spiritual disciples, it will never fully extinguish the light of genuine Christ-like faith. I think whatever we do, we must do it all immersed in Christ, imitating him, committed to his mission – that’s when we give meaning and muscle to our church attendance.
I have encountered this problem from the other direction, and it wasn’t just sports that was conflicting with church. It was all kinds of kids’ activities and busyness in general. My husband is a minister, and I found myself stepping up repeatedly because we never had enough teachers for the kids. For a while, I was the director of the preschool programming. Church members were always talking about what they wanted for the children in the church, but they were barely engaged in what was being offered. They just expected everything to magically be in place the two weeks out of the month that they chose to be there. One thing that I think makes a huge difference is when church is a priority for parents because of the relationships that they are developing, not just because “we need to be in church because we want our kids to be in church.” When our adult ministries are vital, and our children see how much we benefit from being there, they are more likely to follow that pattern later in life. If we simply think we have to raise our kids in church–then we tend to think of church the way consumers do, in terms of who offers the best programs, etc.
Being a Christian is about serving each other not just sitting in the pew.
I understand and I have felt the same way at times. However, I know these tournaments (for travel ball) will land on Sundays at some point. Travel ball experiences have helped my children grow and learn in many aspects of life. Knowing this, I decided to take things into my own hands. When I coach on a Sunday, I take a devotional with me and invite other teams to join my team as we fellowship together. Not only are we discussing God’s word, but we are also showing others that you can worship anywhere/anytime. We should all be worshipping God throughout the week. Sometimes folks get in a rut and make it about Sunday only. I am now comfortable with my decision to keep my kids on their travel ball team. I also feel as if God led me to create the devotional time for these kids.
Very good parenting. Christians need to be in the world.
We don’t replace ball with church. We take church with us when we go. We don’t miss church every Sunday either. In fact, I tell my Sunday School members to pray for this small ministry. My three children talk about how it is wonderful that they can witness to kids their own ages from all across the state. I do not feel guilty about this one bit. They are given the opportunity to lead and share the gospel, and I feel God urging me along the way to keep it up!!!
I could say “no” to travel ball and miss out on those opportunities. It is not about making a choice between God and ball. It is about putting God into everything we do. He has called me to witness to these youth. Saying “no” on a Sunday and going to church is great, and I’m sure it would set an example to my own children. However, I am touching more than just my own when I share these devotionals.
If your faith or your children’s faith depends on sitting in a certain bldg. on a certain day with a certain group of people, you and they are already lost!!
Amen!
Judging is not an answer to this problem so please don’t say they are lost if they feel they need to take a stand and put God ahead of sports. I applaud Sara in the next comment that seems to have made a fighting effort to turn this situation from a bad thing to something that glorifies God. I, however, understand the writer’s dilemma with wanting to teach the value of taking one day a week and totally devote it to God. After all, God is the one who commanded us not to forsake the assembling together of the saints. However, that could be translated as “do not quit going to church completely” not “don’t go to anything else but church on Sunday mornings”. Don’t let others condemn you for your choices. Seek God’s heart about this situation. He will lead you in the right direction every time. I personally could not forsake going to church on Sunday’s. It is such a major part of my life that I feel like my week is incomplete if I do not attend church on Sunday. I was raised to view Sunday as a day that God has set aside for me to be refueled and become even more equipped to go back into the world to accomplish his will for my life. It is not a day for God. It is a day for us. He knew we needed rest from our regular schedules to take time to regroup, refresh, and grow with other Christians. Church families can strengthen you and be there for you when you have no one else. We need people. And we need the right kind of people. Your church family can be that for you. Your kids need to know what is important to you. My son played on an AAU basketball team last year and it greatly bothered me that they would plan games on Sundays. He went with the team and his father and I did not tag along. We hated missing the games and wished they had not been planned on Sundays. It bothers me that the world (or satan) seems to do whatever it can to keep people out of church. There was a day when the community would shut everything down for the Sabbath because they understood the importance of church and family. But those days are gone though they should not be. I know I have probably just confused this situation with my comments but bottom line is, seek God. He knows what’s best for you and no one should judge you for your decision. However, do not do something that you feel convicted about. It will only eat at you.
Let’s see if the logic works the other way: If your sports involvement depends on playing in a certain ball field during a certain game time with a certain team, then you’ve already lost the game.
As a family that has committed to avoiding sports on Sunday, I would like to say THANK YOU to those of you who are willing to commit to living this way. I would dearly love it if a Christian group put together a local sports program that committed to not playing on Sundays. We would absolutely support it.
I grew up playing soccer, softball and volleyball. I also ran track. All of those sports were so important to me, but my parents said we will not be participating in them on the Sabbath because, #1, it’s the Lord’s day and #2, it is a family day.
Now that I am an adult I am so grateful for my parents’ wisdom. I don’t play sports anymore. I was a good athlete, but it wasn’t in cards for me to be a pro. The investment in church and family, however, has been the greatest blessing of my life. Not only has it blessed my relationship with my family, it has blessed my relationship with Christ.
I have followed my parents’ counsel with my own children. They are all heavily invested in many time-consuming activities, but we reserve the Sabbath for church and family. Outside of church, most of the day is spent just relaxing together as a family. My kids treasure it. It’s their one day to really just “breathe” and take a break from all of the stress of the week. We consider it to be God’s blessing to us. There’s an idea that the Sabbath is made for God, but as it always happens when we follow God we find that what we think we’re giving to God is really Him giving a blessing to us.
We faced this question with our daughter several years ago, when her soccer skills put her on a team that traveled many weekends and practiced on Wednesdays. In choosing to play soccer, even if it conflicted with church, my daughter chose what she felt would be more beneficial to her own personal faith walk, and now, as a grown young women, we all can see she made the right choice by playing soccer.
By playing soccer, my daughter was able to lead a girl to faith in Christ and be available to counsel several others going through difficult times (one girl whose mom had cancer, two whose parents split). These girls needed to see Jesus in my daughter, because they don’t attend church. My daughter’s soccer skills will take her on to college and have already been useful on the mission field. She has grown more in her own faith walk because of these experiences.
When she chose to join the travel team, our church offered Sunday evening services and Tuesday/Thursday connect groups. However, shortly after joining the team, our church chose to discontinue all activities except for Sunday morning and Wednesday night (for various reasons that were very valid). However, since our daughter’s faith was truly her faith and not just a shadow of my faith, she went and found a youth group at another church that met when she could usually attend. (And if you think she is some super special child, think again. Stepping out of her comfort zone to find a new Christian group was probably one of the hardest things she has ever done. It would have been easier for her to stop going to church).
Our Christian life is to be built up by the body, but lived outside the body. My daughter has several friends who faithfully went to church every Sunday and Wednesday all through their teen years and have not darkened a church doorway since then. Forced fed faith isn’t real, and if the faith is real, true fellowship will be found, because the Holy Spirit won’t let you down, even if man made institutions do.
Church on Sunday and Wednesday is good and the habit of regular attendance is good, but only to the extent that it actually builds faith. If sports becomes the god, then it is of no use either.
Another thing our culture has told us…we have to “go to church” to have any sense of community.
Sad to think about several Christian families (which is a better definition of church than what our culture has tsught us) sitting around a soccer field complaining about missing a meeting.
We, mostly, have no understanding of the biblical ekklesia.
My family consist of 5 kids. All very active with sports and other events. I decided when they were young that we would not attend any sports events or parties on Sunday. Over the years as my children have grown it gets difficult to say the least on always saying no to going to parties and sports etc.
Now that they are all teenagers as a family we have recommitted to this. When my kids join a sports league we talk to the coach before hand and let them know that we do not play or practice on Sundays. And will this work with the team. I have only found one team that wasn’t okay with this situation. We unfortunately, had to turn down a really good opportunity with that team.
For our family Sunday is dedicated to worship and family time. This family time is kept limited to things we can do together that wouldn’t make someone else have to work that day.
Thank you for your post and helping us all reevaluate the importance of Sunday and Church.
Great testimony . I agree wholehartedly. We could change the world if we just would.
Good parenting. You won’t be sorry.
What if those 20 ” church” families had a service before the game and served the people around them. Is church just meeting in a place or engaging God in a lost world?? If the lost saw people engaging God in an atmosphere many are comfortable in maybe we would see growth, and these soccer parents could invite people to church when they weren’t playing. We are called to make diciples and we need to go into the world to do this. It’s for the creative and risk takers though. It’s not easy to have “church” on the side of a soccer field, but imagine the kingdom that could grow……
As an older person with older g-kids who didn’t run into this problem of so many sports on Sunday, I think you are unto something here…show your kids that Jesus is in their hearts & goes everywhere with them. So why not those who want, can honor Him before a game…without causing friction with the team or opposing team. Maybe some of the parents & kids on the other teams feel the church loss too & would want to join in. Doesn’t need to be a big deal but short, quiet & valuable honoring of our God is very important. The Jewish kids could do their thing too in their way if they want. Children need to be learning about God at home first. Church & Sunday school are supplements. Remember also the sports are temporary. Some perhaps but definitely not all or even most of these youngsters are going on to be college or professional sports people! It is much easier to raise children in today’s world if they have Godly influence as youngsters! Do whatever it takes to put God first…ask God to help you find a way! I am a major sports fan so please don’t think I don’t understand… I do! Praying you will find a very wonderful solution to this predicament by keeping Him first!
I think those who have kids participating in sports teams that play on Sunday can still make church work for their families. For example, our church offers a Saturday evening service which can work for those not travelling, but practically speaking there are other mid-week worship opportunities for our kids as well. Catholics have mid-week mass. Other churches have mid-week bible studies in small to mid-size weeks for practically every affinity group you can think of. Many include worship time. I think the idea of honoring a single day as the “Lord’s day” was a legacy of the Jewish faith. Though the practice of honoring the Sabbath was carried on our Christian faith, I never read about how the Apostle Paul or the other Acts 2 church planters had troubles with getting people choosing not to gather on Sunday. In fact it is quite likely they observed the traditional Jewish Sabbath day being Saturday when today no one would argue is most of our “play day”. We aren’t proposing going back to that tradition, why do we honor the more current tradition of holding Sunday as any more inviolate?
In his letter to the Church in Colossus, Paul said, “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. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self- imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:16-23 NIV)
So in sum, I think we need to get over a need to ‘feel’ there’s only one day we honor The Lord. In fact, He asks that we willingly surrender and wait patiently for Him alone (see Psalms 37:7) and I don’t think that is qualified as just ‘one day a week’. Showing up in church is no guarantee one will live to the principles of our faith the rest of the week and there is subtle damage to the faith of our children when they see us honor our Lord only at church while demonstrating something quite different in our words and deeds the rest of the week. This hypocrisy is responsible, in part, for the 90% attrition we see when our kids become adults and decide church isn’t really something that is meaningful to them but more something their parents made them do. So when someone suggests that we should mandate that Sundays be made inviolate, though it may seem noble and proper, I think it has the potential to undermine or at minimum de-emphasize what true Christ followers should do the rest of the week they are not “in church”. After all, Jesus came to save the world not condemn it, right? Asking forgiveness now of the author of this post or if they find my comments offensive. I meant this more to challenge the premise cited then the person writing them.
Excellent point. Our church in Plano, Tx has a Friday night service and several on Sundays. We also have small Life Groups and we are packed with young children and young adults. 10 years ago we were mostly a bunch of old people in attendance, and that was somewhat “comfortable”. Our leadership decided to take things in a new direction and reach out to those people in our area who are seeking, and the response has been simply amazing. The younger generation has been a blessing to us old folks, and I hope we are setting a good example for them. Our grandchildren are eight and ten years old and they have a busy sports schedule, but they have had a relationship with Jesus since they were 3-4 years old. They are surrounded by believers and they exhibit the love of Christ in just about everything they do, so they are very good little ambassadors for the unchurched who may be observing them.
My comment was too long. I just don’t think the time for corporate worship necessarily has to be at a specific time on Sunday morning. However, it certainly should not be neglected or abandoned.
Good thought!
Ok, here goes my opinion…please do not judge me or my thoughts. As a swimmer our swim meets ran Thursday or Friday through Sunday, so it was my normal. But as a Jew, it is the Friday nights that interfere with my spirituality…and how many sports activities are on Friday nights??? As I understand the struggles of the Christian faith, please keep in mind those of other religious backgrounds that are put in the situation every week. Stepping off my soap box.
You post saddens me…
It saddens me that we can spend so much time meeting together on Sunday mornings and still have no clear grasp as to what the church is according to God (or the Bible).
It saddens me that we feel like meeting together in a special building with a group of believers is better than meeting together on a soccer field with a bunch of believers and unbelievers.
It saddens me that we actually believe that the “fellowship” received from sitting in a pew for 30-60 minutes to listen to one man speak after standing to sing predetermined music and 30 seconds of shaking hands with our brothers and sisters is what God expects from us on Sunday mornings.
It saddens me that we as parents do not feel qualified to raise our children to know and love of our Lord without the burden of bringing them to a special building every Sunday morning.
Godspeed!
Thank you! thank you! thank you Lew. I couldn’t agree more with your comment.
It is still unbelievable to me that the majority of Christians seem to think that the pinnacle of the life surrendered to God is faithful Sunday building attendance. As if that automatically fulfills God’s calling for us to encourage, be encouraged, study, teach, share songs, break bread, serve, love……etc. And as if those things cannot be adequately accomplished outside of membership in a non-profit religious organization (i.e. a specific church).
However, I once believed this way. I am glad to be free from this way of thinking, which reflects traditions of men more than it reflects Christ’s example and teaching.
The biblical Sabbath that Jesus kept is Saturday. If a study the original ten commandments (not the ones that have reworked by some versions) was done, the truth of what God commanded and expects of His true disciples would be found. Next we each have to decided as parents being examples for our children who we will serve. God or man….
Going to church is not about an attendance record but about serving others who have come seeking Christian companionship and worshiping with like believers to prepare your spiritual life for the temptations that the world assails the remaining six days. The children are watching and learning of where their parents put their priorities. God bless as you seek to do His will.
I will start by saying I am currently a student of biblical studies and theology. I will be finished with my degree in May. I have a son in select baseball that requires weekend tournaments that do fall on Sundays. From my education and experience we as Christians are the body of Christ, we are the church. Whether we are in church or discipling on the streets or better yet to our friends and fellow baseball players. I believe it is important to attend church and fellowship with our fellow Christians as well as hear the Word of God. God is omnipotent he is everywhere. Going to church doesn’t make you closer to God or a Christian at all. If you stand in a garage does that make you a car. My point is church is important but if God calls you to play baseball then shouldn’t you follow His lead. If it happens to land on a Sunday then so be it. God has a plan for everyone. If he calls your child to play baseball then arrange for him to study the word before his games or go to church on Saturday or Wednesday. Put God first but don’t hurt your kids by not letting them pursue their dreams that God put in their heart.
I grew up in a home where, even when we were on vacation on Sundays, we’d find a place to attend church. The Sabbath was always a day for devotion and family. We work to maintain that in our family, too, and sometimes our kids have sacrificed fun things. Twice, the band took a Saturday/Sunday trip, performed on Saturday, then had an activity on Sunday. Both times, our kids chose to go with us to church on Sunday instead of attending the activity. It meant traveling with the band, several hundred miles in one case, which was a sacrifice for us. One child missed out on an amusement park, something she will likely never get to do again. Still, it was worth it to them. It meant more than just keeping the Sabbath day holy to them. It was a way of showing God that He was more important than a few hours of fun. And I should point out here that the CHILD made the choice, the parents did not. (We feel strongly that what you do on the Sabbath is a very personal choice.)
I hear many stories of kids who have sacrificed sports to keep Sundays for worship. I’ve yet to hear someone say it wasn’t worth it. I also know others who still feel like an occasional game on Sunday is fine. I am not preaching to you or judging you, I’m just sharing my experience as the author asked. I hope this helps.
We were in CA and my son played on a baseball team with my husband as one of his coaches. They had a meeting and the other coach who was a man of Faith didn’t stand up for NO SUNDAY GAMES! My husband was alone saying NO to Sunday games! We ended up “going with the flow” BUT wished we had the courage to “Just Say No!” Val T.
We would decide on leagues and teams for our kid based on whether they had games scheduled on Sundays. I quickly learned the Sunday games aren’t typically on the regular schedules because they’re tournaments or inter-league events. I would explain up front our commitment on Sundays (I’m a pastor so Sundays don’t work for us to get a kid to a field if we wanted to). That way we never got trapped with letting the team down if we couldn’t make it. That’s a great life lesson for our kids to learn. {Every job I ever worked prior to ministry I always explained up front that I couldn’t work until after church on Sundays. It never caused a problem and I was a great employee arriving by the time I was scheduled. My kids have learned and applied this lesson not because of the legalism of Sunday worship services, but because of the value they place on that as part of their walk with God.}
What I did with the sports games was to start going to league board of directors and asking if we could be moved later when Sunday games came up (pictures too). These boards have listened and adjusted schedules EVERY TIME I’ve taken it to them. I’ve even seen entire schedules moved back and hour or two because one person spoke up and asked for a change because of church. What I learned is that no one typically questions it to those in charge – not even coaches who don’t like it. I sat with a coach once who was complaining because his game got switched for ours and he had to miss church. I explained that I was the reason why the games got switched and asked if he said anything when told about the change. He said he didn’t because he never thought about asking those in charge to change it. I suspect that 20 parents showing up to say they were moving to a different league if games continued on Sunday mornings would get a change in game schedules. Sometimes we don’t say anything because we don’t want to come across as judgmental or causing problems. Tenderly saying Sundays don’t work in your schedule does not have to be hateful.
Pingback: Around the Web (1/4) | InGodsImage.com
Pingback: Monday’s Links To Go | Tim Archer's Kitchen of Half-Baked Thoughts
My kids are in their 20’s now. It would be good for me to ask them their thoughts. In the mean time, I will say, that this Sunday sports thing started for our kids when they were playing baseball 10-12 years ago. We decided our boys would not play on Sundays and let the coach know that up front. The only exception we made was one year, the team made it to some regional finals and we allowed one of our sons to play on a Sunday afternoon/evening.
My husband got out of basketball coaching 14 years ago because he could see what was starting to be a pattern with MAYB basketball. He could not in good conscience, ask his female basketball players to play all year long like the trend was pushing players to do. It is true that typically, the best players are those who play 7 days a week and spend their summers playing basketball. But he in good conscience could not stay in the sport because he did not want to be a part of encouraging Sunday games.
Great article and thanks for sharing. I know it was written in November but great work anyway!
We always have a choice… The choice should always be God first! Nothing in this world should dictate otherwise or we will fall into the devil’s trap of “only once won’t hurt”. We have 2 girls in traveling soccer U/12 & U/13. From day they started playing, we have never compromised attending worship services, even if it meant missing a game, arriving to the game late, or even forfeiting, due to a lack of players. In the end, when all is said and done, the only account that will matter – is the account we give to GOD, not a soccer coach!
God promises us fulfillment and an everlasting covenant if we seek him and put him first in our lives. (Isaiah 55)
I completely agree. My kids were not big sports kids but participate in choral activities. I go tot the parent meeting because I stick up for no missed time during church on Sunday or Wednesday or Thursday nights. Our kids have enough of problem at schools and the influences then we let them around it in sports. They need that biblical stability where ever they can get it
When my son’s Little League scheduled baseball games on Sunday morning, I considered this an act of war. Oh no you don’t, I thought. And don’t pretend that you’re ignorant–this is America, and you know what Sunday morning is all about.
It was with great joy and a little bit of vinegar that I said, “We won’t be there on Sunday morning. We’ll be at church.” I wouldn’t have hesitated even if his absence had forced them to cancel the whole season. People who schedule youth sports on Sunday morning are arrogantly slapping God in the face, and me along with Him…bless their cotton-pickin’ little hearts.
That pretty much sums it up for me.
Adding:
“forgive them they know not what they do!”
What about church meetings on Sunday. Drag my feet on that one tool.
Keeping the faith.
As a father of five, I understand the rigors of trying to maintain a balance between work , play and devotion to our almighty God . We have 4 kids that range from the ages of 10 to 17 and then there exists the beloved 5 year old who to this point has not been challenged by the plight of sports on Sundays. All of our children are extremely talented athletically . Each of them given those abilities by a loving creative Heavenly Father . I struggled for several years with the decision to allow them to play sports that would prevent them from being in church on Sunday. However, as a father and a husband, God has given me the responsibility to pave a road for all my children and my wife, in essence to clear a path for them to flourish and exercise the abilities he has given them. My wife and I have chosen to allow our kids to participate in these types of sporting events because we feel like God has tied their abilities to their destiny in Him. We have been very involved with the teams they have played on and have coached those teams for the largest portion of the time they have been involved in them. I hear both sides of this argument and I understand that both have valid point. I think that God’s plan is different for everyone, otherwise we would all have the same calling and no need for the spiritual gifts God endows each of us with. How boring would that world be. We could all be pastors and try to educate each other . We could all be worship leaders and constantly lead each other into the presence of the Almighty. Maybe we could all be missionaries , but who would we tell since we would all have a foreknowledge of Christ. God is all about diversity. If you don’t believe it, just look at creation. Only God could make so many things from the same material and still find ways to make all of them different in form and purpose.
In my experience with Sunday sports, I have concluded that it’s not about your availability at the Lord’s house as much as it is about choosing to have the Father’s heart in every moment. My kids are all well rounded children ( even though they have been homeschooled for most of it). They have been taught the scriptures since day one. If they have taught me anything, it has been that God is able to use anything for His glory , even travel ball. They have a genuine concern for the salvation of their teammates. They even have an ongoing concern for their moral choices. You can say that they could do this even if they didn’t play travel ball and it’s true. This is our mission field. We have encountered hundreds of kids and families over the course of the last 9 years and each of them have a story. Jesus didn’t come for those who didn’t need a doctor. He came for those of us that did need one. Many of the families we have encountered at the ball field were not in church before they began playing ball with our teams, but they are now. The gospel they have heard has had the same impact wether it was at the ballpark or in the pew. My best stories are those in which my sons teammates have found salvation through the relationships they have developed with them. My favorite is the time that I gave up my podium one Sunday morning and allowed my son and another friend to share their personal testimony. They were a bit disappointed that no one responded to their invitation. It may have been because they sang a bit off key. But wait, that’s not the end of the story. On Wednesday of the following week I received a call from one of my players. I could barely understand anything he was saying. After a few moments I made out “tell your son that I was saved tonight, thank him for what he said at our game on Sunday”. Of course I just handed the phone to my son and allowed them to rejoice together as I sat and watched with tears in my eyes. My son will never forget that day. There was another young man that had been with the team for about 5 years. My boys had been praying for him all that time until finally the call came and it had happened, he had found the Savior. Again shouts , hugs , and hallelujahs. These are only two instances, but there have been many more. I dare say we could report more salvation experiences than some churches could in the same number of years.
I realize not everyone’s experience with travel sports has been as fulfilling as mine. Was it because they never gave it a chance because of religious viewpoint handed to them from generation to generation? Didn’t Jesus seem to be a “lawbreaker” to the devout. Or did He dare to break the rules to fulfill the Father’ s plan seeing his mission field was right in front of him everywhere he turned? It’s not about encasing yourself with worshippers on Sunday. It’s about encasing your life in God’s will in every moment of every day no matter if it’s the Sabbath or not. I don’t encourage everyone to take the path our family has taken, but for those who do, make sure that’s it’s not about the sport. It’s about the impact your life should have on everyone around you. The church has not always been about the number of people within its doors, but the number of people we touch when we are outside of them. I would never encourage anyone to forsake going to church. Jesus himself went as “it was his custom” . But I would wager he never would have passed a field of people that needed to hear him tell of his Fathers love in order to take his seat in the sanctuary . I attend church regularly and so do my kids. There are plenty of opportunities through the week for them to be impacted by the congregation even if they miss a Sunday morning service. They know that it’s important because that’s what I and there mother have taught them. But more than that, they realize that every opportunity they have to share the love of God leads people to the cross at work at play or in the sanctuary. You can agree or disagree with anything I have mentioned, but carefully consider the impact your life has on the community around you before you stand on either side of this fence. If you are standing in the crowd that says “yes, we can let our kids play ball on Sunday and be okay with that”, is your life impacting those around you in a way that points them to a fulfilled life in Christ? If you are standing on the side that says ” absolutely no way. The Sabbath is a Holy day of rest” are you really keeping it holy with your actions of worship or are you just attending church and biding your time until you can get out to go to the local restaurant ( which causes someone else to be unholy) or catch the current sports event on TV when you get home. That would be a bit odd since the kids shouldn’t be playing. In any case neither side should be critical of the other especially if their impact on the Sabbath has found a way to point people in the direction of the Savior. It’s not about perspective, it’s about obedience to the call of God on your life.
My apologies to anyone who may have addressed this perspective already, but it seems to me that one very important aspect that is being overlooked in this discussion has to do with what we are teaching our children long-term. If you look at this issue short-term, then yes, perhaps it is okay to miss a Sunday from time to time. But if you look at it long-term, we have to admit that we are teaching our children something by the choices that we make or allow them to make. There is no judgmentalism involved here at all–just an observation. It seems that we are saying to our families that church is important–UNLESS there is something else we want to do. And this applies to so many different things. I’ve known adults who continue to make the same choices: worship of God with other believers is important UNLESS we’re having company–UNLESS the weather is nice and the lake is beckoning–UNLESS it’s deer season–UNLESS there’s a football game on television. We go to worship God with other believers UNLESS we have something else we’d rather be doing. It’s as if we are saying to ourselves and to unsaved people who know us that worship of God with other believers is not that important after all, as long as we allow other things to preempt it on a regular basis. It’s not so much about any particular Sunday or sporting event as it is about what we are teaching our children long-term by our actions and choices.
Right on…don’t like sayin it this way. But going to church sometimes is like the disciple of brushing your teeth. You will eventually lose your teeth if you don’t. Times that I didn’t want to go and I forced myself was the most rewarding.
When my daughter played travel softball, we often missed church. This did upset myself and my daughter. One day my daughter suggested that we have Sunday School in our hotel room. So we got a curfew exception from the coach. The girls on the team that wanted to participate in Sunday School could come to our room and stay up past curfew for this. Many of these girls had never attended Sunday School or church but they all wanted to stay out past curfew. These girls are all adults now with their own families and lives. Many of them have become Christians.
Is God first? Is His Day first? Reminds me of the joke – preacher goes to the restaurant after church, asks the waitress, “Have you been to church lately?” She responds, “Maybe I could go if you weren’t here!” I think keeping the Sabbath Holy, goes way beyond youth sporting events. Time for revival!
That parent that saw 20 other church members there had no reason to be frustrated. Let the teammate attend the game and let the rest of the family go to church. i’m sure the child who plays would understand the importance of being a team member and the importance of his family being at church. The game doesn’t last all day. I’m sure there is time to fit church in before or after the game. Church attendance is not a 24/7 comittment and neither is playing team sports. Being a Christian is a 24/7 life decision. Attending church will not get you to heaven. Keeping the commandments and making the right decisions everyday in every situation will.
In my experience it is trying to find that careful balance. Sometimes to say no to a sports activity that happens on a Sunday Morning can do more harm than the good you are trying to do and put a teen off church and resent going as they are missing their team sport etc There is little sympathy it seems amongst those that arrange sporting activities as they seem to have no appreciation of Church going. My eldest plays in a team that have matches on a Sunday afternoon which is fine and allows plenty of time for Church in the morning but often we get an email to say the match has been moved to earlier in the day! Very frustrating. In this instances we usually say yes to the sport but make the point that it is an issue and find another slot to fit in something with church or the church family.
As a pastor I have had to face this many times over. While I do want to see children and their families in church I also don’t want kids to see and remember the church as something that blocked them from pursuing their dreams. I am also a runner. I have made the decision not to race on Sunday. Of course it is an easy decision for me because I work on Sunday. But the biggest race in my area is on a Sunday. I considered taking vacation to race but decided against it because of the message it would send not only to the adults in my congregation but the the kids as well. What would I be saying about what was really important. Additionally, contrary to what some have said in comments above about it being a Sunday here or there or even one Sunday a month, in my experience that is just not the case. In a previous congregation I served when “the sport” was in season, for five months I barely saw most of my younger families. When you add in vacation time, other family obligations and that kind of thing, many of these families missed church for more than half the year. Because in my denomination I am accountable for my metrics, seeing my numbers down for the biggest part of five straight months was troubling. That being said, it wasn’t my biggest concern, of course it is a concern, just not the biggest. My greatest concern is about what we are teaching our children about what is really important. Perhaps if leagues (or tournaments) would hold a non-denominational “Chapel” service it might make things more palatable. It might not be the best answer but it is certainly a step in the right direction.
Reblogged this on Laugh.Cry.Giggle.Smile. and commented:
This pertains to a conversation a very very good friend and I were having over the Christmas break. Very interesting points. My children are not yet old enough to be involved in sports or other activities, but I KNOW this will become a topic of discussion at our home in the future.
I was one of those kids who played sports on Sundays. My mom made compromises. Our church had Sunday School prior to the sermon, so since Sunday School was more of an opportunity for me to grow with my church family, that’s where I would go and immediately following I would go to my games. Perhaps you could work something out with the church where you wouldn’t be giving up either event such as multiple church services, Saturdat evening church, or see if attending Sunday school and skipping the sermon is an option for you. Someone else said (and I agree) most sports are seasonal. Perhaps a compromises with your child over fall vs spring sports.
I can only speak from personal experience. When raising my children I was confronted with the same problem. I choose to go to church over sports and this is why. I knew that the children needed to see me set the example, to show what should be the priority. When children miss church (for sports) the parents are not there either (to be Sunday school teachers, etc.) When all the children are playing sports…less and less are in church or Sunday school. Children do not see other children in the pews or in Sunday School. This hurts the church body. My children are grown now and I am so glad that we brought them to church every Sunday. To me it was about teaching by example, and showing that faithfulness matters within the church body. I wish that many of these parents who have children in sports would become Sunday School Teachers or church youth leaders and then they may see it from another perspective. I remember way back when…we had church baseball teams etc. Parents, We miss having your children as part of our church body. Parents, we need YOU to be Sunday School teachers, nursery workers, ushers, greeters, van drivers, choir members, etc. We need choirs of children every week not just Christmas and Easter. Like many churches there are few who serve…and many who “helecopter in” when there is nothing better going on. Please, my felow Christians, we need to be faithful in worship.
Thank you for your post…I understand your feelings and have been there done that…When our children were home (they are all grown and married now} if they played sports we always checked with the coach to make sure there were no Sunday games if there were we told him right off about our belief of not playing sports on Sunday….if that was a problem we didn’t enroll them…but more times than now…they were very understanding.
As for our children we tried to teach them the principle of “giving up something good for something better.”
This sounds like your typical condemnation speech from a churchian. True followers of Christ know that you can have “church” anywhere. My son plays elite baseball. Through the season we are gone on most sundays and it is an amazing time to share the love of Christ with people that may not hear it otherwise.
Last season i prayed with our kids before every game and they got to where they wouldnt take the field until we had prayer. Please explain how i am not keeping sunday holy. Do you truly think God would rather i be in a pew or sharing his gospel? Or even just being His example?
Please remember that fellowship is important. But as men, WE minister to our house. Please stop worshiping a building and step away from the man made myths and doctrine. This sounds like a stewardship sermon. Also i am really tired of condemnation in the name of Christ. If you want to send nonbelievers running away screaming, then keep up this debate. You drag the name of God through the mud and it is sickening. I can have a relationship with Christ every day of my life, no matter where i am.
We had 4 children. They all played multiple sports on many traveling teams. We were always up front with the coach when asked to join a team. If possible we would play on Sunday but only if it didn’t interfere with worshiping our Lord. We missed many games even championship ones. Years later all our children have thanked us for the commitment we showed them. It was not easy when others tried to lay the guilt trips on us and our kids, but most of the parents wished they too had made the commitment early on. Since they has not told the coach up front they felt trapped. I encourage people to make the decision before you are faced with it. It will be much easier to stand your ground. By the way if we were out of town we always found a congregation to attend. Stand for God and you’ll never lose!
This is one reason I love churches that are involved with the Upward Sports movement.
Most people have forgotten or have not been taught that there are more than one purpose for meeting on the first day of the week. The most important reason is our fellowship with the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remember that when 2 or more are gathered together in His name He is there with them. The first century Christians realized this and the meeting together around the table was so important that it was sometimes a separate meeting from the singing and scripture discussion.
Certainly there are times when we feel we must miss a Sunday morning but we must realize that we are saying no to being with our savior and yet we never expect Him to say no to us. Most congregations of the Lord’s church have several opportunities on Sunday for the members to come together for the Lord’s Supper and if we have to miss one it should be of utmost importance to attend the other if at all possible. Our children will then learn the the Lord is really the most important object of our lives because what we do here is only for a moment but being with the Lord or not is eternal so we don’t want to miss that!
I am about to step on some toes here but the worst offenders of this are the ones that leave the biggest mark on our youth in the dad hunters. There is one man that is constantly badgering his 21 year old about being in church and yet (this is a leader in the church) he was already planning on missing no less than a dozen Sundays over the next several months.
Gee I wonder why his child didn’t get it. His response to me was he could pray and have church out there. On the way home in very cool temperatures I saw multiple packed ball fields of our youth and their families. They are choosing athletic excellenc over spiritual excellence.
Hi,
Great post thanks for info!
Find a sports partner
I think you’ve missed that we don’t just go to church but that we ARE the church! We are where God dwells. He came so that he could dwell in us and with us at all times.
Yes? It’s important to stay connected to your church family, but Sunday is not the only day most fellowships assemble. So be the light to the world to those in your sport event they need Him, even start a bible study group either before or after your games and be the church. We have to go out into the world and teach our children to be in the world but not a part of it. How can we be a light if we don’t go into the darkness. God has given your children athletic abilities so that they could go into that world and show Gods love to those who don’t know Him. We need to renew our minds, it doesn’t have to be one or the other we can an example to all in everything we do including sports.
I think it’s important for those families that choose church over sports on Sunday to make clear to said children that their choice for their children is rooted in respect and belief and is not a punishment of any kind………my father was raised in ‘Old School Methodism’ and was therefore required to go to church in the am and the pm with NO SPORTS, NO SUNDAY PAPER, NOTHING allowed inbetween………..he hated it and never went back after coming of age………….
I agree with this article! It has been a struggle, but an important facet of raising our family (four children all very involved in sports) that we reserve the Sabbath to be just that: The Sabbath. We attend church on Sunday and try to refrain from other daily activities (sports, birthday parties, etc.). Otherwise, the precious day of rest (from your normal labors) becomes jam-packed filled with so many commitments and activities that remembering the Sabbath and having quality family time is pushed to the side. I have wished for a long time that families would unite and do as you suggest and “Say NO to sports” on Sundays. Let’s take Sundays back!
This reflects the modern popular understanding as church being a place we attend to spectate an event and in going so we are doing what God wants for us to grow.
Many churches offer times other than Sunday morning to worship.
For us, we made a conscious decision when our children were young, that we would not over-extend them in the areas of sports and extra-curricular activities in general. This was not a decision based solely on missing church for sports, rather we were watching families overwhelm their young kids by never saying “no” to any activity. We observed families around us trying to do “everything” for not just one child, but 3, 4, or 5 children. Not only that, but many times parents push the child to do every good thing, because they have the idea that that is what “good parents” do. Parents end up going in separate directions, dividing the family, and never seeing each other or sitting down to a meal together. Then, of course, if kids are this over-involved, eventually Sunday (even if there isn’t a sporting event, per se) becomes just another day to “fit stuff in,” even family time. We felt that for our kids to play every sport in every season, go to boy/girl scouts, karate, swim lessons, dance, gymnastics, etc., etc, etc, would be teaching them to live a hectic life with no down time or family time. They were too young to make these decisions, so we set some family limits for them (one sport per year, per kid, etc.) By giving them some reasonable boundaries, we were trying to help them keep these “extra” things in the proper place, making it easier for them to keep God and church at the forefront.
I think for our family, our decision is based on the long term goal. We had read a book called “Effective Parenting in a Defective World” (I highly recommend it!) in which the author makes the point that if your goal for your kids is anything other than JESUS, then you are missing the mark. That really hit home to us, and changed our perspective on raising our kids. The area of sports was just one facet of their lives, but you could apply this principle to every area in which you are training your children to make decisions. Based on this principle, we stepped back from sports and thought, “What is the long term goal for our kids?” The answer was JESUS. The truth was that 5,10 years from now, sports would have gone by the wayside for our children, but their relationship with Jesus was something that we prayed would continue for their lifetime. For our family, the answer was, sports are fun and are a great time to practice sportsmanship, Christian character, and physical exercise, but sports are not the main thing–Jesus is. So we chose to put sports in their proper place, and Jesus in His.
These decisions we made years ago, but the Lord has now allowed my husband to become a pastor of a small church. Sadly, we live in a time when everything, not just sports, has taken Jesus out of His rightful place in our lives. People miss for every event that comes along, (travel teams, golf, fishing, the lake, birthday parties, or even cleaning house), and church for many just becomes the thing we do when there’s nothing else going on. I’m not judging these church members, but it makes us sad for them. They fail to realize that meeting together to fellowship and study the Word is VITAL, and that church is for their benefit. We have families whose children miss months at a time to travel and play sports, and not just once a year, but multiple times a year. We don’t feel that we (or our teenage children) are strong enough Christians to go months without hearing the Word preached and fellowshipping with our local body of believers. I understand some say that they have services while away at these extra-curricular events, but I think those people are in the vast minority. I also understand that every family must make its own decisions, but I do fear that decisions made to miss, not just one service, but months at a time, teaches your children that setting aside a day of worship for God is just not that important. I would also say, when making any decision that will affect the family schedule, whether it’s a job, a sports team, or any other recurring Sunday commitment, that we as a family should bathe that decision in prayer, and ask God to show us what He would have us to do. If we let Jesus direct our paths, then when it all is said and done, we will have made the right choice–and our families will be better off for it.
so well said! Thank you for sharing.
My son plays on a competitive soccer team, and many players make a point not to play on Sundays. HOWEVER, when a team tournament runs Fri-Sun, they should excuse themselves from the ENTIRE tournament, since they are letting the team down by just not showing up for the Sunday final games (sometimes championship). I respect their wanting to prioritize church – but they should also show respect their own teammates by declining the entire tournament.
good point, I agree
I 100% agree!
There is a certain spirit of peace and protection from worldly issues that comes when we obey the Lord’s direction to keep the Sabbath holy.
Our families can never really come to understand that Christ should be the center of our lives when we “sometimes” choose to let other things, whether sports, recreation, shopping or even family parties, etc take precedence over Sabbath Day observances – over putting the Lord first on His day.
Disclosing at the beginning of a sports commitment that our family will not participate in Sunday events has been the best solutions for us. Our children have always known that it is a part of our family’s value system. “Practicing” living this value in the supportive environment of the family setting also helps children to build the inner strength and commitment that is required to make those decisions on their own later on.
As with other gospel-centered questions, we teach our children that others will make their own choices and if they choose different than we do, it doesn’t mean they are terrible people or that they are going to hell — but that our choices help us to either reject or accept the blessings that the Lord makes available to us through our obedience to His commandments.
I wonder they Sabbath is only Sunday and only in your church building?
Could you also make the effort to worship Saturday evening or maybe with similar minded families gather together in prayer and Bible reading. if you are from the same church, maybe ask for the readings that week and have conversation.
Play Ball! Keep the spirit with you. Being at church is not the only place to worship.
You have that much to say about your inner turmoil and conflict as you compromise your morals for a soccer game? If you are that conflicted, how about your children join the church teams. Not everyone on this planet shares the same beliefs….believe it or not, the world continues to turn…even on sunday. You are basically asking the rest of the world to make your stand so that you don’t have to do the heavy lifting on your own.
I am so glad you wrote this. When raising our son (who is 27 now), we did not allow him to do sports/activities that took him away from Sunday Church.
I scrolled a long way and didn’t see this particular aspect mentioned, so my apologies if it was in there.
The one part of this discussion that is left out is the other kids- the kids that aren’t involved in the sports team. Being in church with the self-confident athletes may help provide an example some of those less-athletically gifted kids. Same goes for the parents- they may be firm in their conviction, but perhaps by attending every week, they help provide an example to others (adults and children alike) that struggle. We’re commanded to meet together, and that is a two-way proposition. It’s not just a question of participating for ourselves/our kids, but also participating to bless others.
The idea of missing one week being an issue in someone’s salvation is crazy. But the idea that someone else would find something more important than their opportunity to participate in church worship, even once, could definitely be a stumbling block in their spiritual development.
May I have permission to reprint this in our congregation’s newsletter (traditional print, circulation of about 200 homes)?
sure- please note my blog address http://www.familydiscipleshippath.com
This was disappointing. The word says what would it profit a man to gain the whole world d and lose his soul. It also says to train IP a child on the way he shoul grow. I am 19 years old and because of the emphasis that my mom has place end on church I have a relationship with the Lord and I don’t regret it one bit. I now believe that with God there is a peace I have e never known. I also believe that without him I am nothing. Please rember that God gave is seven days in a week n he only asks for ONE for worshipping him. Sundays are important. It also set your mind with a peace for dealing with the issues you may face within the week. Children should know the importance and value of church… Its not just ‘church’ but God, the Giver and Taker of life.
If your primary purpose for going to church is to “develop relationships with your church family,” then get those other 20 families from your church out there on the soccer field to pull their chairs together in a circle and have an impromtu halftime discussion about a parable from the Bible? Or prayer for sick church members? Turn it into a regular small group discussion time. Who knows, maybe some of the others at the game will see you and ask about what you were doing, and you can invite them to your church.
Fortunately, we live in a small southern town where ball games are not scheduled on Sunday morning. My son is in the Boy Scouts, however, and they do not do any kind of service on Sunday mornings on camping weekends. That needs to change. When I was a Scout, we always had a non-denominational service on Sunday morning even though we had scouts from every Christian denomination and Jewish boys in our troop.
I’m sorry, but are there no other times for worship? Could you not pick another time (earlier or later) on Sunday or go on Saturday night instead? What about during the week?
This sounds like a lot of beating of chests for the purpose of beating of chests.
So I didn’t read all the comments but I wanted to take an opportunity to brag on my mother and father here. I played select soccer for 4 or 5 years. Each year we participated in 6 tournaments that had the very same format as you are explaining here. Most of those tournaments were spent out of town in hotel rooms; however, I can honestly say that we never missed single weekend Mass. The first thing we did when we got to our hotel rooms was to pull out the phone book and find out the Mass schedule and directions to the local Catholic Church. It wasn’t always easy fitting in church attendance. Most times I was dressed in my soccer uniform. However, that kind of devotion from my parents showed me loud and clear where my priorities ought to be.
I will say that we are Catholic so church probably means something different to us then it does to others reading this post. We believe that at Communion we receive the real body and blood, soul and divinity our our Lord Jesus Christ. So whether we were at our home church or somewhere far away we still enjoyed the same sacraments. However, I do hope that everyone reading this can appreciate just how hard my parents worked to pass on their faith to me.
My son plays travel baseball. The team he is involved with now pray before and after the game and even invite the other team to do so. We are also going to try and do a devotional on Sundays for those that want to be a part. You don’t have to be in a “church” building to praise and worship God. These kids are being a great example of that on the field and not sitting in a pew. I do agree that going to “church” is important. But we are the Church not the building.
Rev. Chris Devinney
I totally agree. We have allowed the gradual slide of “activities’ being more important that church attendance. And it doesn’t just affect Sunday morning, it affects small group attendance as well. I think we as parents have to evaluate what we allow to be a priority in our family’s lives. Even though, lately, I’ve been feeling the drain to just “stay home” I know that is not what I want to communicate to my kids. Opting out is not an option for us. Both of us grew up in families that made church a priority and it became our way of life. And while I know others will have an argument to differ, I am emulating what I experienced because we have a Godly family living and serving Christ now in three generations because of family commitment.
Simple church. We are to keep the Lord’s Day, not the Lord’s hour, or the once a month, or the Lord’s occasional drop by, My kids are young but they will never be playing sports on a Sunday, even if that means they can never be on a team. It is the 10 commandments not the 9 commandments.
I remember the day when no games or school concerts were scheduled on Sundays or Wednesday evenings. The culture respected the churchgoers as they were the majority. Today opting for a sporting event over church is another example of Christians becoming part of the world. If we don’t respect what we supposedly hold dear why would we expect others to? Of course there are always exceptions, for instance if you have a championship game in another town.
When we opt for a sporting events over church whether we realize it or not we are teaching our children that sports is more important than church. If we don’t value church how can we expect our kids to or those around us? Until we take a stand and tell the organizers of sporting events that God comes first nothing’s going to change. Not only are we teaching our children that sports is more important than God but we’re teaching them that so are they. It’s also showing other people (fellow parents, coaches and churchgoers) that sports and children are more important. It’s plain and simple, idolatry.
My daughter plays travel softball ball on a 18U team. Their team is really good and usually they play tournaments well into Sunday evenings But the coaches gather players and families for a team meeting/ Sunday service at some point during Sunday. Players contribute to the sermon and even share their favorite songs/hymns on a portable battery powered PA speaker system. This team went out of country a couple of years ago on a mission trip and played teams in the Dominican Republic I think it was. Just because your not in Church on Sunday, doesn’t mean your not spreading God’s word. In Church, your with the same people every week. These young ladies are showing other teams and parents, that they play ball by and with Gods Grace.
A friend of mine kept her son from all Sunday sports that conflicted with church. I loved her reasoning: “When he’s 30, and his marriage is in a rough patch, or he’s lost his job, or he isn’t sure what to do with his life … is he going to call his soccer coach?”
Maybe we could take a lesson from the movie, Chariots of Fire. He had a difficult decision involving sports as well.
The point from this article is choice! Just like God gives us choices in life. We either choose God or we do not choose God. The devil loves it when Christians do not choose God!!!! Sports did not use to be on Sunday’s, occasionally they would schedule games/meets, but not anymore. Almost all school/travel teams have games/meets on Sunday’s now. Any idea why? The devil! You choose!
Thank you for your article. I believe you are on the right track because you are aware of the pitfalls. It is hard when you have a child that is talented in sports and to be able to participate you have no control over when they play. There are many churches who have their own sports programs if you live in a large city. If not you can get together ahead of time with the people you know who are in the same boat as you and see if they would be willing to get together at the game/games sometime over Sunday and have a devotional time there at the fields. What an opportunity for Christian fellowship and a chance to reach out to others who may be interested in Christianity but not quite there yet. Praying the Lord will give you wisdom!
My husband is a full-time soccer coach, not just a volunteer, so most Sundays, he is out on the field coaching games. While it has been frustrating when I’m headed to church by myself (again), I know that coaching those kids is a mission and calling in and of itself for him. At one tournament he was at in Hendersonville, TN, there was a local church that actually held a church service on the grounds for those that couldn’t attend their own church or had come from out of town. I thought that it was a brilliant idea! Maybe this is something you and the other parents could ban together and do. Or at least have the tournament organizers reach out to a local church to sponsor/hold a service like that for whatever tournament you’re at. And yes, I do realize that getting kids ready in the morning for tournaments is like herding cats, but I’m sure something could be worked out.
One of the problem we have is to not realise that we ARE the church. Wherever I go go, the church goes. Jesus is not confined to a building. My responsibility therefore is to represent the church of Christ wherever I go and whatever I do. Jesus had a similar problem with the religious leaders of His day who felt “God thing” could only be done in the “God place” (the temple). God is everywhere and wants us to take Him everywhere. What a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel and love of Christ with people who would not come to church to hear, or who would not give us the time of day. Strike up a conversation about the game and you would be surprised how God can can use one little point, one little stats, to bring Him into the picture. Never underestimate the power of God to work through every situation. There are many professional sports personalities who are committed Christians and who use their connection in sports to share the gospel. And is Sunday the only day that church is held? What about other church meetings? Growing uip, my mother took me to church during the week as well as on Sundays. And sometimes my activities clashed with church activities. But my mom never prevented me from going to these events. Did it make me forget about church? certainly not! As a matter of fact, I would say it has helped me a lot in my role as pastor. The training of our children is not up to the church but up to us parents. I have seen the reverse, where godly parents insist on taking their children to church each time the church door was opened and only took them to events that did not clash with church, no matter how important it was to the child; and now the child wants nothing to do with church. Why? They claim the church took their parents away from them. Finally, let’s not forget that sports personalities need Jesus too, and the unsaved can’t point them to Jesus….. Only a Christian can.
Church isn’t the gathering of people on Sunday in a church building. As a Christian, YOU are the church. Worship isn’t just singing with our fellow Christians in a service, its obedience to christ. Our commitment should be to the obedience of God. Study the church in acts. Scripture says they gathered together daily and “church” was described as eating together, listening to the apostles teaching, meeting the physical needs of the community. God never uses guilt or rule book to control his people
You felt as if you had no choice. One always has a choice. We were faced with the same thing, soccer games/tournaments on Sundays. The coach knew up front that, for us, church was a priority. We were not condemning about it, just straight-forward about it.
You felt as if you didn’t want to let the other players down. This was not about them. It was about your kids and your family. As a parent, I am responsible for the spiritual growth of my children. Having made the choice then, I can say now I see the results. I have two children in their twenties. Both are active in church and have been on the mission field short-term, with plans to be there long-term. My youngest, about to graduate high school, is still active in church and I am confident will remain so when he goes off to school. It’s not about letting the other kids down. It is about you rearing your children, setting them on the path they should go and modeling for them commitment to a body of believers and the importance of that fellowship. I encourage you to take a stand. When one parent does, others may follow. But stand, even if you have to stand alone.
In America it used to be obvious who the Christians were and who wasn’t a Christian. But today were are more like the Laodiceans where we may be a slightly different shade of the same color. We are called to be sanctified, set apart, there should be very distinct difference. Instead of different shades we should be a completely different color like orange and purple instead of beige and tan. When we put sports or other activities ahead of church those in the world and our children see that. While we try to justify it by saying we can witness or have devotionals the world only sees that we are skipping church and playing sports instead. We are great at justifying our actions, not just this topic but others, we are so concerned with our rights, instead of being concerned how we appear to the unsaved world. The way we dress, the way we act, the way date, our divorce rate is not much different than the unsaved world’s, so to the unsaved souls they are just as good as us and why bother since there isn’t much difference. The only difference is that they (Christians) don’t swear as much.
Isn’t it being judgemental to tell someone else they are being judgemental? By making that statement you are assuming you know the heart of the speaker, thereby “judging” their action. Just as one is supposed to seek God BEFORE they confront someone, the one receiving the correction should seek God BEFORE they label the correction as judgement. Or to be more precise, the person as judgemental. As true followers of Christ we are told to use discernment and to correct a brother or sister, IN LOVE, when they are not using wisdom or “doing wrong” aka sinning. So just as much as we want to label the “judger” as being wrong, let us not forget that to disregard faithful correction because “they were being judgemental” is also wrong.
And as far as the original blog post is concerned, this is obviously coming from a person who is seriously seeking to do what is right for their family and felt so convicted of it there was a hearfelt overflow in hopes to encourage other belivers who are faced with this same dilema (aka edification of other believers.)
Thanks for the wisdom and the courage to share on such a controversial subject.
I just came back to the baseball fields with my grandsons. Sundays are part of the baseball commitment now and honestly I was shocked. Baseball and sports teach important lessons but not the life long character traits and love for God that is taught in church. 20 years ago sports seasons were played without including Sundays and I don’t understand why the same thing cannot happen today.
Give Caesar what is Cesar’s and give God what is God’s. I know that Jesus was speaking of taxes there, but shouldn’t that go for everything in our lives. I love sports and have missed a couple of Sunday’s due to sports but then chose to move my child to a different team. I can remember when playing football in high school our coach would cut practice short so players who wanted to go to church could. Now Wednesday activities are mostly lost at church due to sports and now Sundays are being effected. No missing a few Sunday for sports does not hurt, but then we add visits to family, vacations, family illnesses, friends coming in on the weekend, and soon we are not active anymore. What about the commitment to me part of the church, teaching, serving, encouraging, being part of “God’s Team”. Look through the sport glasses, which “Team” should we honor, which “coach” should we honor. We make our choices through our actions… Paul reminds us that following Christ would not be easy. He had a tough time and so will we if we follow Christ example. Sadly too many want their “cake and eat it too”… We chose daily on who we follow… So many act as if this short life on earth is all there is, that if we miss the world’s activities we miss out on life… by our actions and choices many may never spend an eternity with God because we were not faithful to “The Real Team” that matters the most. Many have chosen to put a few years personal fun over giving God what He ask for. I pray that we chose to play for the team that is going to win it all, and if we have time.
We have experienced the same situation because of soccer. when we are travelling, which is a lot! we try to find church close to the field or hotel. We attend either before or after the game. This sometimes mean going at 7:30am or 6:00pm. We are Catholic so sometimes we attend Mass on Saturday evening. In today’s culture it makes it difficult to go to church. I often feel torn because I feel as though sports are becoming the new religion set-up to make it difficult on a family trying to keep the Lord’s day holy.
Good for you! Keep up the good work.
Amen and amen. Sports are a wonderful way too get involved in community and keep our kids active. However, the possibility of them being so amazing at a sport that they are still playing when they are 30 is slim to none. The possibility of them being actively involved in a local church and making a difference for eternity is much more realistic and frankly, much more important!
We have struggled with this for several years because we have 4 children that play various sports. Each season, someone has something on a Sunday and we miss services. We have attended services in uniforms and left a few minutes early and arrived at a game during the “warm-up” late. That is fine with me. We have also missed Wednesday night practice(if it was called) because that is when we have our youth/children’s functions. We have been very fortunate that our coaches instill a love for God. We always have a devotional on Sunday morning that our team and any other team is invited to attend.
The other thought about Sunday activities… How many times are we coming in contact with others that do not attend regular Sunday or church activities when we play on Sunday? This could be a mission field for some. NOW, I do not mean that we should be on a field every Sunday morning or evening, just the occasional. Its just a thought. We pray, play and worship together as a team, as a family. Your actions on that occasional Sunday morning also speak of your values. As someone else has said, your actions should speak all the time.
Stop your kids from the ‘occasional’ event that they really want to do because of Sunday ‘morning’ church and you run the risk that you will push the kid away from church all together in the future. There is also Wednesday evening church and Sunday evening church. Normally there are no sporting events for kids on Sunday evenings.. I know many people who are great Christian folks and they attend church on Sunday evenings and Wednesday and do not attend Sunday morning church. You do not need to attend church 2 times on Sunday and 1 time on Wednesday and a bible study to properly worship or to be a good Christian person and influence on others. The bible does not tells us how many times a week we need to be in church so I think the occasional Sunday morning that you do not go will not hurt anything. You just cant make a habit of it.
Our church helped address this issue early on in its founding. We have multiple service times each weekend, beginning on Saturday evening and three additional service times on Sunday. Sometimes it’s not a sporting event that can disrupt attending on Sunday morning, but a job that provides for your family. I have multiple family members who are police officers and nurses working in hospitals. They don’t get weekends off. The church is there for them and works to provide services times to the body of Christ.
Our church offers identical Saturday evening and Sunday morning services just for these situations! Of course we volunteer Sunday morning, but rather than missing service by serving, we get to actually attend Saturday night.
I think there are lots of good points here, however you don’t mention in your article one small thing. You said that there were 20 other families there that were missing church. My question is this…
How many of the other families on the soccer team have come into a relationship with Christ because of your kids presence on that team? How many broken marriages (or maybe marriages that we living “undivorced”) were ministered to and healed because you were there?
The way I see it, Christ didn’t die so that we could go to church. He died so that we would go and make disciples, so that we could BE the church, not GO to church. I’m not discounting meeting corporately as a local representation of Christ’s body so that we can remember and remind each other of God’s goodness to us. However, if that starts becoming the way we define “being the church”… a meeting room full of half-bored adults who simply sit there to validate the pastor by their presence, pay to keep the lights on, and not stir the pot, we’ve missed it by a mile.
We communicate with our kids that we want them to love God and love others. If they see us love God in our devotion to church attendance but don’t see us love other by the way we introduce them to the God we say we love… our kids can see right through our spoken devotion. So play soccer and tell others of the freedom we have in Christ and why what they do with Jesus is the only decision that matters.
I enjoyed reading some of (not all) the replies following you post which reflects your concerns. Well maybe one should take a look at the way church and sport have developed to try and understand the interaction or lack of this between these two powers. Powers may seem to be a strange word to use as it may sound appropriate in terms of sport but maybe threatening in light of church. Empirical and historical evidence shows how the relationship between sport and church developed through the ages. This started off as what one could describe opposing, where the church described the initial participation in the early football as a game ‘fit for the butcher boys’, into a relationship which through the blessed interventions of Rousseau and the philosophy that sport can actually help in character development saw this relationship improve and develop and it is out of this ‘wedding’ (Church and sport) that the first football clubs started to come out. Let’s not forget this important historical link between the two. I feel that the notion church VS Sport needs to be looked at from different perspectives, it is incredible how similar both are in functions and ways of exhibit. Amongst which..both have their calendar events, both have their sacred places of ‘worship’, both gather crowds and have a hierarchy and figuration which gives roles and authoritarian structures, both serve an important function in society, which finds it’s roots in what we term as ‘Catharsis’ (steam let off effect and/or reflection). The main difference between the two however is what is worrying for people who come from a background of values and church. Whereas sport is grounded in achievements, concrete issues, results, physical presence etc…Religion is grounded in faith, believing and prayer. Unfortunately society today as opposed to decades ago is widening its grass roots to the hands on, materialistc possessions, abilities which are there for grabs. All this weakens the value of hooking onto things which one cannot see, touch, feel…I am a church every Sunday man. I take my kids to Church every Sunday. My kids swim, play basketball, waterpolo but still make time for Church on Sunday and on special occasions. It all boils down to how much one really values this I guess. What I wrote above helps me keep things in perspective and helps me appreciate the social changes and their impact on values today. Knowing this may help me lead life with care…Ivan
My older sons told us it wasn’t worth it. So our youngest son isn’t playing the soccer, rugby, ice hockey, and baseball his brothers played. Sundays are for church and family and I don’t feel our teen is any the worse for it…
This is comedy gold. ‘Oh no! We missed a day of church so our children could grow as people!’ I’m not a sports fan, but if this feels like such a big problem, you should really consider skipping more often.
Is it possible to bring “church” to the ball field? If we find ways to integrate our relationship with God and our church family into the everyday, it won’t be like missing church on one Sunday, because you’ll be with your church family at the tournament or game and together you can pray and encourage each other in that season. We def should take to heart the instruction that we shouldn’t stop meeting together as Paul says, but when we find ways to take church out of the four walls we also find ways to bring others into the body who might never have come in a traditional way. If that means hosting a BBQ or picnic after the game for team members and families, including a blessing over the meal, speaking words of life and encouragement, teaching the kids character and good sportsmanship–all of these are ways of experiencing “Church” even if we can’t make it to the weekly Sunday service. Now, I am a regular attender of my local church and hate to miss a Sunday, but at the same time, I hate to see you beating yourself up on this issue when it just requires a reframing of what “church” is in order to experience it on one of these odd tournament days. At the end of the day, if we make church about us “getting fed” or receiving something even more than us giving something, then we miss out on some of the greatest blessings that are meant to be part of a church experience. I would encourage you to find ways to take church to the people, to the ball fields, malls, etc in order to offer people a sense of hope, community, friendship, peace, etc–all the things that we receive in church but need to spread into our communities to see a transformed culture where it becomes the norm for us to not have these tournaments and games set up on our Sabbath. Peace.
Church is not a day. Church should be happening in your home 24-7. Church is a group of people not a building. This is very tough. I am a product of select ball and a teammate is how I grew to know The Lord and it wasn’t on a Sunday. The sport also helped me pave my way through college. It kept me out of trouble. It disciplined and taught me how to work hard! I hope others can be encouraged by the other side of the story!
There has been so many times when we have said no and had people look at us and say things. You know it didn’t matter to us. Jesus is more important in our lives. We are to put Christ first in everything we do.
I do wish that fewer youth activities involved Sunday outings. Can families have just one day that is devoted to just family time?. Even if the whole family is attending a child’s event, it is still centered around that activity, whether it be a sport, or some other extra curricular activity. How wonderful it would be to look at the calendar to only see church and family time, instead of a day marked up with other activities. It should be a day of rest from extra curricular activities. We choose, but it is truthfully hard to predict the cost. Some of the cost to the acceptance of the current Sunday activity schedule will ultimately be even harder when it’s the kids of today being the parents of tomorrow.
Whatever you choose is something you have to stick with. God does not count how many times you went to church, no, he looks at your relationship you had with God and if you accepted Christ in your heart. I’m not saying don’t go to church. The church is the people, not the building. What about after the game go and worship at a members house. That’s how it used to be done and in some places still is.
Excellent post. Iwill be experiencing a few of these issuess as well..
You could always just go to Mass on Saturday night!
We have made the choice for our family that church comes before sports. We also let the coaches know before the season so if it is a problem, we will not play the sport. It does cost us something to stand behind this conviction. We have been accused of not being committed or competitive and our children sacrifice status and playing time. We have also been excluded from teams because of our perceived lack of seriousness about the sport. My husband and I were both college athletes an understand the drive it takes and are competitive but we are choosing to put out family priorities over our cultures. We hope the message to our children is ” God first” no matter what.
This is a tough choice, but it’s not up to society to carve out time for peoples religious obligations. Would people be doing the same thing for kids in the Jewish community or Islamic faith? Most likely no. If you really want your family in church, then the decision to possibly be the “bad guy” and have the team miss out on a tournament would have to be your choice. And it’s okay if people are upset about your decision, but it’s still your choice. You don’t have to fight for your Sundays back just simply explain that your family isn’t available.
On the other side, it was very selfless of you to consider other families and participate in the activities. There will pretty much always be church and building healthy, godly relationships can happen anywhere. Teaching a child the way he or she should go doesn’t have to happen in a church. It’s actually more powerful coming from the family. Not saying people shouldn’t build relationships in church – those are good examples. But some times unfortunately kids who go to church every week do not have those positive, spiritual growing experiences at church and will leave the faith due to the institution and not the truth about building an individualized relationship with God.
As a 20 something who went to Christian private schools and attended church regularly, I can count on one hand the friends I grew up with who still attends church or believes in God. It’s sad, but true. The power is in the example of the home, what is being learned together at church or not, how we build healthy relationships and truly depend on God to show us his truth. The early church did not have buildings or church camps. They had each other in various locations and circumstances and yet we look the them and God to build our church experience.
This is something to think about. Thank you for expressing your honest thoughts and feelings.
I thank you for making a point not to judge the families that chose to spend Sunday elsewhere besides church and asking them only to search their hearts and talk to God, pray over it. I want to share what our family does on Sunday (Sabbath). On this day we put aside cooking, cleaning, working of any kind unless we are helping out someone who genuinely needs it urgently. We eat food prepared on Saturday and heat nothing up. We do not go to any place of business and either attend church or have our own worship/study at home. We are a broken family. My husband and I are separated. He has our two older sons and is raising them completely away from God. I have our two younger sons and this is how I am raising them. When my two older boys come it is very disruptive because both reject God and hold these practices in contempt. One tries to observe out of respect to me and I explained to him many times it is not for me that he should or shouldn’t observe Sabbath but God, he still does not accept it but he listens, the other does all he can to express his contempt of all of Christianity and violent rejects any discussion of God or His love. As a family we only tried once or twice to attend all together. My husband, who was very condemning of me and showed very little to no affection to me, spent the time during service to act the loving husband including putting his arm around me, something he never does at home. Instead of taking this as I am sure God would have wanted me to, I allowed a bitterness and resentment to grow and stopped going. After a while, I found out about a youth group and took my boys to it on Wednesday nights for awhile but didn’t attend church myself, out of weakness of spirit. I bitterly regret being so weak as they were growing up because I see what it has done to them. After that, our older boys were never encouraged in any way by their father to go to church except for a brief time when a church sponsored his Scout group. The boys were forced to go to service dressed up in their scout uniforms and paraded before the church. It was not a good experience. Eventually they rebelled against it and the church didn’t sponsor his group for long. My oldest wasn’t a morning person and might have responded much better to an evening service but was never given any options. I share this to hopefully encourage any who may be going through something similar, struggling with the world and our hearts and to hopefully show that at least some regular exposure to God’s teachings is vitally important for us all but most especially our children. I know some look in contempt at people who drop off their children at church or some Wednesday night kids church group and go off to do their own thing but I say at least they are sending them to a place where their children will learn of God and have a chance to receive salvation. There are many who won’t even do that. It is so much better if the whole family attends, of course… the parents should set the example and need it as well but if not, the church can give their children an example far greater to follow, Christ. After I left my husband and when we first started going to church it was hard. We missed it more often than not. Too tired, couldn’t get ready in time, all kinds of things prevented us. It wasn’t until we started observing the Sabbath that we found ourselves willing and able to go to church regularly. Now, we still have times when someone is sick or something else might happen that we don’t go to church but Sunday is always honored in our home as Sabbath, honoring God’s creation of the earth and all in it and how He rested on the seventh day. We rest and spend time together remembering God’s wonderful creation… this magnificent world we live in and all its creatures including ourselves. God is totally AWESOME! We continually pray for the other two boys and their father, and if you wouldn’t mind, please pray for them to be convicted by the Holy Spirit and turn back to God. Thank you! If you are interested in learning about Sabbath you can speak to your pastor of course or better yet, research it in the Bible, Exodus Chapter 20 . Some say that we don’t have to follow all that old testament stuff because we were saved by Christ and maybe they do not need to, only God knows that answer for each individual but I noticed that Christ and his followers observed the Sabbath and I figure if the Son of God felt it was to be observed, then it is just as necessary for me. Though I feel compelled to add that he made a point to say that you should be willing to allow for the needs of others and never use Sabbath as an excuse not to lend a hand to someone in need or to feel somehow better yourself for observing it. We do not honor him if what we do is to make ourselves somehow more important, better, etc.. And Jesus speaks out about people that enforce the Sabbath and God’s other laws to harm those who do not obey them religiously while holding themselves above others because they are the law enforcers and supposedly keep the law themselves. He quotes the prophet Isaiah, in Matthew 15:7-9…
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”
He was a truly good hearted loving man but loved God above all and when asked what are the most important of the commandments, this was his response.
Mark 12:30, 31
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Keeping God’s commandments won’t earn me or anyone salvation, only through Christ do we receive that. We must only do it for love of God if our love of Him compels us to. I truly believe that He wouldn’t have given us these commandments unless following them were for our good. How can we love our neighbor and covet his wife or children or car or house? How can we show love to anyone and tell lies about them? How can we love our parents and not treat them honorably? How can we hurt or kill someone and be acting in love for our neighbor? How can you love your spouse and sleep with another person? How can we love money, prestige, power, fancy things and put God first? How can we value any thing on this earth so much that we put it before our love of God and say we love God with all our heart, soul and mind? How can we have one God and still serve this world? God knows we cannot be perfect, that is why He sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins. But ask yourself, do you love Him, appreciate His love and His sacrificing His Son for us enough to desire to obey Him to the best of your ability… to serve Him and to honor him by trying to keep His commandments with all your heart, soul and mind. Only you can answer how or what you feel is right, not me or anyone else on this earth. God will help you if you seek Him. Thank you for listening to what I believe is right for me. I have no answers for the masses, only am trying to do what I believe is right for myself and my children. All I shared was in love and because the writer asked what we do as a family, please do not respond in hate or judgment as I wrote none of this in judgment of anyone and only on the assumption that I was writing to other believers not anyone who does not believe in the God I believe in.
God bless you all!
This is one of my pet hates at the moment. I don’t believe you have to be at Church every Sunday to be a good Christian. I realise things get in the way. This should be the exception, not the rule. I am finding that the relational aspect of Church, the friendship, and fellowship that should be part of belonging to a Church family is missing! If we can’t build ourselves up, what chance of we have of reaching others? “Why should I go to Church, you don’t?” Fifteen minutes idle chatting after a service isn’t enough! Why are we denying ourselves the opportunity to fellowship with others?
It’s not about being at the Church building, but it’s the time we spend worshipping God and fellowshipping with others. If we don’t go to Church, do we make that time up during the rest of the week? Is the time we spend fellowshipping and worshipping God whether inside or outside Church, equal or greater to our new hobby, or sports activity?
Fellowship does happen outside of the Church building, that is not a problem. That was a great idea about seeing those other families from Church at the game and fellowshipping before hand! Brilliant. That’s what it should be about!
I think there are some that take on hobbies and sports and get busy worshipping “another church” and devoting more and more of their time as they’re sucked into their secular activities and fellowshipping with their secular friends. They say they’re busy, but that’s a secular answer. They can’t do everything, they should learn to focus and prioritise and stand together with people of the same faith to make a difference. They say they put God first, worship him and live the life. That might be true, but at times, the Sunday service is the only visible action that happens. Shouldn’t they be making more of an effort with Church friends during the rest of the week? Shouldn’t fellowship with other Christians be just as, if not more important than fellowship with the soccer moms? How unpopular they would be if they did that. But this isn’t a popularity content. How else do they fellowship with Church if they miss a service? Im beginning to think they don’t.
They’re slipping away from Church with excuses, filling their life up with non essentials and holding secular activities and friends in higher regard than their church activities and friends.
I think that’s my problem – it appears the secular activity is in higher regard, more important. And it’s not just about the Church building, but it’s the fellowship with Church during the rest of the week that seems to be missing.
Remember, it’s not just a baseball game, or a soccer game – it’s the travel time, the preparation time, buying equipment, training, maintaining friendships there, helping out there. They’re sacrificing Church time for Hobby time. When did they last sacrifice a hobby for Church? Where’s their sacrifice? Why do they only go to Church when convenient for them? Why do they go to a service thinking about what they’re going to do after the service instead of engaging? Why do they leave straight after the service without even spending 10 or 20 minutes to fellowship? Is their life really that disorganised?
When I was a child of the 70’s and 80’s we had little league football on Sundays I did Sunday school and then did the games it still that way today I day don’t judge others
I understand your frustration. Last weekend was baseball. We missed 2 games for church. The pressure to not let down those other children and families is overwhelming at times. When our kids are invited to join an all-star team it is made clear that we are thankful for the opportunity and want to participate, but if a game interferes with going to a worship service we will not make it. The coaches can leave or take it. Then there is a “back up” plan from the get go. The coaches won’t be surprised and we do not have to feel bad.
I’m late to the party, and due to my eyes not focusing long, I can’t tell if someone else has suggested this – but can the families not have a devotional on those mornings, or together after the game? Worship isn’t about the day or the place, but who the glory goes to. Are the children being started off before heading to the game with a reminder where all good things come from? That’s a big deal. A lot of us end up working Sunday mornings as adults. Having support when it comes to that time is important.
I coach a club water polo team in an area that is heavily influenced by Christian values. Luckily for us, Sunday play is not a big issue in our local area. But when we want to go out of state to a tournament, those definitely fall on weekends where Sunday is included. I have only two obligations in life. The first is to God. The second is to my family. I feel no obligation to anything else above these two. Not to society, not to my players, not even to myself or my employer.
In my obligation to God I choose to worship him how I was taught, not let others judgements become part of my own filters, and do not judge others because of how they were taught.
As a Husband and Father, I know that I can keep the Sabbath Day holy and coach just one game. But I choose not to and for many reasons. There is never just one game. That’s a big fat lie and we all know it. Second, my kids may not know I can, and my players may not know I can. If those who are still learning the ways of the Lord see influencers in their life make adjustments for society against Gods will, it sends a clear signal. Young people are smart. They see the principle behind the action. All of a sudden prom is an excusable place to wear immodest clothing because it is only twice a lifetime. Next thing you know high school parties with alcohol are acceptable because others from church are there (and we are strong in numbers!) Then as they become adults the adjustments become bigger and more impactful. It won’t be long until we lose a generation of God fearing people, and turn them into people fearing people.
My thoughts are do what you are taught, always try to do better, always help others in their quest to do better and God in his Grace will make it all work out – yes, even the collegiate sports, team camaraderie, athletic skills, personal achievement and more.
I couldn’t agree more. The comments I’m seeing detracting from your thoughts reflect, for the most part, a highly individualistic view of life in the church. The New Testament was written in the context of a highly group oriented worldview. Such is the language of the text. The church is your first family (Jesus said so himself when he identified the family). As such, casually missing worship in word and table is akin to casually ignoring the family dinner table. It is at the family gatherings that your family develops community and is able to minister to one another. So it is in the church. Hebrews 10:19-23 was quoted earlier. There are a series of “let us” statements capped off with a modifier: not neglecting the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some. The assembly (which what the Greek word for “church” is indicating) is vital to those “let us” statements.
Your assembly needs you and you need your assembly. There is no Christianity without the body. You need to be exhorted and encouraged by your fellow believers in word and song. You need the ministry of pastors to help you play your part in the body growing to full stature. You need to have the gospel put before you in the feast of the Lord’s Supper. As Paul says (in the form of a rhetorical question), the cup that we bless and the bread that we break are a participation in the blood and body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We don’t get to define ourselves or our families. That is done by the head of our first family in the context of that family: Jesus Christ and his bride (the assembly of the Saints).
You raise an excellent question, and it may be that for your children’s sake you need to say no to sports on Sunday. I haven’t read every reply so it’s possible someone else had this thought: why not gather all these parents for a time of prayer at the soccer field? Twenty is not too many that each could share briefly about their challenges and victories and pray for each other. Not to mention this is a major outreach opportunity, while sitting in a church’s building generally is not. The church is where the disciples of Jesus are gathered, and you’re observing a major problem that perhaps isn’t completely rectified by saying no to outside activities. In other words, your entire reasoning about the culture of where and when church can or even should be happening may be worth reexamining.
I shared this on Facebook, and my pastor is wondering if we could have your permission to reprint it with copyright info in our church newsletter? We are a little country church in Ohio, Winona UMC. http://www.winonaumc.org
I appreciate this as a youth pastor, having seen many families start out by saying, well it’s just one or two Sundays. Then, a year or so later, they can’t figure out when and how they lost touch with God and the church and are lamenting that their kids just don’t think that community time is important any more. It’s not about more or less spiritual, it’s about the reality that we do allow things to pull us away from church and there isn’t enough dialogue about it. Distance from God doesn’t happen all at once. It starts as a little crack that creeps and spreads slowyl. It’s insidious.
of course you may reprint it…just reference the website http://www.familydiscipleshippath.com thanks- Have a great day
This is a boundary issue. No one wants to feel the pain of the hard decision. Parents don’t want to feel the scorn from the coaches or other parents. They don’t want the responsibility of disappointed, angry kids who don’t get to do what they WANT to do. No one wants to be vulnerable to the criticism. And no one wants to be the courageous one who says NO. Yes, you DO have choices. You just don’t like your options. I recommend taking a Boundaries course (by Cloud and Townsend). Don’t just read the book. TAKE THE COURSE!
When we travel to horse shows we attend Cowboy Church… we get up early and attend a service led by cowboys prior to the opening events…. that way our kids get to participate in athletic activities and still stay in contact with Christ
I understand your internal angst and have felt it myself. However, I want to offer another perspective. Of course you are telling us your story but this happens all over the place each weekend. All of those children and families that did not know Jesus were not going to say, “Well, let’s go to church today.” What if those 20 families that were from your church purposely joined together to live the way of Jesus with those unchurched families at the tournament and on those teams. What if your children (and mine) understood that the reason you were at that game on Sunday was so that others to come to know Jesus. What if your church sent you out as a group to be on mission for Jesus while at that tournament. Then later in the week, you could gather together as families to worship, study the Bible and talk about how you saw Jesus working in your life that week and in the connections you made with those who don’t yet know Him. Just a thought . . . .
Thank you for posting this. America has rejected church and Christ so much because it doesn’t conform to them. So very sad really. My kids do not play sports just for this reason. I would love for my kids to play sports but Christ comes first in our home no matter what. My kids know this and understand.
I think the point you are making about the fact that we even have to choose is huge! When we were younger, you didn’t play, practice, or even really think about sports. Why are we being forced to make this difficult decision week after week? Our family decided that we wouldn’t do anything on Sundays. Tournaments, games, even practice. We have incredibly athletic children who love sports and are very important to their teams. Sometimes, everyone involved is frustrated about them missing, including us! But the fact that we are having to choose may be the main reason we choose church and rest on Sundays. It’s kind of our way of “sticking it to the man.” We wish, for multiple reasons, that this switch in society had never happened, and this could be us ignoring it. 🙂 however, the children know about this rule for our family, and seem to have much respect for it. They love their church very much. Coaches will often change schedules around if they need us to be involved. Usually, everyone wins! Our hope for the future is that we won’t be forced to make these difficult decisions anymore; even the families who choose to play on Sundays feel the need to defend their choice, and they shouldn’t have been put in that situation either. I’m with you: no more sports on Sundays!
I loved reading your article on this. As a person that grew up in the “Bible Belt” my sisters and I grew up in a very devout Christian home. We were never given the choice of missing any church service. We were there Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. If there were any other services during the week we were also there for those. We knew to never ask “are we going to church today?” It was a given. The only time we did not attend was because services were cancelled due to funerals being held on the church premises. Occasionally we would cancel Sunday evening for everyone to attend a service with one of our “sister” churchs, which we always attended. Sundays was a day of worship and rest. After church my whole family gathered at my grandparents for our weekly Sunday lunch. We spent the whole day at my grandparents (we had about 50 people in our family-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins). After spending the day in family time we would dress again and return to church for Sunday evening service. Any sports or activities that we participated in had to be done outside of these times. As my sisters and I grew up we each acquired jobs as teenagers with the understanding that we did not work on Sundays or Wednesday evenings. This was our parents stipulation. Thankfully our employers were very willing to accept this with no problem. We were taught that nothing came before our God, our family, or our church family. We were instilled with values of worshiping God above all things. He was our number one priority. He is still our number one priority. The only reason any of us are on this earth are to worship God and to bring others to worship God. There is no other reason for our existence. God created us to worship and adore him. He gives us family, friends, school, jobs, activities, love of life, children, grandchildren, and joy as rewards for that service. Our children are not “our” children. They are God’s children that he entrust to us to teach them about Him and to bring them to God as His children. We are only caregivers to teach them so that they may one day be caregivers to their own children to lead to God. Nothing on this earth is anywhere near as significant as being a child of God, our reason for existence. I’m happy to say that my family still holds these values as sacred as when we were children. We have a very healthy and happy relationship with God and my sisters and I have stayed true to those values. Our children and grandchildren today are living for God and we have been blessed over and above what anyone could ever wish for. God’s sacrifice of giving his only son to die for us to spend eternity with Him is the greatest reward He could give anyone. We honor him by leaving him first above all things. May God bless your family in service to him.
I’m replying as a youth Pastor’s wife. It is easy to pass judgement and condemnation which is something we have to fight. However, more than that it should be that the body of Christ hurts when someone is missing. I know I do! I miss the fellowship and fellow worshipers of Christ. On top of that, I see families gone a lot over the summer with their kids and it is very difficult to build up that student again, have a realtionship with them, as well as build their commitment to the church once they return from a summer of sports. This mom is right on and I hope and pray you have an impact on many families! Would love to see the commitment to the Lord and His people/work be stronger than sports commitments. I mostly say this out of love and what I want for the youth in our church, yes there is some frustration but mostly because I know that students lives should be built around The Lord and the church for a strong foundation for the rest of their life.
This is a great example of how the average Christian is confused or missing the truth that God wants us to know concerning worship. The writer never used the word ‘worship’ in the article. He or She kept using the word ‘church’ and talked about fellowship with other church members. God is a jealous God and He wants total commitment in our ‘worship’. Nothing should come before our commitment to worship the Creator. However, we do not have to worship on Sunday morning, as long as we participate in a weekly corporate worship, we can worship any day if the week. Fellowship with other believers is important, but worship of God should be the absolute most important thing in our life’s. That is why God created us, to worship Him.
“Brainwash a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will be sorely ridiculed if they try to depart from it.” Prov. 22:6.
This article is a great example of how brainwashing, shaming, guilting, and marginalizing happens in churches all around our globe. Religion is the poison that seeks to control and manipulate others and keep them from actually enjoying the life that is right in front of them.
The assumption is that because these people were at a soccer game on a Sunday morning – they skipped church.
Maybe that used to be true. And maybe more and more people are able to do weekend games because of the “on-demand” style of church that is available like LifeChurch (schedule below) who offers 8 different services right now spread out over Saturday and Sunday (which solves the other argument on here, pick your own “Sabbath”).
Saturdays
05:00PM (60 mins)
06:30PM (60 mins)
Sundays
08:30AM (60 mins)
10:00AM (60 mins)
11:30AM (60 mins)
01:00PM (60 mins)
05:00PM (60 mins)
06:30PM (60 mins)
I know from personal experience that you are not going to change that society. The coach will simply move to the next player in line to take your kids spot. Secondly, the church is changing its structure (not doctrine) to have service times (or online streams) versatile enough for all kinds of schedules. So you can have both if you really want it. I think we need to be careful about assuming that people who aren’t in a church building at 10am on a Sunday morning are not going to church at all.
I’ve read most of the comments and the one area I see not being addressed is what it does to the actual church body. Churches function because of unity and dedication from members. When we miss church for whatever reason, it seems to me that someone else has to teach that Sunday School class you teach (in my case), someone else has to be the greeter, someone or perhaps no one smiles at the visitors. The pastor prepares at great length for his sermon and to hear from God what is to be shared and I know it has to be disappointing to look out and see missing faces. I realize I did not say this very eloquently but maybe you get my point.
So many things I disagree with in this article but I am not trying to start a debate. Our commitment is to God, NOT a building. If we have the relationship with Jesus that He wants, whether you attend some building built by man shouldn’t be an issue. Yes, we are called to be in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, that is where bible studies, small group, home fellowship groups, what ever name you want to call them, comes in. Sunday doesn’t have to be assigned as go to church day or you have sinned….Too many self-righteous, pretentious “Christians” spouting their understanding of the Bible instead of focusing on what is important, your relationship with our Lord and Saviour.
Yea, but there’s still that whole “Sabbath Day holy” thing…
Absolutely! But the real issue isn’t about a building or a time, but about community and how we are commanded to live within a Christian one. And about commitment and where your priorities are. As a youth director, I see many families lament how they don’t have time for church, but they always make time for sports. It didn’t happen all at once. They used to be faithful church-goers, or started out intending to be an active part of the church family, but sports became more important. There are a few exceptions who make time for their sabbath and for community at other times, but most people do not. Our kids are learning the wrong lessons about church. When a six-year-old tells me she doesn’t always “have time” to read her Bible because she is so busy with extracurricular activities, it should be clear that our priorities need to be questioned. It’s sad that you see that as self-righteous or pretentious, when really it is concern borne of experience. As Christians, we share our understanding of Scripture in order to come to a deeper understanding through conversation – talking/posting in love and listening with compassion. It’s a complex problem, and requires dialogue. Please don’t close the dialogue with air quotes and name-calling.
My family can completely relate to this. My husband is a full time Worship Pastor, and I am the vocal director for or worship team. My kids have had to miss out on many sports, because of that. I sometimes felt guilty that they were having to miss out on something that they could possibly have exceptional potential at. I know some states have Christian leagues, but we live in NV and their aren’t any.
Thank you for this reminder…that we are showing them that priorities are important.
We’ll do you make them go to school?
In everything you do, you teach your children priorities and what is important to you. There is a very important subtle message given to children when church is not a priority.We coached often and we did not practice or play on wed. or sundays. If our children were chosen for all stars then we may have to play on a sunday. We didnt control that. Now in the same association they don’t worry too much about wed. or Sunday’s.
I believe that the real issue isn’t so much Sunday (or your church’s set day of worship) church attendance…although that is certainly an important consideration. Our concern (my husband and myself) is are we spending more time discipling our children in the Lord or cheering them on at games/practices. While you can certainly do both, we have decided that for our family of 6, if we get into sports teams participation, then we will have so much time tied up in practice/running around/games that we could only pull it off at the expense of our time in the Word as a family and our time just to spend together. We would have to give a lot of that time that we currently spend together as a family to their sports peers and coaches. We are willing to give away that time and influence.
While I do not believe that going to a game instead of Sunday morning worship is always a sin, it certainly sends the opposite message of what we want to show our children. If your pattern is to go worship with others on Sunday morning and you choose a game instead, it seems to state that when it comes down to it, sports is more important. I think the author makes a good point when he talks about looking back on the years and realizing what is really important in the end and making decisions based on that in the here and now.
Is this article available in Spanish? I would like to forward it to our Spanish sister church’s pastor.
I”m sorry, I don’t have it translated into Spanish…if you have a translator, feel free to translate it and make it available.
My son was always a good athlete when he was younger and was asked to play sports on Sunday for select teams. My wife and I had to make a huge decision whether or not to allow him to play sports on the Lord’s Day. We chose not to allow him to play sports on Sunday’s because we were very active in our church and and felt that God would honor our decision. Coaches and other people did not understand our decision and thought it was a mistake but it wasn’t. My son went on to be a great athlete in middle school, high school and even at the college level. His high school team won the state championship his senior year and was named to the all-tournament team. He was all-state in football and got a full athletic scholarship to play college football. I believe God blessed our decision not to allow him to play sports on Sunday and to put the Lord first.
What I am seeing here are people using the bible as a weapon to prove themselves right and the other wrong. You are drawing swords and that sword is each verse you quote (out of context), and use it to judge, as well as strengthen your point whether wrong or right.
Want to know why people don’t go to church? Read this blog and read all the comments and attacks on each other. But you all did it in a way that it makes you feel as though you have done no harm.
God does not condemn me for not going to church. Regardless, God’s grace and God’s love continue. I do not answer to anyone except God. So if I choose not to go to church, then let God deal with me. It is not up to you to chastise or judge me for it.
We currently have a son playing t-ball and another playing coach pitch baseball. I have told both teams that we will never be at a game, tournament or practice on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening. It is our priority to be at church on Sunday mornings & my husband & I both teach on wed evenings. We are in the minority and get some not so nice reactions but that’s fine. We are leading our family where God wants.
I am one of those parents who has been there and done this. I have an adult son who played AAU and D1 basketball, and a daughter who currently plays volleyball in the Big Ten. Weekend tournaments are convenient for college coaches and allow the child to participate in two sports at once. There were aspects of club sports I hated but I worry they are here to stay. Choose coaches and programs with integrity and demonstrate love and forgiveness to teammates, parents, and opponents. In the final analysis, living your faith and being otherwise involved and teaching your child about Jesus can help him or her develop a lasting faith. In as much as some churches take a hard stand against Sunday sports, it does not have to be presented as a choice between good and evil; if it was, we would not have Christian athletes.
I played sports most of my life. Of all the games I ever played, one stands out. It was a make up baseball game on a Wednesday night -a night we went to our midweek prayer and Bible study. I was 6 or 7, the starting short stop, and if we won we would have finished in first place. The game started at 6. I still remember sitting in the back of the church with my baseball uniform on waiting for the service to get over. When we arrived at the field, it was already several innings into the game. My coach was upset, my dad was calm. He simply said, “I told you when we started, my son doesn’t have to play baseball, but he does have to go to church.” The irony is, 30 years later I don’t remember who won the game, but I do remember my father kindly and clearly letting me know that “as for him and his house, they would serve the Lord.” If asked at the time, I am sure I would have wanted to go to the game; today, I am very glad my Father had the courage to take me to church.
Love y’all. My comment is based on a difference concerning what kind of church you are attending. It makes a big difference whether you are attending a cult similiar to what the Pharisees instituted and fought for, and the fellowship that Jesus drew and died for. In our day I think you can distinguish churches by whether they are a church that “loves Jesus” or a church that “Jesus loves.” Can you see the distinction? The first is open to debate – you MUST love Jesus or you CAN love Jesus, which is it? But the second reveals God’s heart towards us or at the very least His unwavering unconditional commitment to us in covenant. You might need to give your life in the first, but the second, you can bet your life on.
Great Article! I applaud the decision of the author’s family. As a Preaching Minister who works with families and sees them come and go sports competing for Church involvement time are a consistent factor in the prioritization and spiritual decline in kids and parents today. Unfortunately today sports are no longer seasonal with travel & tournament teams demanding full commitment to participate at any level. It starts with one missed Sunday and evolves over the years to attending only when events are not scheduled, to being to tired to attend when events are not scheduled. The resulting teaching i witness in children & teens is that God does not need to be a priority in one’s life.
While there are many online worship opportunities that I think are excellent opportunities use of those entrenched in the “sports for my kids mania” are far to rare an occasion. Is Sunday morning essential? Not necessarily, though the book of Acts shows repeatedly that as the day in which Jesus rose from the dead it was the chosen day for the church to meet. Regardless of the day the simple fact is as we are told in Hebrews 10:25 “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” God does not request us to attend church because it is a ritual we must perform. He asks us to attend because it is a discipleship growth WE need. Are you afraid your child will miss out? So have I been. It is amazing how prayer can provide an opportunity we never knew existed. I think it is called faith.
I love that as Catholics we can attend Sunday mass at any Catholic parish and be welcomed, especially in our soccer uniforms or swim team sweats, by parishioners who may not know us personally, but welcome us as brothers and sisters in Christ. We use masstimes.org and plan ahead. We do this any time we are on the road, vacations, etc. we even went to Sunday mass at Disney. My pArents raised us to always keep Sunday holy. We are raising our kids the same. The Boy Scout troop we chose does the same, and often travels with a priest who says mass for them. It’s definitely not always easy to travel for sports on Sunday and make it to church, but it’s possible!
Good for you, Mary! Masstimes.org is great!
I believe that our choices show what is important to us. I remember reading somewhere that the true definition of one’s character is when you are forced to choose between 2 “seemingly” right choices. I have also found out that if the Bible encourages one to do something it is because it directly goes against the grain of what we are inclined to. For example, “do not repay evil with evil,” and in this case “do not forsake the assembly of the brethren.” It is one thing to be a professional athlete and have to work on Sunday for your income and quite another to be engaged in it as an extra-curricular activity. As followers of Christ, we are called to a walk that has its costs and these costs takes various forms (in this case missing out on participating in certain activities and the accruing benefits) but we persevere because of the hope and eternal perspective that we have. It is this perspective that makes us agonize as parents on how we guide and raise our children into this eternal hope that is ours. And nothing speaks louder to them (in the long run) than our actions.
It also helps to remember that while we “look down” as adults with our actions, children “look up” and have an entirely different view of the import of our actions. A view that strips our actions of the accompanying rationalizations we may have made and looks at what we did as well as the choices we made.
Good article and understand your perspective and my parents had to make the choice when i was younger to say no to sport so i could go to church. But the one thing that i would say in retort to your article is that you have not considered the use of sport as worship. If God has created us and given us the gifts and abilities to play sport, then surely that can be used to worship Him by playing to honour Him by giving it our all, playing fairly and knowing win or lose that God is the receiver of all our praise. In my opinion, sport can sometimes be a better form of worship than singing as a person may be gifted in that way. I agree with you about having good leaders and friends who know Christ and stressing the importance of church in terms of fellowship and growth in our walk with Christ, but i do not feel that sport should be considered as an opposition or an excuse as to why someone or some child cannot go to church or has not followed Christ. Instead sport can be a great form of worship if as parents and as churches it is taught that it can be so. Yes the argument between choosing whether to go to church or play sport will continue in families for as long as sunday sport continues, but I suggest that the argument here is not “sport vs church” but more “how can the church use sport for God’s glory?”, because it can use it but chooses not to. If you want to know more about what I’ve just said then i would suggest talking a look at this website: http://www.christiansinsport.org.uk/default.asp – its a UK based charity who love sport and love Christ and through them I became a christian and have worked with them for many years. There is a US based group but I don’t know what they are called.
When you feel convicted about something especially things of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You should be steadfast in communicating that to the coach. Tell him of your dilema. I ran into an instance where our varsity football coach wanted to train my son to be quarterback. All the quarterbacks would meet on sundays at 12 to throw. I would tell him everyweek that we wont be there till 1235 because of church. The coach thinks my son is an awesome kid and tells me that all the time. I told him his relationship with Christ and learning about him on sundays is mostly why he is so awesome. Gently let the coach know your concerns. If enough parents resist it will change without a doubt. Another boy had to get there late also so the coach said to the boys . We might change the time to 1 due to 2 of us go to church. It can happen. Do it gently and not overbearing. My daughters softball coach also totally eventually accepted her getting there a half hour late after church. You can also teach kids about Christ outside of church by family and friends bible studies or other avenues. Church on sundays just worked for my family. That was the avenue we chose. We are not bound by the law. Just make sure your kids are taught the things of Christ. He is our Lord . Its the most precious gift you can give your children. Pray for them also.
Many are the ways that Satan will attempt to “distract” us. When the statistics show that 75% of our young people leave the Church when they get out on their own, we have to wonder why. Satan is always at work trying to find ways to keep you from a Christian lifestyle. Has a Christian/Church league been thought of or suggested. Games could be scheduled so this choice would never have to be made. Progress isn’t always productive and in fact can be a hindrance. Lead by example, this is what your children will see.
Just a thought, if you recognized so many of your fellow Christians on the sidelines, how many of them might have been glad if someone had been the first to speak up and say “I’m sorry to say no, but our family will be at worship this Sunday”. I would imagine more than one would thank you – either to you face or in his prayers that night. And what a statement it would have made to those who did not consider the ramifications as prayerfully as your family!
Yup we’ve been there. We split up the family. My husband took my son to his game and I followed with the rest of the family after church. We do attend on Wednesdays and Sunday Night teens but in general we not join sports that practice or play games during the Sunday morning church hour. It’s the same dilemma when we go on a vacation that happens over a Sunday. I’d say we miss about 4-6 Sunday’s a year. It’s NOT a habit. We’ve actually missed a Sunday just to have a day of rest.
I have to make a few comments. First, I would like to say that my wife and family were in full time church ministry for over 17 years. I personally struggled with the idea that people would “skip church” to be with family or activities and I thought it was preposterous to think a family would sacrifice their “time with God” to do something as trivial as a ball game or beach outing.
That being said, I understand a bit better now that God has called each of us to raise up our family in the ways of God. It is not the church’s job or the pastor’s job – It is ours and ours alone.
After 17 years of church ministry it took me quite a while to stop feeling guilty about not being in church every single time the doors were open. I had begun to worship being at church and felt that being there was part of my act of worship.
The purpose of the church today should be the purpose in the New Testament – to provide a place of fellowship, encouragement, and communion. My family and I now attend a home fellowship church with a few other families. We sing together, we share and encourage in the faith. Sometimes we gather on Sundays, sometimes it’s on another day of the week. If we have a schedule conflict we just meet another time. The point is the spiritual growth of our families is our responsibility not the church’s. If spiritual growth doesn’t happen during the rest of the week, what makes us think that it will magically take place in a 2 hour time slot on a Sunday morning?
Please know that I understand that this is not the case for all churches but it is for a vast majority. I also understand that the home church option is not suited for everyone, but for our family it is.
My point is this. Family comes before church. Period. God created the family before He created the church. If your child has a ball game on a Sunday, go. Lightning bolts will not strike you, although some may have their doubts. If worship of God doesn’t happen through the rest of the week, it certainly won’t happen suddenly on a Sunday. Your kids will model your actions and attitudes.
As to Sports vs Church, Some of these comments may make you uncomfortable. First and probably least important than the things I am sharing, church is NOT and never has been a building, the church is the body of Christ, made up of every believer worldwide, as I said probably the least important of these things.
What are we teaching our children if we say it is ok to play sports rather than to go corporately worship God? Like you said if you say yes to something you say no to something else. What are you saying no to? Do you have to say no to worshiping God to play sports? Ever seen the movie “Facing the Giants”?
There are things that the Lord has shown me over the past few years and I am going to share some of them with you. Jeremiah 31:33-34, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 1st John 2:27, But the anointing which ye have received of him abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
You said that church is what God has provided for us to grow our knowledge and love of God… That could not be further from the truth. I am in no way discouraging you from going to fellowship with other believers and learn about God, but I challenge you for AT LEAST 90 days to go to bed earlier, get up earlier and spend at least one hour with Him, before you do anything else, ANYTHING else, praising Him, asking, seeking, and knocking, for no other reason than to get to know Him better. Remember He knows your true motives, and the condition of your heart. Look at Acts 2:38-47 and Acts 4:31-37, look at the attitude of the peoples heart, what they did daily, what they gave up, their outlook on the things that were in their possessions. Then read about what happened within the community when deception or corruption tried to get in through Ananias and Sapphira.
Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 1:4-6, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God given you by Jesus Christ, that you are enriched (made wealthy) in everything by Him, in ALL utterance, and in ALL KNOWLEDGE, even as the testimony of Jesus Christ was confirmed in you.
Our knowledge is to grow in the same way that the testimony of Christ was confirmed, established in us. How was that done you may ask? Read, from your Bible, in this order, Philippians 1:29 (it was given unto us to believe on Christ), Romans 10:1- 12:3 (according as GOD HAS DEALT to every man THE measure of FAITH), Hebrews 11:1 (Now faith is…the evidence of things (a person) not seen), John 15:26 (He shall testify of me).
God has given us the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that God anointed Jesus Christ with, to testify of what the Spirit saw and heard. And when we hear the “foolishness of preaching” 1st Cor 1:21, and faith cometh by hearing…Romans 10:17, the Holy Spirit is verifying, corroborating, confirming the truth about what is being said about Jesus being our savior. This is why we believe and this is how we are to grow in ALL KNOWLEDGE. We do not need that ANY man teach us…
I hope that I have not confused you, I pray that the God of our savior Jesus Christ would give to you the spirit of wisdom and a revelation of knowledge of HIm… Ephesians 1:17-22. Let God be true and every man a liar Romans 3:4.
I have a more detailed explanation of how we are to be enriched in all knowledge, if you are interested.
I would just like to add that schools and sports have been trying to use Sundays (and Wednesday evenings, too) for decades. The reason those days used to be untouched is because individuals stood up and objected. My personal observations, going back to the 60’s, were of ONE person standing up – then others slowly joining in the objections. I was just a kid the first time, but it definitely made an impression. It also set a precedent that would last for that season or year, at least.
I really have to admit I don’t understand the debate on the subject. Why don’t we just move sports to Thursday mornings? Oh, because the kids are in school. Well why not pull kids out of school? Sports help build teamwork, provides opportunities for kids to share their faith, and other good stuff. But that doesn’t change the fact that the idea of moving to Thursday morning is absurd- why would we take children (or teenagers or adults) away from time dedicated to learning good and important things to participate in sports? Why is Sunday different?
People can argue that attending church isn’t a good thing to do because of various aspects of church (of course, most of those arguments are rubbish- of course the church is made up of imperfect people- but those arguments allow people to not feel as much guilt when they don’t attend, so they receive the reward they seek), but let’s not delude ourselves that somehow sports offers the similar opportunities for spiritual edification that worship services offer. As the original poster suggests, let’s work together to encourage these secular activities to schedule for days other than Sunday.
Sports appeal to the flesh/ego. It’s a feel good environment/past time. Worship is/should be a spiritual event. Church/worship hopefully will be a lifetime experience for the child through adulthood. Few of these children have a significant future in sports. Sadly, parents who miss Sundays for sporting events are training their children not to make worship/regular church involvement a priority and are trading them in the way they should go with their own families some day. In my experience it is not a “few Sundays” a year but rather a few Sundays every sporting season for whichever sport being played. Most kids okay multiple sports. That’s not counting the number of Sundays families miss because of vacation travel or other holidays. Plus take into account the majority of attenders only attend on Sunday mornings. Add all those up and you have a significant number of MIA Christian families during a year.
The answer is as the article suggests make church a priority and stand together against a mindset that diminishes the value of corporate worship and fellowship on Sundays.
Typos
Trading=training
Okay=play
Two questions, which may have been addressed above, since I didn’t read all seven gajillion comments.
1) If you knew (admittedly) in advance that the soccer tournament would land on Sunday, couldn’t you have made arrangements to meet in community some other time / location? I know we had a playoff basketball game two years ago land on a Wednesday, so we called ahead and reserved the University Chapel for a small service with the team / parents that wished to attend.
2) I’ve always wondered in these debates: do the “You Gotta Go To Church” people ever consider that, in order for their church to be powered, cooled, and illuminated on Sunday morning, SOMEONE has to be at work at the power company–and therefore “missing church”?
I’m not sure I’m a “you gotta go to church” person, but I do have a career in ministry and so spend a lot of time thinking about how to serve the people who need to work on Sunday, especially in a farming community where the cows can’t wait until noon to be milked and the other option is getting up at 4 AM…not much in the way of a day of rest! Yes, let me assure that many of us do think about it, which is why we have all kinds of groups meeting at all kinds of times. We aren’t talking about families who do sports AND church in whatever format, but families who regularly lay one aside for the other every day of the week.
A God of convenience or a God of commitment seems to be the question. Given any situation we should examine whether or not God is the focus or ____________. For those who are worried about judging, don’t worry it would be much better if “man” were our judge. I would like to be very clear of my testimony & teaching by example… (James 2:18)
MAY I SAY AFTER KNOWING JIM LILLEY AND YOU FOR OVER 40YEARS THAT GOD IS PROUD OF YOU…..WE SOMETIMES FORGET THAT EVERY WHERE WE GO WE CARRY GOD WITH US……….HE GOES BEFORE US. CHURCH IS NOT A DUTY BUT A WAY TO BE CONNECTED WITH BELIEVERS THAT SHARE THEIR STRUGGLES….THEIR VICTORIES……THEIR LOVE FOR THE LORD AND THEIR DEVOTION TO EACH OTHER AND TO GOD. I FIND THAT WHEN I MISS CHURCH…….I DO NOT AT THE SAME TIME MISS GOD. ALSO, I FIND WHEN I RETURN I FEEL REFRESHED…..WASHED……ACCECPTED BECAUSE GOD HAS SHOWN UP WHEN I MISSED CHURCH JUST TO LET ME KNOW HE CARES………THEREFORE, WHEN I RETURN TO CHURCH….IT IS NOT BECAUSE IT IS A DUTY……IT IS WORSHIP! RON
Sports can never versus the church unless that is where your heart is. We are called to let our light shine so men may see our good works and then they will glorify the father. The church building is like a service station where we as Christians go to be filled with power but the world is our platform. We should teach our children that we carry our church in our hearts. This made me think of the man on the side of the road and even people that said they loved The Lord moved to the other side of the road. Or maybe this is one of the times when the Pharisees asked Jesus about healing on the sabbath. Now I ask the question WWJD.
I love your article. As a pastor’s wife to a children’s pastor I have to say that this pattern of Sunday commitments has had a great effect on our families. People who consider their families as regular attenders of a church have changed to those who come through the doors once every three weeks, or less. That type of consistency, in my opinion, isn’t showing the next generation the importance of being an active part of the local church, making it into an entity that is serving God’s purpose, and thereby reaching future generations. Thank you for your article.
Why can’t it be both. Here in Ohio, my son wrestles, all little kids tournaments for the most part are on Sunday’s because the gyms are being used by HS on Saturdays. All those tournaments start at 1pm AFTER church service. Now sometimes they have to be there at 11/1130, but still it is after church service. It allows for both, and was set up to allow for both.
I have raised two travel softball playing girls. One is now married and one plays for a Christian university softball team. We missed many Sundays and many other family days (Mother’s Day) through the years but my girls consistently WANTED to be at church and they missed their church family when they were gone. We got excited when we could attend and that created a joy for them so that they will continue to WANT attend as adults. It needs to be about Jesus not church attendance. They learned to walk with him on other days and in other places than church. I wouldn’t change our years together at the ball fields or our many years together at church.
Your comment is a breath of fresh air, glad to hear that someone else gets it, not about going to a building on a specific day of the week. It is about all 7 days of the week working on our relationship with Christ.
Here’s another perspective. One that is missional and realistic. I’m a pastor and I feel this approach is better for my family and a good example for my church.
http://www.upward.org/blog/cazscorner/youth-sports-on-sundays/
There are so many comments to read through so I don’t know if anyone esle suggsted this: you saw that there were 20 other families in the same boat… have you considered before the next tournament contacting those other families and saying “Let’s get everyone together before the tournament begins and having a small devotional, prayer, and communion.” Could you imagine the impact seeing 20 families standing in the parking lot, children on different teams, in prayer and singing together before the competition? “Church” can be anywhere. This too will show your children the relationships of fellow believers, and making a priority to stop and worship God before the day begins. On our family vacations we don’t always seek out a place of worship but we bring a song book, have devotion, and bring commounion supplies if we aren’t going to organized church (we usually vacation with the entire family so we have a nice sized group). Just a thought until you can get the community behind no sports on Sunday or even a reasonable time delay.
As a Christian and mother of 2 girls, I am in total agreement of no sports on Sundays. Fortunately this hasn’t been a problem in our family as my children are only nine and seven and haven’t participated in activities that occur on Sunday. However, reading this article made me think. Why not be disciples to those around you? If there are so many church families there, why not have fellowship also on Sunday at the soccer field? Bible study between games? Families–parents and children together? Church is not just a building, it is the people. What kind of impression would it make on those at the soccer field to see “church” come to them? Can’t help but think, that is what Jesus would have done.
Why choose to pit church vs sports or anything outside of a safe, comfortable meeting on Sunday morning? Why don’t we choose church via sports, or dance, or the zoo, or pick anything here. What if we all joined together and decided to make reaching the lost and making disciples our lives? What if we never had to choose between church and sports because our lives let us be the church?
http://www.commonthread.org/2014/05/28/church-via-sports/
Andrew,
is there some sarcasm in your comment? lol. I couldn’t agree with you more. Each and every believer is what the “church” is made of. It is not what God has given us to go to, to learn and hang out, There is so much more to God than is being preached to Christians these days.
I definitely did not intend any sarcasm, but perhaps some hyperbole. I merely want to challenge us to think outside of culture and tradition and consider our mission as believers.
Thank you for this blog post I feel its RIGHT ON. As you say we parents have given away our power, and one-by-one we can take it back starting with honoring the Sunday Sabbath. For the past 3 Sundays I have gone technology free (a phone used as a phone is not considered technology) and not only am I more present with my family and friends, I have found with-out the constant pull of text, emails and facebook I am more grounded and centered. Thanks again ~ Kay
Now imagine if we could get 1 family a week to see what you have just said…what would it do for communities all over this country? Acts 2:37-42 and Acts 4:32-37.
This comment doesn’t have anything to do with the article but I am reading many comments about “calling” people out on their sins. Unfortunately, I believe people are way too quick to react to behavior that is sinful. Obviously, there are circumstances where some behavior is undoubtedly sinful; i.e. murder, adultery, slander. But even in the most obvious circumstances, one should never react quickly. Many times what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears, isn’t what it seems. We must seek the Lord for guidance every time, no exceptions. Your relationship with the person has to be taken into consideration. If you don’t have the type of relationship where the person you are confronting will see your behavior as coming from love, then pray. The Lord may guide you to find someone in their life where the message can be delivered and it will be received much more positively. Also, I often hear it being taught in the church that sinful behavior comes from a place of rebellion and selfishness. Obviously, this can be the case, but I find that more times than not sinful behavior comes from a place of hurt. The person is “damaged” in some way and the consequences come out as sinful. If we approach a person’s behavior as a result of emotional pain or damage, we are much more likely to react in love and not in judgment. From my study of Jesus Christ and His life, I undoubtedly believe this is how he sees us and the things we do. But with His love shining through us we can reach people and bring them closer to Him. Because ultimately it isn’t church pews we are trying to fill, but to show people His love so they will want a permanent relationship with Him.
Let’s not overlook another reason to assemble on Sunday. Acts 20:7 says the disciples came together to break bread. Sunday is the only day set aside to have communion, not just Easter & Christmas or once a quarter.
I admit that I did not read through every comment that was on here so I apologize if this was mentioned before. What about the notion that “church” is not a building but the people that are all together for the common purpose of sharing and expressing God’s love? If this is the case then why can’t church happen at the soccer field or the basketball game. The author mentioned there were perhaps 20 or so familys that were members of their church also at the game. Why couldn’t a few minutes of game time be devoted to reading/discussing a bible verse by the family members that weren’t playing? Isn’t this in essence what we try to teach our children that God is everywhere and always with them? Wouldn’t this be a better example to the kids of not letting go of the convictions that are held dear and imagine what a difference the world might look like if expressing our faith in public was not taboo. Just a thought
The family time and lessons learned and the community of friends made with the soccer team provide many of the same benefits of the church community. Plus the moral development is reality based, and friendships not restricted to only rise who think exactly like you. I vote for soccer.
Thanks for the original post and the blog. I am a parent struggling with the expected Sunday time demands of club volleyball in Texas. The fact is that if my daughter wants to play at the top tier of club volleyball, then she has to miss at least 1/5 or more of her church’s activities each year. I know that the same problem faces parents of club baseball, club basketball, and club soccer. I have an older sister whose kids played top tier club soccer who found another church with Saturday worship. For me, that is not an option as we have been active members at our church for 30+ years and church worship and youth Bible study is held largely on Sunday mornings. I wish there were top level club programs that kept their schedule off of Sundays. I can guarantee that there would be huge demand in the DFW area for quality programs that didn’t play Sunday mornings (or didn’t play Sunday at all). I think much of the theological argument back and forth in this blog misses the practical point that many of us as parents are forced in many different ways to choose between our child’s athletic development and our child’s spiritual development. I understand that for some there are ways to get around that dilemma. I also understand that some simply reply that we should not be so legalistic about Sundays. Nevertheless, parents (including me) would appreciate prayers for wisdom as we face the very real challenge of choosing how to develop our children’s athletic talents without sacrificing the development of our children’s spiritual character. And pray, if it be God’s will, for someone in the DFW area to start a quality club volleyball program that respects Sunday mornings.
Someone I know posted this on Facebook; that’s the only reason I read it. Look your relationship with Jesus is a personal one between you and Jesus – that’s it. You should not force your children to go to church; let them figure out their own faith. Take them to church early on and if they don’t want to go back leave them alone. Keep a Bible at home, tell them about the history, watch The 10 Commandments at Easter, see if any of that sticks with them; it’s their decision. Churches are nothing more than snooty, socially devisive places where self described religious authorities attempt to controll you, intrude on your relationship with Jesus, and even take your money. How in the world does some Minister, Priest, Pastor, Reverend, Deacon, or what ever know more about the nature of our savior’s divinity than the rest of us? He only has the same Bible the rest of us have and even that was compiled hundreds of years after Jesus’s time in an effort to controll others, not just in faith, but in the minutia of how they should be differential and obediant to those who are somehow more enlightened which of course leads to abuse. We have freedom of religion in America which thank God also means, or at least it should, mean we have freedom FROM religion. Oh, and by the way, you do not have a “church family”. These people are not your family any more than Charles Manson’s followers were his family. This whole cult thing you have going on in your neighborhood churches would be laughable if it were not so creepy. The writer of this blog has no real power so her thoughts on the aforementioned matter of dedication to Church attendance as a means of strengthening faith seems fairly benign (except for the children of these people who have religion forced upon them), and yet her attitude and the attitudes of several comments on this thread, along with the radical, backward, paranoid, and fearfull, sentiment coming from the religious/political right wingers (Santorum, Palin, Romney, Robertson, Bob McDonnell, Todd Akin, etc.) in our country give me cause for concern. These are people who would lead us and have expressed the desire to codify their version of Christian faith and doctrine into law thereby making us a theocracy and forcing their beliefs on those of us who do not take our personal faith with us into the public sphere not to mention those who do not share our faith at all. If you people had your way we would be living under a Christian version of the Taliban. Sound crazy? Not really; it can happen faster than you think. Early modern Christianity has a history of tyranny against those who do not worship as the authorities see fit (see Jean Calvin). They burned people at the stake who embraced science and dared to believe the world to be round. Let’s not take the same misguided turn that a large segment in the Muslim world made. Many in Iran who initially supported the 1979 revolution wish to God now that it had never happened. It used to anger me when people from other religions protested Christmas celebrations here in America. I mean why can’t they just join us in festivities, it’s not like we are demanding they convert, but after seeing how the religious right are trying to impose their version of faith on all of us I am now understanding their concern. In closing I will say that you people are using your faith as the crutch of your insecurity. I feel sorry for you. Lighten up on church and enjoy your Sunday mornings at a soccer field, at a park, home improvement projects, load the family up for an excursion, do anything , but don’t go sit in some building where some sanctimonious phoney sells you the same tired blather week after week, and year after year, slowly draining you of your own God given abilities of self determination, initiative, and critical thought.
Jason,
I am with you on not having to go “to church” on Sunday, but seriously, keep a Bible at Home, watch the 10 commandments, you cannot leave it up to these things vs the rest of what your children will see from everyone else in the world to help them make a determination for themselves. If you believe in Christ, if you have no doubts whatsoever that Jesus walked this earth, that He was born of a virgin birth, and all the other things that it says in the Bible about Him then it is because you were given what you needed to believe in Him from God. We, the parents are to raise up our children in the way that they should go, God’s way, not our own. I type these things because of concern for you and your family. 1st John 2:27 starts out, for the anointing that you have received of Him abides in you and you need not that any man teach you… but we do need to seek God for guidance in every aspect of our lives if we are going to live like HE wants us to. I hope you are not angry with me, I do not want to offend you.
Someone I know posted this on Facebook; that’s the only reason I read it. Look your relationship with Jesus is a personal one between you and Jesus – that’s it. You should not force your children to go to church; let them figure out their own faith. Take them to church early on and if they don’t want to go back leave them alone. Keep a Bible at home, tell them about the history, watch The 10 Commandments at Easter, see if any of that sticks with them; it’s their decision. Churches are nothing more than snooty, socially divisive places where self described religious authorities attempt to control you, intrude on your relationship with Jesus, and even take your money. How in the world does some Minister, Priest, Pastor, Reverend, Deacon, or whatever know more about the nature of our savior’s divinity than the rest of us? He only has the same Bible the rest of us have and even that was compiled hundreds of years after Jesus’ time in an effort to control others, not just in faith, but in the minutia of how they should be differential and obedient to those who are somehow more enlightened which of course leads to abuse. We have freedom of religion in America which thank God also means, or at least it should, mean we have freedom FROM religion. Oh, and by the way, you do not have a “church family”. These people are not your family any more than Charles Manson’s followers were his family. This whole cult thing you have going on in your neighborhood churches would be laughable if it were not so creepy. The writer of this blog has no real power so her thoughts on the aforementioned matter of dedication to Church attendance as a means of strengthening faith seems fairly benign (except for the children of these people who have religion forced upon them), and yet her attitude and the attitudes of several comments on this thread, along with the radical, backward, paranoid, and fearful, sentiment coming from the religious/political right wingers (Santorum, Palin, Romney, Robertson, Bob McDonnell, Todd Akin, etc.). In our country give me cause for concern. These are people who would lead us and have expressed the desire to codify their version of Christian faith and doctrine into law thereby making us a theocracy and forcing their beliefs on those of us who do not take our personal faith with us into the public sphere not to mention those who do not share our faith at all. If you people had your way we would be living under a Christian version of the Taliban. Sound crazy? Not really; it can happen faster than you think. Early modern Christianity has a history of tyranny against those who do not worship as the authorities see fit (see Jean Calvin). They burned people at the stake who embraced science and dared to believe the world to be round. Let’s not take the same misguided turn that a large segment in the Muslim world made. Many in Iran who initially supported the 1979 revolution wish to God now that it had never happened. It used to anger me when people from other religions protested Christmas celebrations here in America. I mean why can’t they just join us in festivities, it’s not like we are demanding they convert, but after seeing how the religious right are trying to impose their version of faith on all of us I am now understanding their concern. In closing I will say that you people are using your faith as the crutch of your insecurity. I feel sorry for you. Lighten up on church and enjoy your Sunday mornings at a soccer field, at a park, home improvement projects, load the family up for an excursion, do anything, but don’t go sit in some building where some sanctimonious phony sells you the same tired blather week after week, and year after year, slowly draining you of your own God given abilities of self determination, initiative, and critical thought.
It is evident that there are a lot of folks who live in Laodieea and are happy there.
I say, your kids are the most important part of your life, and on a bright beautiful Sunday morning, I believe God is outside enjoying it with all the rest of us that do not want be cooped up in a building, listening to someone telling us how to live and then asking us for money so he can tell you the same thing next week. God is better than that and does not need to hear the singing, praying and preaching. He just wants to love us and have us love Him. Now that is what I believe.
Best comment here by far! I respect & agree with you. I know it’s got to be a very difficult decision for those who are faithful to their religion to choose to go to church instead of their sports event. I have no problem at all with someone making that decision for their family. My only issue is that, to me, if a family will only commit to coming 1 day a weekend and they are telling the team that there will never be an exception….then it feels like they are saying, “My time is more valuable than yours and therefore, you can pick up the slack of our absence.” Now I know that is totally a harsh way of looking at it. And no, I am not that super crazy gungho with my kids’ sports & nothing else is important. I know for a fact that they aren’t going to become Pro and that’s fine with me! 🙂 They just want to play and I want to support them. I think being on a Team and teaching Teamwork is very valuable. If teaching your child that going to church is the priority, then isn’t it only fair to everyone involved if you do your best to choose a sport/schedule that doesn’t put the Team out when you can’t be there??
You have it right when you say people need to get the priorities right and stick to them. But you have it wrong when you say, “But I have noticed that our society is set up to undermine this discipline of regular fellowship with our church family.”
Let everyone choose their priorities. Let them decide that church is more important. Let them look at their peers and say, “I know you need me on Sunday morning, but I need to be in church.”
DON’T take away this choice by eliminating all Sunday events. Especially for those who do not worship on a Sunday, or on a Sunday morning, or do not worship at all. The world does not, and should not, revolve around you. Pick your priorities and stick to them despite whatever temptation comes your way, rather than blaming the temptation.
The movie “Chariots of Fire” tells the true story of a young missionary who backed out of his one Olympic event because he refused to run on Sunday. Puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? — the degree to which we compromise, myself included.
I guess I see it a little differently. Jesus said, “When many are gathered in my name, I am there also.” If you are there with 20 other church family, encouraging and building up one another isn’t that church? Church is not a place, but a people of God! Don’t get me wrong, my family and I attend a church every Sunday morning, but it is the fellowship with believers that is the point of corporate worship. If you are building each other up and loving like Jesus does those who have yet to come to know him; is the location of that meeting as important as we make it? I am not condoning replacing church with soccer or any other sport, but Jesus wants us to be the church when we are at those soccer or other sports events. Just a thought to consider.
I believe the word says train them up in the way you would have them go. I have always put attending church first.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 KJV
We Are all faced with Choices and we are judge on our choices WWJD
Everyone will do what they think is right but being made to have guilty feelings for supporting your kids is so wrong. No one should have to live there life in fear of guilt. God loves us all the same. You do not need to be part of an organized religion that plans your family time for you. Live your own life without the guit on your shoulders. Do what you feel is important for your family. Live free of being guilted into living a life that someone else has planned for you. Don’t let your church decide what is best. Only you can do that for your family. God will always be there for you no matter what.
Doing what WE “think” or “perceive” is why Christianity is the way it is now, very relaxed. God gave us a way to communicate with Him again, because of the plan God set in motion with His Son. People just do not want to take the time to see what it is that God would say to them personally. So they take the advice of a Pastor, their friends, or another believer instead of asking, seeking, and knock, to hear what God would say to them. In Isaiah 64:4 the word “wait” means through the idea of piercing, to intrench, adhere to. God’s ways are higher than ours and different than ours. We need to be as little children and listen for His voice when we read the Bible and our prayers, “not” follow our hearts. The heart is decietfully wicked, Jeremiah 17:9
I totally understand what you’re saying in this article, but problem is God’s definition of “Church” is not our definition of ” church”. When God says Church He’s referring to people, when we say church we are referring to a building. We have become comfortable with our Christianity, the real ministry happens on the soccer fields, basketball courts, grocery stores….see we put to much focused on being in a building, when God commissioned us to “go ye therefore and make disciples”. See instead of thinking that you’re missing “church” look at the chance to be the Church to a dying world. If we as the body of Christ to do not the shift, we will be full of members, but empty in conversion.
Good thoughts, but if there were so many families you knew at this game, don’t you have plenty of opportunities for fellowship right there? Yeah, you don’t get to hear a message or worship, but you have opportunities to keep your day holy to God by honoring him with the conversations you have with your friends at the sports event. Fellowship isn’t just hanging out together, there’s something spiritual about it that can also facilitate growth. I don’t think just sitting a listening to one person speak while gathered around my friends, all doing the same listening, always helps us grow as much as we might tell ourselves it does. The most spiritual growth I have experienced comes from being involved in people’s lives, just hanging out together, helping one another, having conversations and discovering new things about the other. Becoming a community. That’s part of what the church is meant to be. A family. Separation of church on Sundays and every other aspect of our lives isn’t a Biblical outlook.
Colossians 3:17
And also, Galatians 6:1-10
This is obviously a very hot discussion topic! But it seems that one of the main points is being missed: that neglecting regular fellowship WITH the body will come with a high price for our kids down the road. Connecting our kids with peers and those older and younger than themselves in the Body, worshiping together, modeling prayer together, taking communion together, these are foundation stones for their lives. Watching a sermon online as a family is a good thing to do, but it is not fellowship with the Body. We are called to commit to meeting together, sharing together, praying together, communing together, serving one another and whether this happens on Sunday morning, Wednesday night, Sunday night, or whatever time your “church family” has decided to meet really shouldn’t matter. The question parents should be asking themselves is, WHY does church matter? Is it that big of a deal that we show up when we could just watch online and pray together at home? While it may seem to not be a big deal at the time, it is a slippery slope. And our kids are impacted by our choices! Parents, our kids need to see US making priorities that put God first and us second. That rarely happens now days and with each generation we see more young people disillusioned with the church for lack of authentic relationships. Well, when and how are those relationships really formed? It is when we spend time together. When we serve with one another. I have really incredible relationships with young people who have been serving with me in children’s ministries since they were in 5th grade and our church family is their go to place for prayer, support and mentoring. This article spoke to my heart in a big way because I think that we as parents have missed the boat and are arguing the wrong points. Yes, the sports field can be an awesome place for ministry, but by not prioritizing church family relationships and time gathered together, our kids will grow up thinking that attending church gatherings is really not that big of a deal.
Thank you for restating the original point. We have to look at the long term effect on our kids as we make short term decisions. I appreciate your thoughts.
Please forgive me if I offend anyone, but is my belief that church has become less than what God intended.
Church or denomination, I feel that especially since Andrew Carnegie talked the Lutheran church into going into a business model and putting themselves under the government, we have seen an increased blending of the world into our churches. Everyone wants programs to reach the “lost”, so they bring in all kinds of worldly based programs to appeal to the unchurched. Or they have to have a 501c3 to get ‘tax-exempt’ status. The church has tax exempt status by its very nature(ask the IRS), and the ‘world’ is at enmity with God by its very nature.
Salvation happens by hearing the ‘Word’. No one hears the ‘Word’ unless someone takes it to him. This is true, however for all the do not need church crowd, how many people did they speak to about Jesus Christ? He who stands alone in this walk will fall. We need church to glorify God and praise Him together.. We need church to be Bereans and examine scripture together, whether that is in someones home or a building we use for that purpose.
If I may share a few things my wife and I have done to make sure that do not run this race in vain. We removed television signal from our home. We will not be held hostage to the one – eyed idol, and its timetables. We also will protect our minds from the advertising. Every show or movie can be gotten from the library and on our free time be available.
We also removed the Internet from our home. We will not be enslaved to its allure. We go to the library during the week to update our websites and social media as well as download material we wish to study.
We go to church. We interact with other believers. We hold ourselves accountable, so that the traps of the ‘Evil One’ may be overcome. As a family we spend time on our knees praying as a family.
This does not make us holier than thou. This does not make us amazing followers of our Lord. This gets us by day to day. Seriously, this gets us through day to day. How anyone can get through without brothers and sisters to hold them up is beyond me. How anyone can claim to love God and not talk to Him(pray) or study His Word boggles my mind.
Yet, we look around and see the insanity that Satan is foisting on our nation with political correctness and pulling churches under the government authority. Questions on whether to be on the field or with brothers and sisters on the day of rest? We have given God’s authority willingly and freely to political correctness, and have put His authority under Government interference. Who is Glorified when you are in a place of Godly Instruction and Worship of God? Who is glorified when you are skipping out on worship of God and receiving sound teaching.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That is two different verses in the Bible. Another is, Fear Him who can destroy both body and soul. Be a like a Berean and look them up. Also look up who the Bereans were, they are in God’s Word too.
All this too point out something. Each of us have only one thing that God gave us that he did/does not mandate – Choice. We do not choose our parents, our hair color, what country we are born in. We get to choose though who we will serve. These decisions will decide our eternal life after we leave this body?
How are you making your choices and what are we exampling to our children?
Mr. Sutton, We do not need what people call “church” to praise and worship God. Church, by the biblical definition, is not a building we go to, to worship. The body is the church, the people is what the church is made up of. Organized religion has turned the church into what it is today, a building. God is no longer top priority in most people’s lives. What does HE want from you, what changes would He like to see in your life? We, as individuals are to be conformed to the likeness of the Son of God, we as a body are ALL to speak the same things, to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgments, with no divisions among us and this the body is not.
Churches in Geneva, Switzerland have removed the crosses from the churches and now there are roosters. Maybe if we all quit being faithful to assembling together we can get in on the rooster thing too. p.s. I can’t believe this partly turned into a conversation on which day is the Sabbath. That was not the point.
I was an athlete at the International and professional level in wrestling and a coach for girl’s soccer. . When coaching Premier Soccer for a tournament or scheduling league games, I made it a point never to schedule on Sunday morning (there were only a couple exceptions). When I was occasionally asked why I always said it was more important that my girls be in church on a Sunday morning than playing a soccer game. If I ever got resistance on this I let them know this was not a negotiable issue.
Its simple who is more important to you God or sports?
It is not simple… saying God or sports is totally missing the point. Calling a Sunday morning gathering at a Sunday morning club – God is off, terribly off.
The real issue is about choosing between family and an institution…. God will be just as much present at the ball field or court as He is a the Sunday morning club with a steeple.
Think people and recognize the God and a Sunday morning institution are not one in the same…
I’m a minister and a travel basketball coach for my 12 year old. My 14 year old also plays travel ball.
I’ve seen both sides of this.
Last year I missed the Sunday morning games, this year I had a friend speak for me 6 times in about 13 weeks while I coached on Sundays. Since we have two services I only totally missed 4 Sundays.
I’ve seen kids who played and their parents missed their games because of church. I’ve seen kids who missed the Sunday games… and I’ve seen kids and parents who missed church on tournament weekends altogether.
The problem is, I’ve also seen parents who would never miss church but gave their children nearly zero love and support.
This is an individual issue… every family has to listen to voice of God and do as God directs them individually. This isn’t easy, but it is ESSENTIAL. I appreciate this article, it is one person sharing their thoughts… but I would encourage every family to do what God personally directs them to do. Pray, listen, trust.
So many posts going down rabbit trails – the man just asked if people would try to get games/tournaments to not be on Sunday so that people wouldn’t have to choose between Church or sports. I don’t think he was judging anyone. I think a response of “Yes, I’m in” or “Nope, aint gona do it” is enough.
My husband and I made the conscious choice after we were saved, that nothing was going to come before church on Sundays and Wednesdays. There was never going to be a time when we would wake up on Sunday morning and ask, “Are we going to church today?” … It was never a question … “We were going!” 🙂 And because of this, I believe that is why our children are faithful in church today.
We tell coaches and other families that Sunday is our “family day”, that we do not, and really cannot operate well if we do not have a day together. If people are curious beyond that I let them know that church is one of our favorite things and we love to do this together. I was shocked initially when no one fought back. No dirty looks, no one thought/expressed that we were nutjobs! People seemed actually intrigued and it seemed that they were interested/needing something like that in their lives too. This is a very important issue, so glad you raised it:)
Im reminded, where your treasure is, there your heart is also.
It’s not about missing the Sunday service, but it’s about skipping Church, and Church being about much more than the building but about fellowshipping with the body of Christ.
I’ve seen people arrive late and go home straight after communion – is your life so chaotic that you can’t wait five minutes for the final hymn? That really speaks volumes to me about how Church is simply not a priority.
Those that skip Church for a variety of reasons, are they short changing the body of Christ in their duty to exhort and support one another? And are they missing out on the support network of Church by getting an un-christian fellowship outside of the body? Are they secretly falling away while proclaiming everything is still good. It’s so easy for the evil one to get a foot hold.
What message does this send about you and your faith if Church attendance, which includes fellowship with the body of Christ, is simply not important to you? What does this show new Christians? Where do they get their support? From outside the Church. This is dangerous.
My guess is that many who miss Church on a Sunday have deeper issues with their commitment to the Christian faith and may well be one of those people who have no other fellowship during the week with other Christians, with the body, with the Church. To many, the Sunday service is all that they have and they do not prioritise it. That makes me real sad and I pray for all those.
For those who manage to “Church” and fellowship with the body through other means, even though they miss Sundays, well, good on you. Keep it up and congratulations.
When choosing a team or sport, we can tell coaches and parents that we do not participate on Sundays. This might leave you with the difficult choice of choosing not to be on that comp team.
However, is never too late. Have the discussion with your family, then politely tell the coaches that your son/daughter isn’t available, ever, for Sunday tournaments. Then you won’t be put in that position- the answer will be no before they ask.
My daughter has played sports on weekends since jr high. As a parent you are responsible for getting your child to church. I am catholic and my faith allows for several services a weekend and every town we traveled to had a Catholic Church nearby thus my daughter and I did not miss church. The teams she has played on knew the importance of our faith and didn’t hold it against us. That meant missing a meal out with the team, or missing 1 game in a tournament if it conflicted with church. It can be done if you make faith a priority and live all areas in your life as a Christian. My daughter now attends a private university and plays sports…. Her decision to play for them was that the coaches always provide transportation to church wherever they have traveled to. I hope this helps when it comes to tough decisions.
Well said. Thanks!
“Just say NO” has always been our families motto and we stand by it no matter what. When my son was in little league the coach called several Sunday practices. Not only did I say that he would not attend those practices but my son expressed his belief as well. Unfortunately for the team, the coach chose NOT to play my son in any position except for right field due to his lack of participation in the Sunday practices. Twenty years later and I still stick by this motto for my daughter. My children are strong Christian people and I am proud to be their mother.
It simply comes down to priorities. Is coming together as the body of Christ to worship the Creator of the universe more important than playing games?
Seems like it is the season for Sports issues. Dave Ramsey mentioned sports taking too high a priority in people’s lives as well.
http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/7-signs-kids-sports-taken-over-life-budget
I agree that church is vital to the development and growth of everyone from adults to children. We need the community that our brothers and sisters have together. Without it we become distant and that community becomes alien.
My concern for this message is very simple, but I hope this can help shed some light on what is being discussed. I feel as though the heart of this message is very true, but I think there are some parts to tey story that need clarity. First, the church is not bound by walls. You do not have to give up playing Sunday sports to go sit in a room and worship together. In fact, you stated 20 families were present at this tournament? My question is why there was no initiative to have that community right them and there? Gather those families together and do church at the tournament. You don’t need the walls, the steeple, or even the pastor of your church to “be the church.” You can do it all yourselves. I believe this would impact thousands more people if we all take this into mind. Instead of going to a building and worship behind doors and walls, we worship out in public where the non-believers are and show th the love of Christ. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He went out to the unbelievers and say with them.
Again, I am not arguing your point. I believe it is very valid. I am just concerned with Christians losing their boldness for what they deem comfortable. You don’t need the walls, you don’t need the fancy music or hymns. Where two or more are gathered there Christ is with you right?
My challenge is you think through that. Show your children your boldness in your faith while on these sports trips. My parents did so fore and it made all the difference on how I approach my faith. It changed my life.
Thanks for the post, it was thought provoking. God bless.
We have 6 days to have church on the soccer field and be his witnesses. God requires 1 in 7 days to rest and Honor the day as Holy, to gather the saints and worship. It sound like you want to treat the Sabbath day like every other day of the week. Obedience to Gods word is not easy and our flesh tries to justify our own wants and desires.
Having been a youth pastor previous to reading this and a few years back – I thought the same things. Now being a missionary currently and not locked into a pastoral role, things have changed a bit. My hope is that people don’t put a priority in only meeting 52 times a year and say that is the church. Second, I hope that the church is the people and not the brick and mortar building that we meet in. Third, I hope that those who who get behind this article are not the ones who are cheering on multi-million dollar teams and sports who probably skipped a ton of Sunday morning services. This last one to me seems a little hypocritical.
Amen – I agree. If we look at this the correct way, this particular Sunday could be a one where we truly look at it as the mission field and an opportunity to minister to some families that do not know God. I would also recommend Christian sports organizations if the goal is fellowship with other believers which is the Church.
Easy for our family, we do not do any sports at all on sunday and don’t sign up for any That play on sunday.My kids respect that. I know they Can try their best and don’t have to be on any club sports to succeed in their sport.
Amen Valerie, your commitment to this is an encouragement to me and my family.
I thank God for Christian leagues such as Upward! No Sunday games – most games are on Saturday’s with practices during the week (No Wednesday practices for mid week Bible Study). The kids learn more about God, Sports, teamwork etc. I suggest that parents and churches form leagues of their own focusing on the things that truly matter!
Oh yes it is really hard. We have not had the issue with sports so much but with music/dance. Having a family involved in all sorts of performing arts it is also a problem. And mostly there isn’t a win-win situation but moreso a I will do what is right regardless situation. Our family who made up seven performers of a band/dance group of about thirty simply had to put it up front. We didn’t have any swing or official capacity but we simply made it clear that if there was a performance or competition on a Sunday morning that we wouldn’t be able to attend. And we stuck to it. Yes we did miss out and so did our band, as they really couldn’t do nearly as well with small numbers. But I must say they did work very hard to get things re-scheduled to after 1pm so we could join them.
It is hard enough to keep children/teens and young adults in church as it is, even with total commitment, so I think we need to stack everything in our favour and don’t give them a poor example.
I am glad you brought this up. My mom is always surprised when we have Sunday activities, which is often. She says when I was a kid, this did not happen because it was assumed people would be going to church and Sunday was still seen pretty much as a day of rest. A lot of stores were closed or at least closed early, almost everyone was off, even some restaurants were closed. Sundays were quieter than every other day. It was a day to connect with your family and God.
There is less respect for spirituality now, especially for Christianity. If a bunch of people were of a different religion and brought this point up, schedules might be rearranged so that they would be respectuing religious freedom. With Christians being the “majority” they do not get the same respect other religions do, in fact, lately it seems to get a lot of disrespect.
Now we are not even allowed to mention the word “God” in schools. It doesn’t matter that it is a general term and could be anyone’s God, we are not allowed to acknowledge a higher power at all.
We have less family time due to both parents working and kids spending more time in day care and schools than at home. We have less Church time and a general disrespect for any sort of spirituality. As a result, I see more disrespectful kids, more kids who feel lost and disconnected, and more stressed out adults.
I am saying this not even as a big, gung ho Christian. I was raised Catholic and I go to the Catholic church, when I go, which is less and less often now. I also meditate and read Buddhist books. I’ve studied and have respect for all religions and see them all as different paths to the same end, the end being God or whatever you wish to call your source or creator. So, I am not your typical dedicated Christian. I am more of a mainstream hypocrite and I still see this as a problem.
Very convicting!
Luckily my daughters soccer coach is a member of our church and makes sure that games are scheduled late enough on Sundays that we don’t have to miss church. We do occasionally miss a Sunday due to swim meets but those times are few & far between. Luckily my kids know the importance of church and the relationships they have made with the kids at church go outside the church walls.
Many great comments and insights for this blog. Also some far far far left field thoughts that take away from the spirit of this blog. Now before I share my thoughts I want to empathize that I believe in regular corporate gathering on Sunday and attend regularly. However, Sunday morning is not the only time a congregation meets and if one is fortunate enough to have a church that provides more than one service on Sunday morning, or Sunday night or Wednesday night or a Fellowship/Lifegroup during the week, then one has more than one opportunity to gather together with your spiritual family during the week. You can split hairs over when, where and how often..but just going to church for one or two hours on Sunday morning does not ALWAYS mean anything the rest of the week. Children (and adults) need to know that it is not just something we do just to do it on Sunday mornings. What does the rest of the week look like…at church, at home, at work and in the hearts of all of the family?
I believe that church on Sunday morning is important because it established a priority for the things that are important to God and whenever possible stick to that schedule….but having our yes mean yes and our no mean no is also very important to God. If your child commits to a sport, especially a team sport where others are counting on their participation, then allow them to make loyalty,reliability, teamwork, commitment, steadfastness, tenacity and perseverance be the Christlike message to their teammates. Sometimes our inflexibility and dogmatic approach to things that may rock our little boat speaks louder than missing a Sunday here and there to participate is something that benefits a team.
So, loyalty to team takes precedence over obedience to God and keeping his day Holy? Sports is an idol and we must be careful not to elevate as such especially if your trying to be an example to those around you. I might suggest we show our kids the loyalty, reliability, commitment, steadfastness, tenacity and perseverance to loving God by doing what he commands.
My brother-in-law had an amazing soccer talent growing up. His parents were up-front with every team he played on… letting the coaches, parents & team that he would NOT be playing at all on Sunday. He was one of the best players on the team & even traveled out of state to play but never once played on Sunday. I think it’s important to be up-front with your kids coaches… that way, there are not surprises or hurt feelings if a Sunday game or tournament comes up.
On another note, God established Sunday as a day of rest… devoted to Him. He designed worship to be together, with fellow saints. Our churches set times for worship services. A pastor once told me that when you neglect to show up on the day & time that really God HImeslf has appointed… what does that say about your priorities? It’s like telling God, “Well, most weeks the workship service is most important, but this week, soccer is more important.” And more so, what does that teach your children about your priorities?
My struggle with the 4th commandement. – The Sabbath Day
by Bryant Brantley
http://www.bryantbrantley.com/thesabbathday
First, let me say that this is just one of many commands given by our creator that our family struggles with. The more we learn about what God requires of us, the more we realize how sinful a people we are which drives us to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God for providing a redeemer, who through him, we are found righteous before a Holy God.
Growing up as a little boy, baseball was one of my favorite sports. I was privileged to have my father coach me in little league and I can still picture him hitting ground balls to me with his baseball cap on. As the years progressed, my abilities in baseball grew to the point where I was one of the top players in the league. I fluctuated in the top five of the league when it came to batting average and could play any position on the field. I remember one year playing on an all star team but that was the last year I ever saw all star play. As it turns out, the all star team had some Sunday games and because my father would not allow me to play on Sunday, I was unable to attend. After that season, I and unfortunately my younger brother were both overlooked and never selected to an all star team again.
In Gods providence, my wife and I have had the privilege of raising six children. Our goal being to train them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, to fear God and keep his commands. Mans chief end being; to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Having said this and like my father before me, we also wrestle with this command.
Over the years we’ve been asked by different folks at different times, why don’t you let your kids play on Sunday? The team needs you, etc? ….this is very difficult for us as we do not want to let a team down or convey a message that we are not committed. To the contrary, we are attempting to be committed to what we believe is a higher calling. When it comes to sports, we have decided that our children will not play organized sanctioned events that require referees and players to arrive at a certain time to perform. We believe that the whole day is a Sabbath rest from our own works, words, and thoughts about our worldly employments and recreations. See Westminister Confession of Faith 21.7 “Of the Sabbath Day” . Below are catechism questions that we teach to our children. In order to see the scripture proofs, you will need to click the number at the end of the paragraph.
Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 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 maidservent, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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.[141]
Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.[142]
Q. 59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath;[143] and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.[144]
Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days;[145] and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship,[146] except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.[147]
Q. 61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.[148]
Q. 62. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments,[149] his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath day.[150]
Of further interest..
The US Post Office and Observance of the Sabbath – including multiple appeals from inhabitants of North Carolina.
Blue Laws, U.S. statute regulating work, commerce, and amusements on Sundays.
Ex-Byu Star Puts Sabbath Above NFL – Eli Herring
Eric Liddell – Eric’s refusal earlier in the week to run on Sunday in the Olympic 100-meter race had stunned the world.
Eric Liddell-Chariots of Fire
With a national championship in sight, the Cougars walked away. To advance meant they would have to play Sunday.
…click here for story
Positions and Views…
Baptist Preacher, “Prince of Preachers”, Charles Haddon Spurgeon – On the Sabbath Day – See Questions 49,50 & 51
Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
Bowling on the Sabbath
Did Jesus Abolish the Sabbath Day?
How are we to keep the Sabbath in today’s society?
Testimony from Leading Denominations
Sabbath Blog & Discussion Board
Call The Sabbath A Delight
This is very true and very sad that sports is taking such a place in society today, one suggestion I do have without diminishing being apart of a church body as I feel that is important but as you said the most important thing in life is that yourself and your children have a relationship with Christ, and this shouldn’t just be kindled on a Sunday but can be something you are living out in your home all week and what my family does is if we can’t hear a sermon on Sunday we set aside another time in the week to watch an online sermon, our favourite is Eric Ludy, for some real good meaty truth to keep pushing us deeper with Christ. Or if you have quite a long drive to soccer or where you are going you could listen to a sermon podcast in the car 🙂 in other words you never have to make it one or the other, it’s about you as a family serving Jesus and setting aside time for Him.
and if at all possible surround yourselves with like minded Christians to fellowship and encourage each other forward.
Not only did Jesus rise on a Sunday, but the church was born on a Sunday, the 50th day after the Passover Sabbath. Therefore, I am convinced that worshiping on Sunday is correct. However, I don’t condemn those who worship on Saturdays. I’m sure they’re very sincere in their belief. As Marie said, Colossians 2:16 forbids us to condemn somebody’s Sabbath. If they’re more comfortable with Saturday than Sunday, who cares, as long as they have a relationship with Jesus? Jesus died so that we wouldn’t be under law and fighting about Sabbaths. We need to be careful not to judge people about their Sabbaths, or even about their participation in sports, although I think it’s good to make church a priority. It sets a good example for our families, and often plays a part in their spiritual choices and development. What Jesus condemned the most was the pharisaical notion that my choices have to be your choices, regarding worship or Sabbaths. Let’s support each other in our choices rather than condemn.
When I grew up in church, attendance every Sunday was a must. It was exactly as this article says it should be too ensure a healthy future relationship with good. However, the success rate of this method was very low amongst my peers. Most of the people I grew up in church with refuse to go now. The reason they give for disliking it is that they were forced to go as children and teenagers. One of my friends actually refers to the church as a cult and says that forcing children to go is child abuse. My point is, if you want your kids to choose church as an adult find ways to make them enjoy it now. Forced attendance leads to resentment of the church itself.
I agree– it’s important not to force attendance…however, my job as a parent is to make it easy for my kids to participate and enjoy the church community. It’s such a tough balance…the way that we find this balance is to focus on the relationship with God and not the rules or religion. Thanks for sharing
I feel you may be missing an opportunity…an opportunity to teach your kids that the church is not a building where we “go” to worship God. The church is people. Wherever we are we should take it as an opportunity to be His witness.
I am not saying skip church whenever you have the opportunity…I am saying that when you have the opportunity to be a light in the darkness of the soccer fields…to another family on the soccer team that may be lost without Christ…you should take it and make the most of that time with them. Build relationships that would lead them back to Christ and an opportunity to go to “church” with you.
Really!!! Justifying soccer because an opportunity could arise to witness on the field or sideline? “If you love me, you will keep my commands”. God doesn’t need us to accomplish his purposes. He does require obedience to his word. Honor the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
Actually God does use His people to fulfill His will, but we must know what that is, specifically, therefore we must be obedient, WE must ask, WE must seek, WE must knock. Jesus’ last words on the cross was “it is finished”. He finished, fulfilled God’s will for His life, are we to do any different? Yes we all know the great commission, but do we know what part each of us is specifically to play in the fulfilling of the Fathers will? God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and we have been given the same ministry and tools that Christ used to continue to reconcile people to God. Do we live as Christ did? Do we love as Christ does? Does Christ continue to live in and through us?
I know this will be insensitive, but why would a parent even consider taking their child out of church for anything except illness? Do you skip school for a game? How much time to you spend at home, school, other sports compared to church? It’s already probably a 40:1 ratio. 1 hour? 2? each week. It seems like a non-starter for a serious believer.
The reason for this, is because we worship our grand/kids more than Christ. The evidence proves it. When we get rid of the idols in our heart, our grand/kids, we will have the right priority.
do you have children?
There are too many comments for me to read them all so I may be repeating earlier thoughts.
I think first, you have to step back and ask, “Why do we assemble together as a church?” God does not ask us to assemble in order to worship him (gatherings in the New Testament were never referred to as worship services) because our worship to God is how we live our lives. We should be worshiping Him in every waking moment.
The purpose we are instructed to assemble for is to benefit ourselves. We are to build each other up, encourage each other, minister to each other. It can be very challenging living in this world of sin and we need the fellowship of fellow sojourners in order to refresh or rejuvenate our spirits, and lift ourselves and others up.
That can be done in a church building, in a house, in an office conference room, or – gasp! – even on a soccer field. 🙂
Jesus is quoted as saying in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them.”
I’m certainly not suggesting that you stop going to services at the church building but, when you find yourself on the road or at a child’s tournament game, you can still spend time building each other up, encouraging one another, reading the scriptures together, singing songs, and offering prayers up to God.
And, in doing so, you could very well prompt others to join you or to at least questions about what you are doing and why. Sometimes I think closing ourselves inside the brick and mortar of a church building restricts our ability to reach out to the lost.
Perhaps having the church meet on a soccer field from time to time will open the door for a lost soul to no longer be lost.
Do you believe the moral law of God is still binding on us today? When Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commands….was he not referencing the 10 commandments and the summation of the 10 commandments which is to love God & neighbor.
God worked 6 days and rested. We were made in his image and he commands us to Honor the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy. So how is playing soccer on Sunday setting the day aside unto the Lord for his work and rest?
We have been a situation where events or activities were in conflict with Wednesday nights for a season. (Fall – band – for us). Sometimes school work was more important on a particular night than going to youth group. However, that school work, over time, meant that our kids could afford to go to a Christian college rather than the State University. Nevertheless, youth group had a huge place in the life of our family. Our kids were at 80% of youth group activities. Since we have never been able to be involved in sports, I can’t make any claims one way or another, but giving up Sundays for sports would have been my stopping place.
I graduated from a state university and it messed me up for a while. After attending public school, my younger two were grateful to attend a Christian college. I am so thankful for Cornerstone University. Despite some failings, it has contributed to a Christian worldview for our kids, building on the excellent foundation they received at youth group and from the pulpit at our church.
I recently found myself frustrated, not because I was at a ball field on a Sunday, but because Christians are slowly losing their Sundays. I’ve been there in the past, my son playing travel ball with weekend tournaments. We are a culture of busyness and now that are weekdays are so packed we are now picking up Sundays to do more! Although sports are seasonal some kids play multiple sports. Therefore, if parents say yes to one sport it doesn’t make sense to a kid to say no to another. As parents we have to remember that kids see things as black and white. So, if it’s okay to play sports on Sunday then going to a waterpark/theme park or taking a day trip should be okay too. I’m not speaking of the occasional missing of church. The point I am making is where do you as a parent draw the line to when enough is enough on Sundays? For our family we have chosen to say no to Sunday activities including birthday parties. Its our day to spend with family! It’s our day to take it easy! The kids may spend the day with grandparents or at home but we are not looking for things to do to fill up our Sunday time slot. As Christians, I understand that we take others feelings into consideration when put on the spot when ask to participate in Sunday sports. However, if we don’t say no there will be no other voice to speak for us. If we don’t say no where will a line be drawn to say this is enough? It’s Satan’s way of slowly taking away our Sundays until they become like Saturdays.
Tracy K.,
The whole point of being Christians is following Christ, living and loving like Christ, furthering, deepening our relationship with the Father through Christ. What we as parents teach our children, is what they will grow up saying is ok for them to do and what they will possibly teach their children.
God is there 24/7, not just on Sunday’s. It seems like that is the only day we go and worship or get closer to Him. Do you depend on someone else to teach you about Him? Do you wait until Sunday to worship and praise Him? What does your child/children see and or hear from you and your spouse during the week concerning God.
Is there to much “other stuff” in our lives during the week that we don’t think about God or ask, seek, and knock to get to know Him better? Matthew 7:7-11. If the Ten Commandments are not up on a school wall or in our courthouses should it really make a difference? If every place that we go to worship God was taken from us what would happen? Would God just no longer be there or could we continue to worship, praise, and learn from HIM on a daily basis, individually?
1st John 2:20 says that we have an anointing from the holy One and we know all things. 1st John 2:27 says that we need not that any man teach us… We have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness 2nd Peter 1:3 “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him…” Christ will teach us if we are humble enough to ask, seek, knock, and wait on the answers.
Romans 13:14, Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:24, 1st Corinthians 1:21, 24. Jeremiah 31:33-34, Ephesians 1:3.
God Bless
Some very interesting comments.
My opinion is that as a nation the US has become more worldly than Godly. Under the guise of the excuse of bringing people into church we turn them into social clubs.
There is very little reverance for God. We do not show God that He is our first Love.
No we show up when ‘our’ schedule permits. We leave as soon as the after sermon prayer is over like a bunch of lemmings. We do not live by Faith so we have all these excuses why we have to do this or that politically or socially correct program.
If Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, then would not the first commandment be in effect? Thus if we love God above all else would we not follow His directive? If my Bible says to keep every seventh day holy, then why would i race home to spend it in front of the one eyed idol? Or otherwise take my God out of the day He proclaimed Holy?
It is my belief that the more christians decide to conform to this world and its pleasure our hypocrisy shows. Who will listen to someone who says one thing and does not do it?
I have four children from sixteen to two. We get to glorify God because He is thier first love, not other people who themselves have to stand before the Thron
My parents took me to church every Sunday from the time I was old enough to remember until the time I was old enough that they couldn’t make me when I refused. Constant attendance is no guarantee. I attend church now regularly because it is important to me, but I don’t go to the same church all the time, so I really have no regular church family. Is this wrong? Some have told me it is. I don’t care. A church is a building. The church is the body of Christ made up of people. Continuing to get hung up over whether you are in a building at a certain time makes no sense, even if Voddie Bauchaum says it does.
We are not in any sports right now but my husband has mentioned the possibility. However, I have vowed to the Lord and have made a very bold statement to my husband that I will NEVER attend a sports event instead of going to church either on a Sunday or Wednesday. We must consider our priorities, in my opinion, it isn’t an option; church or nothing. May the Lord be glorified in all we do.
Excellent post – As a pastor, I have watched many families over the years wrestle with sports and church. The culture does put tremendous pressure on families. I contacted one parent after not seeing their family at church for some time to express my concern for their absence. Their response was, “Pastor, we miss church too. But, there are so many things our kids are involved in: band, baseball, soccer, chorus, dance, etc. Something had to give so we decided that we would try to do church at home or go when we can.” Predictably, this didn’t go well for them even though I suspect they sincerely tried to do church at home. Long term, their family is completely disconnected from church and I fear from Christ. 20 years down the road from that decision, the legal, relational, and social dysfunctions in this family are profound. Participation with God’s people and an active faith may not have protected them from every problem, but I do sincerely believe their live would have been different had they prioritized faith and church over extra-curricular activities.
Thanks again for the wake up call and concern for families. Blessings!
Dr. Ken Lang
These are excellent thoughts on an important topic. Thank you! A very simple question was put to me on this very issue. “Would you miss as much work or allow your child to miss as much school for sports as you do church?”
As soon as I got over the feeling of being mildly scalded, I had to face two things:
First, that I had accused this good friend of being “judgmental” because my own conscience was judging me and I didn’t want to admit it.
Second, and most importantly, the answer to the question was, “Of course not!” and the implications of that made me squirm.
That is my experience. Feel free to take it to heart or ignore it, as you please. But I have learned that when I feel “judged”, most especially by a fellow traveler along the Way, it is best to check with Him who gave us the capacity to see right from wrong before I dismiss their words to follow my own heart (Prov. 3:5).
John Maxwell said, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
While you wonder why you – as well as many other families, are torn between sports and church, ask yourself this question, “What is my Pastor’s family doing?” “My deacon’s family?” “My elder’s family?” If you happen to see them at the same game, that could be the problem.
This is not to say that you must sacrifice all of your time for “church”. However, If the leadership in your church doesn’t make fellowship (in the real sense of the word) a priority, it is very easy to see why you don’t either.
I agree that those in authority should be a good example but the conduct of those in authority should have no bearing on whether we are obedient to Gods word or not. If they are bad examples then we should find others to model.
My just turned 13 yr old son excels at fencing. And because of his Christian character he is admired and loved by all the coaches at the fencing studio he attends. They all want to help him to be a great tournament fencer. At an early age he saw a video about Eric Liddell. Ever since then he won’t compete on Sundays, which is difficult for a fencer since all tournaments are on Sundays. I’ve attempted to tell him that we can find a church that has worship services on Saturday.
To him it is a compromise since he loves the church we attend now, even though there is no JH or HS ministry and he and his sister are the JH & HS ministry (out of a church of over 600 people). He’s often been accused by other Sunday sports parents of being legalistic, though they won’t tell him, just me. I’ve explained legalism to him though, and he says, in his heart he knows he is putting fencing first if he goes to the tournament, even if we find a Sat. worshiping church, but because we had to “find” a church to accommodate our needs, not putting God first. He also knows not to judge those who do sports on Sunday, but that this is his own conviction. He also told me he never had peace when we would miss church for tournaments.
He knows that he will never devote the time to be a professional fencer because he wants to serve God either as a pastor or pastor/missionary.
Because of his convictions, it has brought me to a heart check- Do I want him to attend Sunday tournaments because I am living out my sports dreams through his as MANY parents do through their children? Do I loved my ego stroked as he gets his praises for his fine fencing skills and I get to be proud papa? So in my case, we have decided not to fence on Sundays and just fence at the studio when they have fencing on Saturdays.
Our thoughts EXACTLY! We started our first little guy in football and t-ball (Oh and swimming) at age 5. The whole family followed him to practices and games and PARADES. After four years we quit sports and spent our times out AS A FAMILY. Eighteen years later our son loves sports but much more importantly he is a God fearing man and just married WITHOUT living with her first! We haven’t LOST ANYTHING by ”dumping” sports…except college scholarships but so far we aren’t ”missing” THOSE EITHER!
My daughter was in gymnastics for 8 years. She was an amazing gymnast placing at almost every meet she attended. She however never missed church for her sport. In our family we abide by the belief that sports never trump God. Several times we would register her for a meet and then her competition time would be changed to Sunday. Though it was non – refundable we would not allow her to compete at that meet. She is now be trained as a coach at that same gym and teaching Sunday school at church. She is a well rounded girl who knows what her priorities should be. My other daughter missed a state bowling league match due to it being on Sunday. It’s not an easy choice all the time when your kids miss opportunities but in the big picture they aren’t really missing anything at all.
We chose to pursue a sport with weekend tournaments. For us, it kept us busy together as a family. We were home by Sunday night and prioritized going to 6:30 pm church. Worst case we watched it online, but we always watched it and discussed it. They went to youth group on the Sunday mornings that we were home. They have found friends who are believers. I think it just has to be a family priority and consistent. As college students, my kids still want to go to church. It isn’t the dressed up, traditional, morning and evening ritual that I went through, but it is a meaningful part of our week.
We have always operated with a ” no sports on Sunday” policy in our family. Because we did not want to go down the path of making Sundays complicated. Our priority has been to be at church on Sunday. Sure there are other churches we could probably attend to make it work, but we wanted to worship at our church with our community of faith. We didn’t know it then, but that “policy ” has been a tremendous blessing – putting a boundary in place that has enabled us to say ” no thank you” to many opportunities and enabling us to focus our energy and interests on non- Sunday endeavors. I can remember years ago briefly thinking we were missing out on being part of other communities with our ” policy”, taking for granted that we had a community with whom we were already connected – our church.
After I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked the
-Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now whenever a comment is added I get four emails with
the exact same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me from that
service? Cheers!
What if the church looked at its community and realised that the harvest is plentiful, and it is also at ballfields on Sunday mornings?
Maybe instead of trying to get people to change their lifestyles and come to our buildings we should meet them where they are and show them that Jesus loves them and their sporty offspring?
There is no reason that a church cannot meet on Sunday evenings and spend Sunday mornings at the ballfields loving on other sporting families – except that might inconvenience the church a little. Going into all the world is an action – it isnt “open up a building and wait for the world to come to you”. Just a thought.
Is this from a biblical perspective of a personal opinion? Sports in many cases become an idol and we serve a jealous God. Are you suggesting that the living and true God that is worshipped on the Lord’s Day really would prefer us to attend a ball game first thing? You have a very low view of who God is and what he requires of us.
For those that say there’s nothing wrong with sports during the day and do Church on an evening. I mostly agree.
However the one things that makes me realise the potential for Church, is Community. If that Community does not meet, how is there a Community? There’s no gathering. Sports should be the exception rather than the rule.
When you start to go down the path of individual spiritualism, you start segregating yourself, you remove yourself away from the Community. You make it appear OK to others around you. Before long, there’s actually no Church, just a bunch of individuals who barely know each other. A bunch of individuals out in the world without the backup of other Christians to keep them rooted in the faith, out in the world with all the temptations, out in the world making friends with the world instead of friends with Christians, being of the world, instead of just in it.
BUT it doesn’t matter where that Church is, as long as people are together, not isolated and forming a community where they can share and pray.
Dear writer,
We most certainly have a choice whether we are going to sit at the feet of a sports event or at the feet of Jesus. The rich young ruler had a choice and he went away sorrowful (Mark 10:22). Every time we choose a carnal or secular even over a spiritual one, especially church services, we are teaching our children that God can be placed on the back burner. We are teaching our children that it is ok to push God aside for an earthly interests that will in no way help determine and shape their souls for heaven. We are to seek FIRST the Kingdom (Matt. 6:33). Attending a soccer game for our kids to play in on Sunday is choosing the Kingdom second. Parents have got to take the spiritual lead on this and stop following the masses that choose the carnal before the spiritual. Is it any wonder why so many children grow up only to fall away from the Lord’s church? Shame on any parent for allowing other families, children’s emotions, and even adult peer pressure to sway us in such a way. So what if they can’t play in the game and so what if the whole team misses out on a championship. What a missed lesson for these young impressionable minds. You could have taught them how they will be Christian champions for choosing to “seek first the Kingdom.” When I was a young girl my parents would never let me miss a church service for any event. I can remember attending a Wednesday night church service wearing my softball cleats with a skirt (I had forgotten a change of shoes). What a message that sent me, one, never forget to pack your shoes, but in all seriousness, NEVER miss a service for the Lord. Softball or sitting at the feet of Jesus was never a question. To this day, it is never a question “if” we are going. When you raise your family in this manner, you will most likely raise faithful, God loving/fearing, honoring, obedient children who serve the Lord all the days of their life.
Thanks for your words of encouragement
A good story to cause one to think about values. Interesting how many comments came to if Saturday or Sunday is the Sabbath. I just ran into a little math problem. The author notes at least two times that they saw at least 20 families. Also they stated that 12 other players would be affected by their decision. I come up with 13 kids and 20 plus families?
There were tournaments all over the county that day. The 20 other families were not at the same game as us. I was responding to people who were asking about why we didn’t do our own service…but I made the same reply about 10 times and then just let it go 🙂 Our team had 12 players on it…there were dozens of teams playing throughout the county…does that math work?
It depends. I can think of two reasons I would participate in sports instead of going to church (and at least some members of my family have done these):
1. My church organized a sports outreach to the unchurched and Sunday was the best day to reach the most people.
2. Our family was away from home at a reunion so attending our own church wasn’t an option, but joining in a family softball game was a way of showing love to lost family members.
Just another opinion…When we were children and traveled my mother always led Sunday School wherever we were. Instead of looking at extracurricular activities on Sunday as a barrier to worship; why not look at it as a way to be a missionary and spread the word of God to those that may not know Him? Maybe this is a calling for all Christian parent who have children that play sports.
WOW! I don’t think there are enough days in the year to read through this entire thread. All I can say is, if it doesn’t fit your schedule, start one that does. It may be better to start a church league for kids/adults and stick to the “no Sunday” anything. Our society is trying everything imaginable to damage the traditional family. Maybe it’s intentional, maybe it’s not, but that’s not the issue here. Bottom line is, don’t put anything before worship. If you or your children want to be part of a team, be sure to ask ahead of time whether or not Sundays will be involved. If they are, don’t participate. Like you said….there were 20 families. That’s enough to start a team and find other like-minded families who would be interested as well. Before you know it, you’ll have your own league and there won’t be any questions as to where everyone will be on Sunday. You may be surprised at just how many people would want to be a part of that. This is not something to take lightly. It’s core to your family’s values and, if the parents will allow “a little” missed moments of worship, then your children may see it ok as allowing “a little” more missed moments….and then it spirals out of control until no one is attending worship any more. Praying God gives you all wisdom in your decisions regarding this.
I was raised to put nothing before God and often times sports practices etc we’re on church nights. Sure it teaches comradely to an extent but so do activities in the church. Finding activities to encourage their spiritual well being is far more important than the physical. Find a balance & create an activities outside of church nights with other church families. You should feel bad for missing church & saying it’s only for a season is sending a loud message to your child that God can be put on the back burner. Our relationship with Him shouldn’t be seasonal like a sport. I’d say follow your conviction & you won’t regret it. The fruit will show whatever you decide. 😉
Okay this may have already been stated but I didn’t read the pages of comments….what about my friend who is 7th Day Adventist…they go to church on Saturday. So now, if the Christians won’t play sports on Sunday and another religion says NO to Saturdays…then out of fairness to those of us who do not and will never go to church (and yes, I was raised by a Baptist minister & a family that was in church 3-4 times a week….don’t get me started, you can’t win the argument with me that maybe they just didn’t set a good enough example, blah, blah….I am very happy with my life now & do not wish to argue about my spirituality or lack thereof)….sorry to digress….PLEASE JUST KEEP YOUR CHILDREN IN SPORTS THAT ALLOW THEM TO PLAY WHENEVER IT FITS INTO YOUR SPIRITUAL CALENDAR.
It is simply not fair to the other players on a team when they sign commitment letters & then you’re asking for a pass to just play HALF THE TIME. ?!?! I’m sorry but that is putting in HALF the effort and you guys know it!!!!
I have zero problem with my religious friends & have many wonderful discussions with them. That is not what my argument is about. I am very frustrated currently to find out that a top player on my son’s soccer team can’t play on any Sunday due to his parents’ religion. So they allowed him to play both our games on Saturday at this recent tournament – which we won – and then for the final game on Sunday that we had to win in order to go to the Championship game….we struggled without him there (not to mention, our new coach did not know he would be absent so a sub was not called in) and we ultimately lost.
That’s fine, I’m not on here saying it’s all about winning & sports are everything. They are NOT. But seeing my child out there working his heart out, giving it 100% because that’s what he COMMITTED to & feeling so helpless & upset makes it a bit hard for me to be understanding of their reasoning.
If they are truly that “into” their religion, then why not just keep your child in a Rec league that only plays on Saturdays……why sign up for a travel Academy level league knowing you will be letting that team down every single Sunday game or tournament game?! I’m sorry, but it doesn’t make sense to me. We signed a commitment letter and therefore, I really feel that if your priority is church then that is where you should be the majority of your time. I DO NOT AND NEVER WILL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANYONE PRACTICING THEIR RELIGION (conversely, I get judged all the time for not practicing a religion).
If what you want to teach your child is to respect your religion and be committed to your God….then by all means do it.
That does mean telling your child they will need to make sacrifices. However, if they are truly talented and you need them to get a college scholarship, then I think the sacrifice may have to be not going to your church every single Sunday (or Saturday, if you’re 7th Day Adventist). I’m teaching my kids that if they make a commitment to a team sport, they stick with it. They attend all practices and games unless they’re ill.
I think most of you with kids in sports would agree that you wouldn’t drive your child to a Saturday game and only let them play half that game, then pull them out at half time & just leave right?? That sounds ludicrous right?! The parents and coaches would be angry, not to mention the players having to work extra hard to make up for the absent player in the 2nd half…..
So why do you think it’s okay with the team if you only come to half the games/practices??
The answer seems pretty clear to me, but then again my calendar is wide open on Sundays. ;-))
I’m sure many of you are going to be angry with my comments and will be praying for me. I get it. But if I’m not supposed to have a problem with you keeping your kids out of their beloved sport in order to attend church – after all, it is the law and the Leagues can’t do a darn thing about it……then please at LEAST PUT YOURSELF IN THE SHOES OF THE PARENTS WHO ARE THERE EVERY SINGLE GAME, PRACTICE, TOURNAMENT, ETC AND WATCH THEIR KIDS STRUGGLING TO UNDERSTAND WHY IT’S OKAY FOR THEIR TEAMMATES TO, IN ESSENCE, BE A HALF-PLAYER.
We’ll, our daughter plays college ball on an athletic scholarship and we did not allow her to play on Sunday. She played on travel teams. If we were asked to sign a commitment that required her to play on Sunday, we crossed it out and signed it. The coaches still wanted her.
Interestingly, we have a 9 year old son that is a baller and the travel teams will take him as well, knowing that he is not allowed to play on Sunday.
We are now reading Charriots of fire and sharing it with my 9 year old. Eric Liddell was an olympic champion and was still faithful to the fourth commandment. Without God, none of the players would even have the ability to play and his commands trump all. If God grants your son or daughter a gift, why would you want to deprive the player and the team?
I can understand your predicament,I love church and the people there,but we are commanded to go and spread the gospel and there are a lot of unsaved people at those sporting events,what a great time to be missional
So you embrace the great commission as a commandment to be followed. So, do you embrace the Lord’s Day and seek to keep it Holy? Do you seek to keep God’s command of “not forsaking the gathering of the Saints”? How many unsaved have you shared the Gospel with on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday? How many? You still need the Lord’s day to accomplish that? So, what you are saying is that its okay to break a command in order to honor a command? How do you reconcile both of these commands, or don’t you?
Maybe you witness on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday and then Worship the living and true God who is worthy of our time, praise and adoration not just on Sunday, but also Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday.
We have been conflicted by this many times with our gymnastics schedule. We have also come to the conclusion that sitting in church will not make our kids Christians any more than sitting in a restaurant will make them fat.
I think this article adds to guilt rather than encouraging parents to pray with their kids, teach them to read their Bibles, teach them to journal about their prayer life. This article doesn’t account for the many athletes, my son included, who have led their teammates to the Lord and encouraged them in the gym and out.
There IS a place for serious athletes in the church, but this article is only addressing, IMO, a very legalistic perspective.
I have felt this same thing. When I was growing up sports weren’t played on Sunday and I am from a small town, but the grocery stores weren’t open either. It truly was a day to go to church and then spend time with family and friends. It was a day to relax. My husband and I have worked to make sure that we are keeping Sunday that way for our 3 daughters as well. I can’t say that I think sports on Sunday is wrong, I think it is wrong that people don’t observe a Sabath any more, whatever day they choose to have it on. God gave us the example of taking a day to rest and appreciate the good that He has made. I think that is the important thing.
Hi friends, There have been so many comments and responses about the sports venue being a great setting for those who know Jesus to connect with those who don’t know Jesus yet. I wrote a post in response to these ideas. Check it out: http://familydiscipleshippath.com/2014/10/09/sports-field-mission-field/
I have 3 children who are each involved in sports, and have games on Sunday. For a while I was frustrated at the time they missed “church”. However, I was approached to coach a team and through prayer, and wise counsel I decided to coach. As a coach I have been placed in front of boys who wouldn’t be in church anyway. Every Sunday we play, I hold a “church” time to not only present the Gospel, but also build a fellowship with them. I have no doubt God has placed me to be the coach so they can meet him. I also feel we as a family now spend more time together because we are now able to fellowship instead of rush to Sunday School, worship, visit, go back to bible study, and then Sunday night worship. My family now closer.
However, I do have a frustration with my home “church”. Since we started this my family has been shunned by the “church”. We haven’t been kicked out, but many people have began gossip about us, and have even fussed at our children. To be honest, our sports “church” is more supportive than our home “church”.
From one sinner to another and from one who has not right to cast stones.
You were frustrated because your conscious knows that Christ is the head of the Church and he would not be at the ball fields avoiding the house of the Lord on the Lord’s Day.
I might suggest that you did not get wise biblical counsel? Was this counsel based on the Word of God or mans own interpretation of what pleases God?
Church time is the gathering of the Saints in the Public Worship of God where we join with the angelic hosts and Gods redeemed people (those who are now in his presence) and Worship as only he prescribes. The preaching of the word, prayer, Lord’s super, Praise and baptism on occasion. Church discipline is also a mark of a true church and if you believe that Church is on a ball field then I think your home Church has been gracious to you in your ignorance.
What Gospel are you teaching these young men??????????? What God are you teaching your boys and young men to fear? The scripture clearly tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God is just. God hates idolatry and many, many things become idolatrous to us including sports. I have 6 kids of whom all have played sports. One is playing on an athletic scholarship at a christian college. She did not play sports on Sundays and her travel team did. Interestingly, that coach now avoids Sunday games and encourages the girls to Worship and Honor the Lord’s Day as he prescribes. This is the direct opposite thing you have done. Which one do you think pleases God? Which one is obedient to his word?
Don’t tell the world that you need Sunday’s to “reach these boys” with the Gospel. in fact, do us a favor and don’t justify your actions with the Gospel. You have 6 other days in the week and I question whether you truly understand the God of the Gospel message. Do your children miss the public Worship? Do they miss partaking in the Lord’s Supper? Do they miss the teaching and gathering of the Saints and sinners? Are they studying to show themselves approved? Are they being further grounded in the faith of the living and true God? If the answers are “No”….and I suppose it is, where are your priorities Dad? Are there affections on sports or God? Were are you leading them?
We battle the idolatry of sports in our home all the time, year after year. Like his older sister, our 10 year old is a gifted athlete and is asked all the time to participate in travel ball. These coaches beg us and then tell us that he is excused from playing on Sundays.
How many hours a week are you devoted to sports? How many hours a week are we instructing our children in the things that are eternal in nature. Tell me where you focus is and that will help you determine who you are serving.
I find it interesting that you claim to have found fellowship with your family on the ball field apposed to “Sunday School, worship, visit, go back to bible study, and then Sunday night worship”. So I ask, who is the anchor of our very existence? Who upholds us and sustains us? Who is the foundation of a Godly marriage? Who instituted marriage and the family? ……If you’ve found true fellowship on the ball field, then I would suggest that you ask yourself who you are serving.
Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commands. The greatest commandment….to love the Lord they God with all thy heart, will all thy strength and with all they might. Can you articulate how you are doing this as the leader of your home? Your soul and the souls of your wife and 3 children depend on it. Does your family love God more than sports? Do your children love God more than sports?
….but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, Imperfectly for sure. We are in the Lords army and will battle the temptations of this world til we join him in paradise. Are you in the Lord’s army? Are you using your teaching and training skills to serve and love God with all that is in you. I don’t! But this is were we need to encourage one another unto good works.
God is not divided, he is one. You confess in your last statement that there is division between your home church and “sports church”. Which one will you serve?
From one sinner to another and from one who has not right to cast stones.
You were frustrated because your conscious knows that Christ is the head of the Church and he would not be at the ball fields avoiding the house of the Lord on the Lord’s Day.
I might suggest that you did not get wise biblical counsel? Was this counsel based on the Word of God or mans own interpretation of what pleases God?
Church time is the gathering of the Saints in the Public Worship of God where we join with the angelic hosts and Gods redeemed people (those who are now in his presence) and Worship as only he prescribes. The preaching of the word, prayer, Lord’s super, Praise and baptism on occasion. Church discipline is also a mark of a true church and if you believe that Church is on a ball field then I think your home Church has been gracious to you in your ignorance.
What Gospel are you teaching these young men??????????? What God are you teaching your boys and young men to fear? The scripture clearly tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God is just. God hates idolatry and many, many things become idolatrous to us including sports. I have 6 kids of whom all have played sports. One is playing on an athletic scholarship at a christian college. She did not play sports on Sundays and her travel team did. Interestingly, that coach now avoids Sunday games and encourages the girls to Worship and Honor the Lord’s Day as he prescribes. This is the direct opposite thing you have done. Which one do you think pleases God? Which one is obedient to his word?
Don’t tell the world that you need Sunday’s to “reach these boys” with the Gospel. in fact, do us a favor and don’t justify your actions with the Gospel. You have 6 other days in the week and I question whether you truly understand the God of the Gospel message. Do your children miss the public Worship? Do they miss partaking in the Lord’s Supper? Do they miss the teaching and gathering of the Saints and sinners? Are they studying to show themselves approved? Are they being further grounded in the faith of the living and true God? If the answers are “No”….and I suppose it is, where are your priorities Dad? Are there affections on sports or God? Were are you leading them?
We battle the idolatry of sports in our home all the time, year after year. Like his older sister, our 10 year old is a gifted athlete and is asked all the time to participate in travel ball. These coaches beg us and then tell us that he is excused from playing on Sundays.
How many hours a week are you devoted to sports? How many hours a week are we instructing our children in the things that are eternal in nature. Tell me where you focus is and that will help you determine who you are serving.
I find it interesting that you claim to have found fellowship with your family on the ball field apposed to “Sunday School, worship, visit, go back to bible study, and then Sunday night worship”. So I ask, who is the anchor of our very existence? Who upholds us and sustains us? Who is the foundation of a Godly marriage? Who instituted marriage and the family? ……If you’ve found true fellowship on the ball field, then I would suggest that you ask yourself who you are serving.
Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commands. The greatest commandment….to love the Lord they God with all thy heart, will all thy strength and with all they might. Can you articulate how you are doing this as the leader of your home? Your soul and the souls of your wife and 3 children depend on it. Does your family love God more than sports? Do your children love God more than sports?
….but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, Imperfectly for sure. We are in the Lords army and will battle the temptations of this world til we join him in paradise. Are you in the Lord’s army? Are you using your teaching and training skills to serve and love God with all that is in you. I don’t! But this is were we need to encourage one another unto good works.
God is not divided, he is one. You confess in your last statement that there is division between your home church and “sports church”. Which one will you serve?
Pingback: Sports (et al) Vs. Church | First Presbyterian in Argenta
One thing I noticed in many comments wasn’t what WAS said, but what WASN’T said. The author is talking about our chosen priorities and much discussion has been about which day is Sabbath, don’t judge, it’s OK to miss a Sunday or two (or 3 or 4 or..). Our priorities are CHOSEN by us, and this article is OUR reminder to make Jesus our highest priority. Choosing Jesus as our top priority is costly. If you do not want the costly priority of Jesus, then you’re (as Idleman puts it) “just a fan. Jesus doesn’t want more fans but seriously committed followers.” Easy Jesus is why churches in America are declining.
Randy, I find it interesting, that you said given our choices reflects our spiritual walk. To say we are “just a fan” by the choices we make, implies that you judging. To quote you “Our priorities are CHOSEN by us, and this article is OUR reminder to make Jesus our highest priority. Choosing Jesus as our top priority is costly. If you do not want the costly priority of Jesus, then you’re (as Idleman puts it) “just a fan. Jesus doesn’t want more fans but seriously committed followers.” Easy Jesus is why churches in America are declining.” Essentially you are implying that because we go to a sporting even on a Sunday, we are not making Jesus a priority. Check yourself, because it appears that you are passing judgment or forming an opinion about some of us you know nothing about. In the words of the GREAT ( I mean that sarcastically ) Jerry Springer show, “You don’t know me!!” Fans are not the reason church is declining. That is only an opinion, yours in fact…. AND it is not a fact. In my opinion, It takes people living in the world reflecting who Jesus is, not what the church building looks like on the inside. What are we doing the other six days a week when we are not in church? Are we making Jesus a priority? Does making Jesus a priority cost us more than just one day a week or some other choices we have to make? Maybe taking an unpopular stand on sensitive subjects will cost us something during the week and not just Sunday.
Sometimes that world is a sporting event even on Sundays. Like I said in my previous post. I am a coach. I see the kids and families that are hurting, judging them or us coaches or criticizing their church going habits or how much of a fan they are is not going to bring them healing or make Christ the center of their life. It is them watching us who know Christ in a personal way that reflects what being a follower of Christ really is. What about the families that are not in church on a Sunday? Who is going to minister to them? How can we if we are inside the four walls of the church? The church is a place made up of broken people with broken lives because of many different situations. If we were not broken and life was perfect than what is the point of going to church? What about those who are broken that aren’t at church? The church is not going to grow if we are not bringing the broken to it. Are you familiar with the shadow of the steeple and meaning of it?
We also go to church to serve. We should never come into church thinking what is God going to do for me today? How selfish!! Living a life with Christ at the center is not a selfish thing. It is a giving thing. We should come expecting an encounter ready to hear from God and how we can serve him. We should be ready to give God the glory and our truest form of worship. But really.. shouldn’t we be doing that every day of our lives? Going to church one day a week does not make us more than a fan. It seems to me that you’re putting all your eggs in one basket if you are making Sunday a chosen priority so that you are more than a fan for Jesus. If that is all it takes, than count me in and heaven will be beyond huge with all the “fans” right?
My next question is who is going to bring Jesus into the lives of these people who don’t know him? What about those kids and families that are broken that show up to watch their kids play a sporting even on Sundays? Did the thought ever cross your mind that those of us who are coaches that coach on a Sunday here and there are doing it because that is the only Jesus the kids and parents will see? Did you ever think that JUST maybe God called us into coaching to reach the lost?
Lastly, living a Christ centered life, means growing the body of Christ. It means being sold out and being transparent enough to let others see Christ in you no matter what day it is. It means doing what God has called us to do. For some it is being a pastor, for some it is being a great co-worker. For others it is being a coach setting a Godly example on and off the field on any given Sunday when necessary. We live in a very different world than we did say 20 years ago. Times have changed and in order to grow the Kingdom of God, we must adjust to reach the lost.
Chariots of Fire.
It’s ridiculous to get into a Sabbath / Lord’s Day debate here. Everyone comes with presuppositions and that determines their interpretations of the three NT verses.
But you NEED church week in and week out, and our kids will see where our priorities lie and REMEMBER.
Sports, even if you’ve got Olympic talent on your hands, is not worth missing the means of grace God ordained for our spiritual welfare.
i think the issue is a matter of priority. Is there is a day set apart in your life for rest/Christ/Community? I would say as Christians, we should try to do as Christ did and it was His “custom” to go to church at least one day a week.. (Luke 4:16) Of course going to church does not make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes you a lawnmower, but following the example of Christ is certainly a major requirement for Christianity. Do as Christ did! The day you “honor the Sabbath’ is secondary to the priority or spending time with Christ and the community of Christians. You do what is important to you. It’s not a matter of good people/bad people. It is a matter of consequences. To grow closer to Christ, you must do as He did. Cannot be ‘a part’ of the body, ‘apart’ from the body. Lots of people say they can grow close to God on the golf course and of course I have heard God’s name mentioned on the golf course, but generally not in worship. It is one stinking day or week, maybe two hours. For Christ’s sake (and i mean that literally) make it a priority!!!
I think this provides churches a really good opportunity. I’m trying to process the idea of Travel Sports “Chaplins” for families in our church who participate in travel sports. We also encourage families to watch our church online watch.newlife4me.com (New Life Online Campus). That has been a really good thing for our Church and families.
About familydiscipleshippath
My husband, Tim, and I have been married for 17 years and have 3 great children. Our girls are 13 and 11 and the baby boy is 9. We have been living in Redding, CA and serving at Risen King Community Church since August, 2000. I serve as the Family Ministries Pastor. As a mom and a pastor, I represent both the church and the home and am on a journey of discovering and communicating practical ways the church and family can partner together to guide the young ones in our lives to know and love Jesus and live their lives(their whole lives) in light of that love. This article has a good point However how can a lady claim to be a pastor in GOD’s Church? 1st Timothy 2:12 forbids women to be over men.
Paul said that not Jesus. These letters to the church. Jeeeesssh it was a culture thing. Read this…https://www.gci.org/church/ministry/women10
When we say “no” to a sports activity we are showing our own children how important Church is to us as parents. My parents struggled with this and then one day they took a stand and said that sports and other extracurricular activities will fall below Church services. Why? My Dad explained it to us this way “You do what you love” If you truly love the Lord you will choose Him first. Now do I think missing an occasional service or Church activity means you don’t love God, no, but my parents wanted us to learn how important Church, and don’t forget ministry, was and is in the Christians life. Now that I have my own children I carry on the same principle with them, because it worked in my own heart.
Thank you for this honest and insightful article. As a children’s pastor for many years, I have seen sports elevated to a position over church and God in people’s lives. That makes sports an idol. While missing church once in a while is not a problem, Christian parents should take a stand against sports games consistently on Sundays. If they did, things would change. The reason they don’t shows where their priorities lie. When my adult children were young, they knew not to even ask me if they could participate in a sport that would keep them out of church. The answer was always no. I know I’m stepping on toes here, but what is more important, that your child participate in everything or that he develops a close relationship with Jesus Christ.
Maybe someone else said this already, but if there were 20 other families from church there on the field with you on a Sunday morning, didn’t you kind of like have church? So many families from the church body with similar aged kids, all with a common interest? A great way to find community. To find “church” and grow together on the field and in the pews.
We had a better world when Sunday was church going and family time. Now Sunday belongs to coaches and sports. If your kid doesn’t go to practice or a game then for the most part they are in trouble with the coach. Kids have so many sports activities till they and their parents seem to be exhausted on Sunday’s if they don’t have to go to practice or a game. I wish there were coaches who think Sunday is a day for church or family. We are raising a generation who will grow up thinking that church is of no consequence. What will we say someday when we get to the Great White Throne Judgment? Sorry Lord but I had to coach or practice or I had to take my kid to a game. Wonder how he will answer? We the parents are to blame for not putting God first. We raise what we are. How are we?
My brother has 2 sons who were very dedicated to baseball from peewee to select leagues in high school. If and when the boys toured w these teams the coach knew up front the stand my brother made- church comes first. Sunday mornings my brothers family found a near by congregation and worshipped with them. The coach knew up front that my brothers children would not be there Sunday morning. Today these boys are now preaching from pulpits and leading congregational singing, fine leaders in and out of the church services. Take a stand people! Our children’s lives depend on it!!
I think people overthink things; especially when they feel guilty. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” “Let your conscience [read: the Holy Spirit] be your guide.” If you’d RATHER attend sports than church, then: 1) your heart is in the wrong place, and/or 2) you may be in the wrong church. If you’d rather be in church, but NEED to be somewhere else, do what you’ve got to do, and get back as soon as you can. Sin is always in the intent of the heart, not the action itself. You can always take church with you. Be an example to the team. Ask if you can pray with them. If there’s other Christians there, have a mini-service together (sing a song or two, read a couple verses that apply to being a good sport or something like that, and pray together). Be thoughtful and creative. “There’s more than one way to bake a cake.”
Well said Sim!!
Take the struggle with missing church on Sunday, and multiply that greatly for those of us who have decided to follow a biblical (Fri pm to Sat pm) Sabbath. Very few things are NOT on Friday night or Saturday.
I don’t bring this up to debate what day is the Sabbath – while there is only one right answer, each needs to decide this for themselves – but just to point out how difficult it can be sometimes to be obedient, to struggle with things like this. All we can do is walk with God, ask Him to direct us, to continue to circumcise our hearts, and move in the direction He points us.
And it’s not really about “going to church.” It’s about honoring the Sabbath. They aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Having grown up playing little league baseball, and looking forward to my boys playing, it was quite a shock to my system when I realized that they wouldn’t be playing IF I wanted to be obedient to my current understanding of God’s Word. I had a choice to do what I felt like God was showing me, or doing my own thing (placing myself over God, and ultimately teaching my children to do the same). It made me stop and think about whether their playing baseball was what I wanted them to do, rather than what they might want to do. And from a long-term perspective, how important was playing baseball anyway? Is the only way to learn “teamwork” by inconveniencing the entire family so that one person could play a sport?
All of this points back to being deliberate in our decision-making. “What would God want us to do?” “Am I honoring God and His Word in what I decide?” Rather than just doing what I want, and calling it “okay.”
My oldest loves basketball. The coaches he’s had to this point have not required that he be at the Friday night practices or games (one of two players on the team that observe Sabbath). This may become more difficult as he gets older, and I believe the coach has the right to say “you either need to be here, or not be on the team.” And then we’ll act accordingly. Some will call this legalism. Except that legalism is defined as “making up your own rules.” It would be much easier to do things my way. Wanting to do the right thing, want to be more righteous than the Pharisees (defined as having a converted heart that is then revealed in our actions), I call it obedience, and putting God first… the best I know how, to what He has revealed to me so far.
Remember the man who gave a banquet and sent his servants out to invite the guests and each one had an excuse, something more important as to why they couldn’t come. The man was angered and said to his servants to go into the byways and highways and compel others to come to the feast. In our hearts we know the answer. The Holy Spirit is our witness to this. We need to hear the still small voice of the LORD and not make our actions fit the gospel. the gospel must fit our actions. Church is very important. I regret some things that hurt my children in their early years. Hearing God’s voice will set all records straight. cwgministries.org (How to Hear God’s Voice).
There’s a much bigger issue here that you simply can’t see because you’re so caught up in your narrow view of “spiritual development”. To you, it seems clear that the spiritual development of your child entails him becoming indoctrinated into Christianity, and presumably into a rather narrow sub-sect of that religion.
Perhaps it would be better to think outside the box a little? Give your child – scary as this may sound – the freedom to choose his own religious path, rather than worrying about parking his rear in a pew of one particular church every Sunday morning?
You’ve chosen Chrhstianity as your own religious worldview, for whatever reasons (hopefully not because you, too, were simply indoctrinated into it from a young age). Why not give your child his own opportunity to choose, when he reaches an age old enough for such big decisions to be made?
In the meantime, you could be a bigger and better person by exposing your child to a range of spiritual options, trusting that he will make a sensible decision when the time is right.
I notice you said you counted 20 other families that weren’t’t in church thAt day as well. What if those other 20 families were up set because they were hoping you would have said no Because they might have been unafraid to say there selves. See I myself was recently apart of a church sports fest. The only problem was four out of the six pastor’s broke every rule and regulation that they themselves set. Everyone wanted to say something, and everyone was thinking what everyone else was thinking. So I said what everyone was thinking and wanted to say yet we’re to afraid to say it. I said our Christianity is seen in the smallest details we do. So how is it that you break every rule for the sake of wining and allow your testimony to be tarnished. You set the rules and then break them and see nothing wrong with that. Yes it made the some of them mad but being that we followed every rule and regulation it upset me that leadership was the first to break the rules they themselves set. Sometimes people are looking for that one person to say no so they can support them and stand with them. So just maybe they were hoping for a leader to help them say no and didn’t get one. I agree with the woman earlier that said life is to short and that God wants us to obey. The world is full of people that go with the flow. It’s time we stood up for obedience. My wife and I don’t allow anything to take us away from Sunday morning. The only thing is just like this past Sunday son was sick and needed someone to stay with him in which he asked me to stay with him. Which we did our little Sunday morning Sunday school. The two of us together. I work as an assistant to my pastor and a missionary. So I want my actions to show what I believe with no compromise to anything. So like I said earlier just a thought.
Sports has always been a very vital and impactful source in my life. Like anything you work hard in, you must make some sacrifices along the way. I played on an AAU travel team and I would miss some Sunday’s at church because of it. I felt as though this never impacted my spiritual growth because becoming a well rounded person is very important. I think sports are an amazing way to glorify God for the gifts He has given us. You can be a testimony on the court, probably a lot more than you can be in church. I think it is key that we don’t judge and turn away from those who might miss church here and there. We should never question them as to why but love them and be happy when they are there. Sports are not a negative thing, and if we started looking at our gifts as gifts from God, I feel like we would all look at this differently. Just as a pastor is given a gift to speak, an athlete has been given the gift to use their arhleticism for God’s glory.
Folks, we are never going to grow the body of Christ if we are bickering, judging, condemning our own. Everyone has a valid point of view, until you cross the line of condemning or judging. As one previous person said, if a non believer reads these comments, that person will want nothing to do with Christ. As another person said, we need to be careful not to place the worship of our convictions, etc.. over the worship of our Lord and savior. The scripture was not meant to be used to judge or condemn others. Scripture was used to give us a moral compass, applications for life use, and how to be the light, spread the light, and live in the light. For all intense purposes, it looks different to all of us and that is ok. God speaks to every one of us not in the same way, but in different ways. God is literally my co-pilot in the morning. When I get in the car to go to work, he is in the seat next to me waiting for conversation. For others it is different. But I don’t judge them or condemn because it’s not the same as me. God doesn’t call all us to the same purpose, God calls us individually to a HIS unique purpose. As followers of Christ we share in the body of Christ, we share in the common goal of bringing in the harvest from the seeds of Christ that we have planted in those who started out not knowing who he was. Again, maybe for some that is being the first person someone see’s when they walk in the church doors, for others that is the example set on the sports field on a Sunday or not on a Sunday. For others it is stepping out of the churches four walls and ministering to those who are sick, lost or lonely. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, GREAT things happen. Folks we are the church Monday – Sunday. Worship, praising, praying, living, helping to heal, to bringing grace, light and salvation is not just a one day a week type of thing. I think that is where some are getting lost in this. We as God’s children are called to live the fruits of the spirit EVERY day, not just one. Honestly who care when the Sabbath is? Serioulsy if we are going to argue this, than we are no different than the pharisee out on the street corner saying how good he is for following the law. If you remember they hated Jesus because he was such a radical. How radical are we if we are leaving comments and condemning others because they don’t live like us? Think about it… Lets get back to the basic’s… Being a follower of Christ is not a selfish thing. In other words it is not about us… It is about God and living his purpose in our lives which is saving the lost and bring God ALL of the glory.
Very well said, sgrable. All of our actions, all of our thoughts, all of our speech(including our prayers) are to be according to the will of and to the glory of God.
I guess I am blessed that I do not have to decide, our church holds several masses at different times of the day. I believe most churches do this in our area. I would speak to the leader(s) of your church and ask that they consider having a few Sunday morning masses as well as an evening mass.
I think that this is a very serious issue.
Grandkids both play sports on Saturday and Sundays, which were always reserved for faith, family and rest. These kiddos are pushed to the limits at school during the week and practices and homework at night. I am concerned about down time for the youngsters and families. The stress level in this country is so high and these issues are not helping. Long ago, Wednesdays were reserved for families of faith, as well. I truly hope that this will not continue and adults will see the harm that comes from “no home life”….
I believe the main issue is having an idol, rather than focusing what day Sabbath is. You spend the most time doing the things you care most about. If you don’t “have time” to attend church or be together as a family then sports/work/school (you fill in the blank) _____________ is taking over and becoming an idol. For those who say we work in a quick devo before the game, that is a great step in the right direction. However, if you are working to squeeze in “God time” between games then I ask, what are your priorities? I think we should center our lives around Christ and then let other things fall into place where there is room not the other way around.
It appears you have defined “church” as the Sun morning Service. The key to your family’s spiritual success is your family. I’ve been through this and feel for you, but you can be involved in your local church heavily and miss 20 Sundays a year in my opinion. Just don’t neglect the Christian walk.
Quick and easy… if your kid has a chance to go pro, then yes you can be on a competitive team that plays all the time (hint: if your kid is 13 and hasn’t been scouted by colleges, he/she isn’t going pro… if there is another kid in the league who is better than your kid, then your kid isn’t going pro). If you insist on letting your kid miss church for sports then your kid needs to dedicate 2+ hours at some other point during the week to Bible study (self-directed and diligent). If they aren’t willing to do that (or if you have to force them to do it) then they need to be in church more than on the sports team.
A lot of families will say, “well, they can get a scholarship and that will pay for college.” If you put your kid on a regular, non-travel team and they are good enough, then they will still get a scholarship and you can save the thousands of dollars you would have spent on travel sports and put it into a college fund.
I lost many good kids from my youth group to travel baseball. They didn’t build strong relationships with other teens, so when they did come to events they didn’t feel like they fit in which only made them want to miss more activities.
Sports are fun in moderation, but the author (admittedly) is spending too much time on sports when she talks about the fact that she is “forced” and “trapped”. There are a lot of things pulling our kids away from the church… one of them shouldn’t be something sanctioned by the parents. If you’re paying for the sport, then you have the right to approve or veto anything that doesn’t fit with your plan.
I never thought of having sports on Sundays was a real problem. We actually take the time to minister and reach out to others and doing it as a family makes it special. We have 1 child left in school and he is involved in Youth Group and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We are also involved in our church so not lacking the fellowship. We have been living this way for 30 years starting with my husband playing in softball tournaments, we have always had church around the campfire inviting other families to join us. My church family is where ever I go and I keep adding to it at each tournament we go to!
As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord. I love your sharing of your convictions, my thought of suggestion would be take church with you. If several families are there from church see if anyone would like to have a Bible study or offer a lesson. Being home I can incorporate God into our whole day! I feel that showing God priority in our daily lives will grow a relationship for my kids with God. So my share is that I feel you can incorporate a way to make that day still about God despite being away from church. Impress on your kids mind that it’s Sunday and Gods’s not left out. If you take the initiative to pray in the car or have bible discussion over lunch… The family and trip will be greater for it!
The scriptures tell us in Hebrews 10:25 not to forsake the assembly of the saints. To so so, saying we can reach someone for Christ, would be like a man once told me he went to the bar with a friend to convert him. He never did, and they are both now deceased. I don’t understand how we can reason when we do something against God’s will, we think we can convert others to his will.
It does not have to be Sports vs Church but rather sports with Church. Athletes church is doing this and we had a great worship service at a ball field last Sunday in Seminole, Oklahoma. We stopped all games for 30 minutes and had a service with music , Athletes sharing testimonies, and a short devotional story from our free mobile app. The world today will not stop on Sunday. Sports, airports, restaurants, hospitals,etc. will all keep people from attending a building. Church is not a building but rather the people and Jesus said “Go into the world and preach the Gospel to all creation” Mark 16:15
This was a great article. Personally my spouse and I took the stand with our kids and did not, except one time with our youngest daughter, allow them to play on club or Traveling teams, just for that fact. We would miss Sunday morning services at church.
I will say the one time we did allow it, we got so far out of the loop with our church family, that it took awhile to get back on track.
Besides if we would allowed it, we would not been able to enjoy our pool and the family time at home. Our children grew up just fine without being on a traveling team or club team and learned the value of family.
It is disheartening when you see pastors falling into that trap of sports and pour themselves into their children, even to the point where they don’t have time to stop and talk to you because they are rushing or skipping out of church for this very reason, being pressured to be there for the team on a Sunday.
It all stems, and it is a shame, the the pressure really comes from the local schools, when it comes to sports. The demand to play all year round is far to great for young kids and they get burned out to quickly. It is a shame the local schools have the much influence not only on your chlidren but the church and should not that be just the opposite. The church should be influencing the school and the kids and keep them from falling into sports trap.
Early on in my ministry I had a family whose son played both baseball and basketball on the high school team and traveling teams. One Sunday, after they had missed multiple Sundays, which started as just one here and there and became more over time, the parents came to me and asked why their son doesn’t like coming to church and why he was becoming jaded to church. I just asked them one question……why would your son take the fellowship of believers (church) seriously if you don’t? They of course didn’t like that and made many excuses for not coming. Over time, they came back seeing the error they had made and guilt really hit them hard. They are back in church but their son is not.
1) Parents must realize that a children’s biggest influence is them. ReThink group did a study years ago with the help of the Fuller Youth Institute that showed the biggest influence in a child’s life is mom and dad. If mom and dad don’t take church/Christianity/Jesus etc., seriously, why would they?
2) Church attendance is important. First, why would Jesus establish the church through Peter, then lead Paul to plant church after church after church, then through many people throughout history plant more churches? God knew we NEEDED the fellowship of believers for 3 reasons…..1)to worship God together with our brothers and sisters, 2) to be take care of…..all of us have burdens that need to be carried by others, 3)to carry someone else’s burdens. That’s hard to do at a soccer/baseball/basketball tournament every Sunday. Not because Jesus can’t work through people there, but those environments are not set up for that. They are set up for recreation and athletics. Hebrews 10:25 tells us to “not give up meeting together”. The Greek word for “give up” means abandon. That means we aren’t to miss those gatherings because people NEED us. We are responsible for each other. We is greater than me.
3) We really need to quit with the “don’t judge” line. It is by far the most overused line by Christians today. We are so afraid of helping people see their sin for fear of being labeled as judgmental. Sure, there are people who are, but we all, even me, could use more people in my life who aren’t afraid to help open my eyes to any sinful behavior.
Finally, I asked a friend of mine once why he NEVER misses a Sunday. His response to me was, “Because, you never know what God’s going to do.” That’s something to keep in mind before we head off to another weekend athletic competition.
Now I don’t have kids in sports yet but I have already decided that Sunday will be church day. I grew up where you did not miss church unless we were sick or something. By time I was a teenager I was begging to go to church and I could not wait to be with my friends and church family and sing worship. I want my child and maybe someday children to wake up excited to go to church where they want it as a first choice. I feel if its not consistent, it could change the desire to put church first. Just my opinion of course. Also I wonder how can I teach my child the importance of church and then be okay with skipping it, even if its for a season. Church should not be seasonal. Its part of a lifestyle, not a hobby. That might make people mad but its just my feelings on it. Obviously the way I was raised plays a big part in it 🙂
Now I don’t have kids in sports yet but I have already decided that Sunday will be church day. I grew up where you did not miss church unless we were sick or something. By time I was a teenager I was begging to go to church and I could not wait to be with my friends and church family and sing worship. I want my child and maybe someday children to wake up excited to go to church where they want it as a first choice. I feel if its not consistent, it could change the desire to put church first. Just my opinion of course. Also I wonder how can I teach my child the importance of church and then be okay with skipping it, even if its for a season. Church should not be seasonal. Its part of a lifestyle, not a hobby. That might make people mad but its just my feelings on it. Obviously the way I was raised plays a big part in it 🙂 Also I konw sometimes vacations happen and things come up. Every once in a while reality is church will be missed.
We just say No to the Sunday games. We make an effort to play with our children more, and sports are just not as important to us.
This has been a dilemma with Christian families for quite a while now. I remember only going to church or visiting family or family visiting us on Sundays. My own family did the same for a while. My husband was not a Christian during many of those years but would wait for us to get home before going somewhere. He watched my choices while he was a sinner, and would sometimes question, “Are you going to church?” Or “Aren’t you going to church “. The world watches what we put first in our lives. If we want to be a witness for Jesus, shouldn’t we be faithful to him. We have to choose for ourselves. I didn’t always choose to go to church. Sometimes I chose the activity. Guess I have to ask myself, Am I the reason my kids don’t commit to church like they should.
And how many kids, even if they Never miss a practice or a game , are going to end up a professional or even a college athlete? And truly, if they’re that good, will missing a game for church hinder them?
A question of your heart. Based on your relationship with God.
Make it Your decision! Not that the world pushed you into it.
I can almost promise that if Catholics and Baptist said, “My child won’t be at practice until after church,” practice would not begin until after noon. Just look at the numbers.
As a coach of one of the most successful travel ball teams anywhere having won two World Series and several state championships I have to agree it still bothers me to miss on Sunday . There is not a Sunday in the last 32 years of coaching I do not feel conviction of missing church , yes you can worship at the field it is just not the same, it is sad but it is just one more way our society has pushed Christ to the back burner for the sake of money and pleasure , God have mercy on me and please pray for all of us in this situation that we would do what is pleasing to our Lord
Jeff. Do you really feel this way? I also used to coach, and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world, not just for what I could offer my guys, but the lessons i learned about myself throughout the process.
What about the life long relationships you’ve built with members of your teams that would not have been possible through traditional church interaction? Don’t let others define what ministry is to you. I’m not hating against church, because i’ve also been a beneficiary of having attended, but rather asking people to really think about life from a broader perspective. Church is just once a week and often the interactions are less than genuine. You practice, battle, sweat, teach life lessons, correct, laugh, cry, and fight with your team far more frequently. That is a real relationship where real progress can be made. Its all about how you frame it and what your ultimate goal is.
To me growth is the key. Just offering a different perspective.
What about life long relationships? Can they not be made with 6 days each week, or 5 days each week or even with 1 day each week.
I agree that we shouldn’t allow others to define what ministry is and nor should you be allowed to define ministry.
God worked 6 days and then rested, sanctified the sabbath day and made it holy. He calls us to trust and obey him.
You suggest that you need 7 days to accomplish your purposes. Can you say, “not my will but your will be done?” Are you confident to speak on behalf of our creator, the very one who upholds you and sustains you, and define what his holy word instructs us to do?
“A real relationship with real progress”??? Are you speaking in terms of temporal progress or eternal? In relationship with who for what?
What is your ultimate goal?
Lord have mercy on all of us.
My goal is to help people bridge the natural and the supernatural in real and practical ways. God put us on this earth to serve and to be served by each other, not merely as a pass through as we await heaven. My experiences with my fellow brothers and sisters in church hasn’t been terrible, but for the most part it has been dismissive of our experience here on earth, and overly concerned with the prize of heaven, which to me shows a degree of spiritual immaturity. My concern is for the plethora of “church” families that are broken because one or both of the parents are overly concerned with church involvement as opposed to nurturing and molding their children, (which can be done in a number of ways, in conjunction with church). We just have to be careful not to make an idol of our church going.
I’m not sure how you deduce that i need 7 days to accomplish “my” purpose, but I’ll let that one slide. Who is to say that God didn’t purpose for a coach to do exactly what he is doing? There are thousands of professional athletes who have had to dedicate a significant portion of their weekends to their sport growing up who still love God and serve him whole-heatedly. Please don’t disqualify them because they may not attend church regularly. My goal is to see people truly set free from the rigid mold that poorly interpreted religion often brings and live their lives directed by Gods spirit. Shouldnt that be our ultimate goal? Does regular church attendance trump a spirit lead life? My goal is to foster real relationships with each other and with Christ, and to see the church grow (mature) spiritually.
“We just have to be careful not to make an idol of our church going.” Well said. I couldn’t have said it better. I think there needs to be a healthy respect for those who think “outside of the box” when it comes to ministering, attending, and serving. What I am seeing in several of these comments, replies, etc… is “if you don’t attend on Sunday, than how do you grow” or “If you don’t attend on Sunday, than it affects your church attendance and your spiritual life.” OR “if you don’t go to church on Sunday and you choose sports, than you are a sinner.” It drives me crazy that those who have commented hold themselves to a higher esteem than every one else. If that is there conviction, than great and good for them. But understand it is not everyone conviction.
I applaud those who think outside of the box or outside of the four walls. I am head football coach. I live my life the same whether I am in church or out side of church. My life is example on how to be a follower of Christ any where I go. For those who are on traveling teams with games on Sundays and are having a worship service before a game etc.. they are still making God a priority on Sunday. What does it matter if it is in a building or in a ball park of some sort? Are we less a follower of Christ because we did not spend Sunday inside the four walls of a church? Seriously I am tired of seeing cutting comment and judgment one right after another for those who miss Sundays, but prepare in other ways before games to worship. Why must you all judge and criticize? Are you God? Will you be the one sitting on the right hand of God helping to judge who is righteous and who is not? Seriously HOW DARE YOU!! If you have a conviction about being in church every Sunday than great!! But like I said, it is not everyone’s conviction.
My church has generational worship once a month. Meaning on these Sundays ALL Kids are in with their parents. We choose to stay home on these Sundays because my kids are very active. My wife and I get nothing from church on these Sunday’s because our kids are very busy in the pew. Rather we spend time together as a family on these particular Sundays. My children will eventually learn to sit in “big peoples” church, but until then as long as their is children’s church, they will go there. Am I raising my kids poorly because I choose not to duct tape them to the pew during adult worship? Trust me when they are ready, they will be ready. My oldest just had his first Sunday in adult church, because he was old enough to understand.
When I was a kid and we went on vacation, we did attend church only if it was where our family lived. If we went some place where it was just us, we didn’t attend. My parents knew my sister and I were not comfortable in a unfamiliar church. So we didn’t go.
There have been a ton of good idea’s about those who have sports on Sundays. Some have said it a only a season and they make sure there is some type of worship service before hitting the ball field. There are others who have expressed that they worship all through the week. I ask and beg those who are strict Sunday attenders to not criticize or judge those of us who have a different conviction or idea’s about bring Jesus outside the walls of the church.
We go to Worship not “to get”, but “to give”……. We give of our time, affection, praise and Worship to God. Even if the kids are “rowdy”, God is still God and worthy of all generational praise. They don’t have to be adults to Worship with other adults or for the spirit to take hold of them. By choosing “something else” over Worship, you have then placed something else before God and have created an idol. We all do it, so don’t be offended. We all have idols that we battle against.
So are you and others being respectful, sensitive, understanding and loving toward those believers who have the conviction to Honor the Sabbath Day? The Sabbath Day, not Church. Or, are they put into a “dismiss them” category because they are not “committed”? Any idea how many moms or dads regret being put in a position where they have to choose? Being asked to choose between God and man?
We are a very athletic family with one playing college sports right now. We are asked all the time about playing on travel teams and have to address this “conflict” on a regular basis year after year.
Mr Brantley, Do you have two rowdy boys? Maybe you do and maybe you don’t. You don’t know me so don’t assume that I go to church “to get”. Most Sundays I am up on the platform helping lead worship or being part of the orchestra. And when I am not, I am sitting in the congregation worshiping with my wife. I am well aware of where our hearts should be on any given Sunday. So thanks for the reminder. ON generational Sundays it is simply to much to contain two “rowdy” (active) boys to give or get. We are more of a distraction to others more than anything. So we choose to have devotions at home and spend the day together as a family. Didn’t God himself create the family? The world would want us to believe different these days right? I have spent most of my life serving God in some type of ministry capacity whether it be at church, on the road traveling all over the midwest with a group or being a coach on the field to 40 kids some of who have a horrible home life or some type of camp counselor, ministering to men who struggle in their marriages. You don’t know me, so don’t make assumptions. I shouldn’t have to lay out my “service” resume to you, but I choose to so that you know I am more than qualified to have an opinion on this topic. I even mentioned in my reply that everyone is allowed to have their opinion and live by their OWN convictions.
I have not judged, dismissed, or disrespected anyone in his forum. IN fact I have been completely opposite of what you have assumed about me. I have stated multiple times that each and everyone is entitled to their opinion. Each and everyone should live to the convictions that God has laid on their heart. Where I draw the line, is where I am being judged or criticized for my opinions or personal convictions or assumptions are being made as you have done. For your information by the way I have missed two Sundays in the last two years because of sports.
You want to throw the guilt card out there about fathers who feel bad about missing Sundays, well what about those who have no choice? I know plenty of RN’s for example that have to work Sundays. Are you implying that they should put the welfare of their family on the line because they miss a Sunday here and there? I don’t think you are and I trust you are understanding of that. By the way that point has been brought up several times of which no one has an answer.
So let me be clear. Not everyone is the same here. WE can all agree to disagree with love and mutual respect. But throw the judgement and assumptions out the door.
Good question. My mom, sister and wife are nurses. My wife misses many Sundays each year and so does my sister. We could have her avoid Sundays and defer those days to pagan nurses? Hm…..but we don’t. We don’t believe it is sinful for her to perform acts of mercy or neccesity on the Lord’s Day. We don’t believe its wrong or sinful for the surgeons to perform surgeries on those days if necessary. She really hates missing corporate Worship but she does. God called her to be a nurse and that is what she does.
I own a real estate company.
Is it good or necessary for me to sell real estate on the Lord’s Day?
Some might argue that its good but is it necessary? I don’t think it is. I can do it the other 6 days of the week and that is what I do. I “rest” from my worldly work and recreations in Honor of the Sabbath Day. I’ve been called to be a real estate broker and I perform those duties during the week. My wife cares for and ministers to the sick and needy any day of the week including Sunday. This is good.
We believe in acts of necessity and mercy on the Lord’s Day. We believe it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
In Matthew 12:1-13 Jesus discusses this very topic when he says, if your sheep falls into a pit, shall you not pull it out? Jesus then healed a withered hand on the Sabbath Day. He then goes on to say, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil, to save a life, or to kill?
Caring for the sick and needy is good and necessary
Providing electric power to the hospital is good and necessary
Putting out a house fire is good and necessary
Helping someone in a car accident is good and necessary
Playing an organized sanctioned baseball game is ???
Playing an organized sanctioned soccer game is ???“
Isaiah 58:13-
If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
then you shall take delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I do believe how we honor the Sabbath Day does become a matter of conscious and conviction. I think some things are obvious and others are left to ones conscious. What may be sinful for one, may not be for someone else.
A plain disregard for this day is a problem in todays society and many a professing christian has compromised this to the point that it is becoming just another day of the week.
Mr. Brantley,
So God called some of us to be a coach. You categorize being a nurse and working on Sunday as showing acts of mercy, but we coaches aren’t doing the same with kids who have terrible home lives? Have you ever worked with some of these kids? I could tell you story after story of kids who have bad home lives or no father figure at all. I could tell you a story of a kid who started the season out cussing me up one side and down the other and by the end of the season was crying because he was going to miss me. This kid now is getting straight A’s and is a leader amongst his peers. Rather than kicking him off of the team, I showed him love, MERCY, and extended him some grace. Amazing what that will do for someone especially a kid.
As far as you being a business owner. Hey that is great. Good for you. I also appreciate businesses that close their doors on Sunday. But to me rest means many different things and takes on many different forms. I don’t think me going for a walk or playing with my kids or doing some yard work is going to stop me from walking in the gates. I enjoy yard work and it relaxes me. Coaching on a Sunday here and there, again it is what God has called me to do amongst many other things. I will gladly bring church to those who don’t attend on a Sunday or honor the Sabbath. Let me add this there are many that believe the Sabbath is on Saturday. Sunday technically is the first day of the week not the last.
I also believe that it is good to show acts of mercy on the Sabbath; but you are categorizing what is good, necessary, and lawful on the Sabbath and what is not according to your convictions. You go on to mention four examples out of many that you believe that is good, necessary, and lawful.
Finish the next four sentences with “because it is the Sabbath”…. Like any good person would let a house burn on a Sunday. No company is ever going to cut electricity to anyone on a Sunday. No good person would just pass by someone who was hurt under any circumstance any day of the week. My friend you need to jump out of your box and see that the whole world is hurting and needs Jesus every day and not just Monday – Saturday. So if that means that someone whether it is a parent or a child see’s Jesus in me at a sanctioned sporting event on a Sunday, than guess what? The Body of Christ is going to grow because of it. We plant a seed and we water it, then we harvest it. For us coaches who know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, we look at coaching as a chance to minister to kids and their parents. Have you ever sat down and interviewed a coach who is a follower of Christ? You should as it might open your eyes a bit.
I once was a terrible husband and father. Without going into detail, I will tell you that Jesus saved my life. I was raised in the church, but let sin into my life. I decided that I was done with God. God hadn’t answered any of my prayers AS I SAW FIT. I turned my back on God and thus my life started down a very dark road for about a year and half. It was one event that saved my life thanks to my wife making a very tough decision that I was not able to make. Jesus saved me, changed me and made me a new creation in him in an instant. Because of that experience, I see the world a whole different way. I see the lost and those who don’t know Jesus a whole different way. I am a beautiful mess. God has used my brokenness to minister to others.
My friend you can throw scripture my way all you want. I am well aware of what God’s word says about anything and everything. If you want to sling scripture around, then I am not the person who will get into that battle. I believe when we do that, we are using scripture in the wrong way. Scripture is our very breath and existence. We should use it as that, but not to put someone in their place.
I finish with this. You said and I quote… “I do believe how we honor the Sabbath Day does become a matter of conscious and conviction. I think some things are obvious and others are left to ones conscious. What may be sinful for one, may not be for someone else.” That is contradictory to what you said in the previous paragraphs. My friend if you truly think that and believe that, then respect those of us who do what we do sometimes on Sunday not because we are ignoring the Sabbath, but because we are bringing Jesus to those who don’t see it the six other days a week. Maybe they are not physically sick, but they are spiritually sick and they need out of necessity the hands and feet of Jesus. Just like your Mom, your Wife, and your Sister are doing on Sunday for the sick.
To that, i will stand and say Amen. Thank you sir for those words. That is real and authentic worship.
All God and I give him the glory!!
There is but one bridge between the natural and supernatural and that is Christ.
We have been called to Glorify God and to enjoy him forever. We have not been called to think “outside the box” but to be think according to his Word. To Obey. Jesus calls us to Love the Lord thy God with all our heart, soul, strength and might. And, Love our neighbor as ourselves. To forsake the public gathering of the Saints…to forsake the private and public Worship of God….to forsake his Psalms & Praises…to forsake the sacraments….to treat the Sabbath as any other day…..to encourage “my kids” to forsake these things to attend (baseball, soccer, basketball)?
I would suggest that most everything we do is a form of idolatry if its not loving God first and our neighbor second. We have many, many idols of which sports is a big one. So is work, family, recreation etc. etc. We have 6 kids and one is currently playing division II athletics and yes, we’ve idolized sports and battle this idol every day, every week and every year. We also “rest” on the Sabbath from our worldly work, words and recreations (although not perfectly) and focus on the public and private exercises of his Worship and in the duties of neccesity and mercy. We have less idols on this day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you think Sports is an idol?
My daughter did not play Sunday organized sanctioned sports and she is now playing at college on an athletic scholarship. It’s the “Christians that don’t attend Worship” that have been the biggest “challenge” for our family. Those that choose not to Honor the Sabbath Day and treat it differently….. and then treat us differently if we don’t concede to their schedule and understanding of Worship & the Sabbath Day. Coaches like you (from one sinner to another)
I don’t see the gathering of the Saints in public Worship to read Gods word, sing his praises, pray and partake in the Lords Supper as idolatry. We should do this everyday because his is worthy of our time, praise and devotion. Is he not worthy, especially on the Sabbath?
And yes, we take Jesus with us outside the church walls. We worship him as he calls us to do and then we share the Good news (imperfectly). We have six additional days to work, play and share the good news with “our neighbors”, friends, family, soccer moms, soccer dads…..etc
Of course, God does not need us to accomplish anything. He is in control. He is God. All things work together for our good and his Glory. Because he first loved us, we seek to love him by doing what he commands.
Wow Bryant. I’ll start by saying that I have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone with 6 kids, and i can imagine that it takes quite a bit of structure in order to get anything done well in your household, So i can see why you would lean toward a more structured form of worship. I get that, and I have a lot more i could say but let me just share with you a personal story::
When i was in college, i started developing these painful stye’s in my eye. I’m not sure if you are familiar with what they are, but they are like huge pimples that harden on the inside of the upper and lower eyelids. I dealt with these bad boys for years and tried every remedy to get rid of them, from hot and cold compresses, to meticulous cleanliness, all with marginal results. I even had two or three surgeries to have them removed, but they just kept coming back. Then one night, i looked over at a sermon dvd my friend had given me a while back to watch. So i stopped what i was doing and popped it in. Somewhere in the middle of the sermon, a tremendous conviction came over me, so I got down on my knees and poured out my heart to God and repented for what he was convicting me of. I am not an emotional guy, but that night, the tears were flowing uncontrollably. I grew up in the church, but this was the first time I’d ever experienced anything like this. I must have spent a good 30 mins praying that night. The next morning was a normal day, i went to go shower, and in the process, i looked in the mirror. I had to do a double take because what i saw was unbelievable. The two solid stye’s on my upper left eyelid and the newly forming stye on my bottom right eyelid had COMPLETELY disappeared.
You see, I was one of those good boys, who did my best to obey, was nice to everybody, went to church, didn’t curse, drink, sleep around, .. etc…. but that previous night, God had convicted me of a deep, inner self righteousness and pride that kept me from truly understanding the magnitude of God’s grace. He opened my eyes to see clearly the hidden darkness in my heart. From then on, God’s word took on a completely different meaning, and God continued to show me areas in my life that were impure. A relationship had formed and i began to desire spiritual things as part of who i was. Whereas before, it was something that i did, and could turn off and on like a switch.
I began to realize that nothing i did could make God love me more or less. That understanding helped me to connect with people in ways i could never have done before. Listen to my heart bro, this is where we want our children to be, fully immersed in a willful and natural desire for God, not birthed out of obligation, but of true love. If we trust God and serve him this way, our children will naturally follow in our footsteps.
That is beautiful Ko. Amen
PTL KO!! Awesome!! God is good!!
20 families from the same church at a soccer game on a Sunday morning… sounds like an opportunity for those 20 families to bond and get to know each other creating their own community in which they can share with one another.
Been there. Been the coach!
Time to get out of our upper room mentality and go Acts 2: Organize a brief service at the field. And when will churches set up a free Gatorade tent for families missing church featuring two or three 15 minute worship services with/led by a local pro or college players??? Get out into the crowd.
We didn’t allow our son to play baseball for this very reason. We chose soccer and in addition, my husband coached which gave us the ability to set the practice night too (so many baseball games are on Wed. too). Win win. Matt 6:33. We also as a family went to worship on vacation too. It let the kids know how important it is and also meet lots of great people in the body of Christ.
I have not read all the comments but I agree with the writer of this article. I think too many people who have commented are making excuses for not being in church. The Sabbath can be celebrated on any day that you choose, which is a day of rest but most of the time church services are only offered on Sunday and the Bible clearly says for believers to be in church-if not it is a slippery slope. Sports are very important but do not need to be during church. Our baseball league does not start games until after church(noon on Sundays)
This is a great article because it has opened up a good debate, but at the same time it is kind of sad. I don’t understand why we have been so conditioned to believe we are “supposed” to worship God in a particular way. Aren’t we the church regardless of where we are? Does the Holy Spirit not lead individuals to be moved in very specific ways? This idea that our young children will be lost if they don’t attend church regularly is a dangerous and dismissive notion. Does anyone care to look at the lives of the children who were born and raised in the church? If you take a good look at those statistics, you will see that its not regular church attendance that makes the difference, it is the parents, and their understanding of the needs of their child. Every child is different, some need to be given more freedom while others need more structure in everything they do. Many people underestimate the importance of parents studying their children, and overemphasize the importance of regular church attendance.
Secondly, what is our measure for success here? Is the barometer solely designed to measure church attendance as an adult? Because I and many others can attest to the fact that church attenders are often no better off spiritually than non attenders. In fact, there are a large contingent of people in church who are there simply to mask some serious emotional deficiencies that would likely not exist if their parents understood more about parenting. How about the measure of love in a persons heart? What about the character of the individual? Are these children growing up more or less selfish? Are they capable of building, maintaining, and nurturing their own families? In my opinion, these things serve as much better indicators of spiritual leadership.
To be frank, some parents simply need to hang up their sunday best, put on some shorts, and go outside and bond with their children. As a lover of sport, i don’t see many better ways to teach, bond, and spend quality time with their children. Dont be conditioned by the system, because as much as we want to believe in God’s provision, we have to be wise and understand that God is not behind every movement that claims his name. He gave us children for a reason. They are our primary church family, and in today’s world they need all the attention, time, direction, and love they can receive from their PARENTS. The church is there to supplement and provides an excellent resource both for the receiver in need and for the server who sees a need. But by no means is it the end all be all. There is simply no substitute for great parenting.
Here us the issue that hurt me as a child and what I promised not to do with my child. When I was about 10 I lived with my grandparents who where die hard pentecostal. Any time the doors where open we were in the church. At that age you are still struggling with the fact of having to get up and spend 3-4 hours of your Sunday in church. I did not enjoy this as I felt I was being forced to go to church. Any adult can tell you they do not want to be forced to do something. Because of this when I got older I did not attend church. I did have a relationship with God and studied his word. Now let’s forward to this situation. I can tell you my 14 year old son is a saved christian and loves church. With that being said he is dedicated to football as it will be his tool for education. There have been numerous times we have missed church because of football. I know him well enough to say he would have been upset had he missed his game. In the back of my mind I can’t help but feel he would hold that grudge and be less likely to want to attend church as often. Church family is extremely important to us. However church does not determine your relationship with God you do. As I told my VBS class this last week. You can sit down anywhere at any time with your bible and study God’s word. You can sit and speak with him at any time about anything. You just have to believe. Most churches have worship on sunday morning and Sunday evening. If you miss one then there is usually another that day. While I love my church and would not trade it for the world I refuse to let my attendance determine my eternal fate. So many times people use church as a gossip center and a ladies fashion show so it can drive youth away as well. I have always been of the belief of not forcing God on your child but guiding and giving them the tools necessary to find God themselves. This is just my opinion and hope I did not offend anyone.
Well said Steven. Excellent perspective.
The bigger problem here is why do we, as parents and coaches, insist on applying the adult sports model to our children. Research shows that it does not make them better athletes. In fact, it lends itself to youths early retirement of sports. There is absolutely know reason that pre-adolescent children should be doing weekend long tournaments. We need to change the system.
We have our definitions mixed up. God defines Church as people and people define church as a building. The problem with church now is everybody is trying to get in a building when the real ministry is on the court, the field, the pool ect… It’s called evangelism. God gave us a commandment” to therefore and make disciples”. If I am the church I am equipped to present the gospel anywhere that I am. I am equipped to walk in God’s unconditional love, no matter where I am. So for those of us that uses this opportunities to touch the lives of those that may not ever come to “church” remember God define”Church” as people and a building.
You quoted form Matthew 28 and it was Jesus whom you quote. He said, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.
Teaching, Baptizing , Observe….ALL THE THINGS THAT I THAT I HAVE COMMANDED!
When you consider the whole counsel of God and what he commands in his Holy Word…….
Do you believe that the Preaching of the Word is important in Worship? What about Prayer, Praise, and giving of our tithes and offerings for the sake of the Gospel Ministry and to care for the sick, elderly and needy? And, since Christ is the head of the Church and he tells us to partake of the Lord’s Supper often; how often, in what manner and in what setting would you minister this most holy sacrament?
Since you believe you are the Church, I’m curious to hear your response.
We first have to be on the same page with the context….because if our context is wrong then our conclusion will be also. The word “church” is the Greek word ekklesia (Strong Concordance 1577) and it is used a 117 times in the bible and not once is it used as a building. Now the first time we see the word “church” is in Mathew 16 when Jesus tells Peter “On this rock I will build my Church” Mathew 16:18 …what rock? The revelation that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God. Now,this was a foreign word to them up to this point. What we call “church” was referred to as tabernacle, temple or synagogue. That’s why the disciples had a hard time being….they didn’t understand the what they were to become. One thing they didn’t do was build an alter and start gathering in that exact place every week. When you look at Jesus transfiguration on the mountain is Mathew 17 they wanted to build three tabernacles and they were stop.
Now let’s look at your points. I did quote Jesus and Mathew 28, now please tell me that you a need building to do all of this. Can you not make disciples outside the building? Can you not baptize outside the building? Do you only pray when your are in “church”? Worship is a lifestyle not a song! Can you give without being in a building? Can you not partake in communion at your house, restaurant ect? Going to care for the sick, elderly and the need, isn’t that evangelism? See, the problem has become that we have made disciples to only function in the building and not in real world situation. People have become so pulpit dependent that they don’t how to respond when they have to make a decision outside the 4 walls. 1 Peter 3:15 states” But sanctify the Lord God[a] in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” NKJV and 2 Timothy 4:2 says “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching.” NKJV
You can say that in Hebrews it says ” not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” ( 10:25) …but Jesus tells us in Mathew 18:20″ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” that is at the gas station, park, play ground, house, company party, field, court, pool anywhere else. See we have to understand that the lower case c “church” which is the meeting location is not how God defines His capital C “Church” which are people.
Pingback: Five for Friday: Godinterest vs. Pinterest, Church vs. Sports, Worship vs. Worship : Covenant Companion
The reason it’s a problem is because everyone else does the same thing that you did/do–goes along with the crowd. Sometimes you have to stand up for what’s right even if you’re standing alone, even if no one else does it. You can’t just wait until everyone else will put church above sports. Do it for you and your family. There is always a choice.
Childhood obesity is on the rise. As I look around my own church, I see it very prevalent in both parents and children. I think a mistake is being made to discourage sports. Weekends are the only time that many coaches and practices, along with tournaments can take place. The health and well being of our children should take precedent. Sports teaches children many things, including a health life style
Will, to suggest that the health and well being of our kids is dependent on attending weekend sports is silly. We have six kids with one currently playing college athletics on a sports scholarship. She was not allowed to play sports on the Sabbath and she is one lean mean fighting machine.
The parents have a job to instruct their children on how to eat and take care of their bodies. This is no the job of a weekend coach or any coach.
You can run, bike, swim, lift weights, hike, walk etc. etc. early in the morning, during lunch or late at night, every day of the week. This takes discipline which is what it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle. NOT A SPORT TEAM! Health is a lifestyle.
My wife and I dont play sports and we are able to run a 5K or 10K at the drop of a hat. We don’t play weekend sports. I would suggest that we are far healthier than most of the coaches we have had over the years. I might suggest that the percentage of unhealthy church members is probably close to the amount of unhealthy coaches. Playing on a sport team does not make you healthy. Your daily and weekly intake of good foods and exercise determines your health.
Honor the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy. Yet, we all seem to make excuses….
My daughter plays in the marching band. The week of homecoming is the same week as revival. I wrote and told the band director that my daughter would not be in the parade or at the home coming game due to the revival. He assigned my daughter a five page report on Beethoven since he said that homecoming was the most important game of the year. (The marching band did not even play at half time the alumni did). We were very upset at first how could he punish our daughter because she was going to church. This was the first event she has missed. Well once we calmed down with GOD’s help we wondered how to turn this in to positive. Well it is just a paper so I have helped her some. Also in the report we have wrote verses on how to get saved, why GOD is more important than anything else. We also said thank you for giving us the opportunity of bringing the Lords message to you. I just thought that sometimes we do not know how God works things out but at least we have gotten His word out to someone else.
I still stand by my initial statement. Children do need God in their lives unconditionally. With that being said they also love their extracurricular activities as well. You feel Church is the most important for them to be in on Sunday. However at the time the child may feel their activity is more important. If you force your child to attend church over their activity it could push them away from God. Then that idea works its way down the line to their children and so on. I in no way am saying sports take priority over church. What I’m saying is for the future faith of that child pick your battles and allow them to choose. There is no rule saying you cannot take your bible and have family worship between games or whatever the case may be.
But God does not reside in our lives unconditionally. The Bible says: “unless a man be born again, he shall not enter the kingdom of heaven”, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom”, “Fear him who has the ability to destroy, not just the body, but the soul”, “For the wages of sin is death”, “This is the verdict, Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness instead of the light because their deeds”,”No-one can come to me unless the father, who sent me, draws him”, “Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated”, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden”, “For you were dead in your trespasses and sin”
Sunday ball is a temporal thing and you cant compare that to eternity. Does the child have an awareness of who God is and who he is before him? Does he fear the Creator, the great I AM?
This Creator God says, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me”,”Honor the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy”, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, strength and might”.
“Do not forsake the gathering of the Saints”.
If we have: fear, respect, reverence, and love of the true and living God…… this should have an impact on what we do on the Lord’s Day. May he have mercy on us all.
What are we teaching our kids and future generations when our generation suggests that we can have church at the ball fields? Is there preaching and teaching from someone who is qualified (like the scripture requires in the book of Timothy)? Are there elders and deacons present to address the needs of the congregation, spiritually and physically? Is there administration of the sacrament with baptisms? Is there administration of the Lord’s Supper which the Bible says, to do “often”? Are we joining together, with churches near and far, present and past, along with the angelic host and singing praises to the living and true God, together as one voice – one church? Are we giving of our tithes and offerings? Are our children doing this?
Are our kids focused on eternal things or temporal things? Where is there heart?
Our kids don’t get a choice and it makes it much easier on them to handle the pressure from other athletes and coaches. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord – though imperfectly. When they grow up and become young adult, they will then make there own choices. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when they are old, they wont depart. As parents, will should train our children to fear God, to Love him, to embrace the good news in Christ Jesus, our LORD. And then, trust and obey him.
I understand perfectly what you are saying. Here is what I meant by letting them have a choice. When I was a child I was forced to attend church. Anytime the doors where open we would be there. Fast forward to adult life. Being forced to attend over other things out such animosity in my heart not toward God but for church. Therefore I did not attend church until my mid 30’s. Now I am seeing how that affected my children. Out of the 4 I have 3 are non believers. Because I had such distaste in my heart for being forced to church my children and grandchildren now suffer.
One problem that has repeatedly bothered me about many churches is the rigidness of the weekly schedule – 9 a.m., Sunday School, Church at 11:00 a.m., Sunday Night at 6 pm and prayer meeting at 7 pm on Wednesday. For years I was “stuck” with that schedule and lost out participating in many community groups and activities because just about every group around schedules meetings ALL on the SAME NIGHT – Wednesdays!!!! At the same time – 6:30 or 7 p.m. Why? What is the deal with that? Now, that means when government meetings for the local city council are on Wednesdays, or the planning commission or the zoning board of appeals, or even the local art guild, let alone sports events, are on Wednesdays, you are “forced” to choose and many churches feel if you don’t show up on Wednesdays to prayer meeting you are not a “good” church member, and you are not allowed to participate in “ministry” areas. The same problem happens if you work evenings every day – you are missing the required “prayer meeting” on Wednesday and are treated like a second class Christian – at least as a Christians whose “commitment level” to Christ is somehow suspect because you’re not there every time the church doors are open.
This problem wasn’t solved at all for me until we switched from smaller churches to a larger “mega church” of over 5,000 people with 2 services on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, over sixty “Life Groups” and Bible study Groups meeting every day of the week in homes scattered throughout our geographic area. We can now attend Saturday night services if we want to go away on Sundays. Or Sundays if we are busy Saturdays. We are not “stuck” with missing church if our schedule changes. And in our larger church, volunteers serve for 5 services on one weekend, and then are “off” for several weeks. This puts a lot more flexibility into schedules.
Now, my problem is the government office I work for wants to have meetings on Wednesdays — the same day as art guild meetings.
People have got to quit “hogging” Wednesdays and everyone trying to schedule everything the same day. There are Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays to schedule meetings. Not everything for every group needs to happen all on the same days.
Thanks for sharing this. i know it stuck not to let children play during weekend and make them sit in church. But you need to kept in mind that God is using sports to lead your family where he wanted you to be.
God can do as he pleases and can use sports to accomplish his purposes, yes. We were also created in his image with an ability to chose and make decisions. We can chose to honor God over sports or we can chose sports over our Creator God. Of all things this world has to offer, wouldn’t you say that sports is at the top of the list for dominating our time, affections, emotions etc. How much time is dedicated to the Lords work and how much time is dedicated to self? Do our children seek after Christ as much as they seek after that professional ball player, or game? Are we training our children to love the lord thy God with all our heart, and all our strength and all our might? If we spend 10 hours a week playing ball, 10 hours a week traveling to and from ball, 5 hours a week meditating on ball……. and how much time in the Word of God, loving God and neighbor, the sick, the widow, the needy? What percentage of these “evangelical athletes” who play sports on the weekends can recite the books of the Bible and even spell them correctly? Where are the hearts of these ball players? No doubt that God’s elect may very well be playing ball on Sunday’s so I’m not saying that if you play ball you are unsaved. What I’m saying is, where you spend your time and affections directly reflects where your heart is. Sports is an idol for many and one that we have battled for years in our home and continue in the battle daily, weekly, monthly etc….because the flesh is week and our desire is to love self and not God.
Hi, I have a question.
I’ve auditioned for many dance companies and was accepted for the majority of the auditions however due to financial reasons I couldn’t be an official part of any company
Until recently… however rehearsals are on every Sunday and I accepted the offer.
And every Sunday morning, I’m faced with the agonizing looks of my Dad, and he makes statements such as “hurry up, we are going to be late for church” when he knows that I have dance practise… and well of course I feel guilty.
The thing is, I meditate on God’s word every Sunday before I leave and I’ve planned to attend Evening prayer meetings, although shamefully I haven’t been to one since I started practise. Today, I overhead an argument over this between my parents.
So, my question is… What do I do? Quit dance rehearsals which are supposed to help in succeed in my dance lessons during school and go to Church to continue and develop my spiritual growth?
I think this should be a matter that you bring to God. Do not make decisions based in guilt and shame but rather in direction from God. Is there another service or youth group that you could connect with to build community and grow in your relationship with Christ? Is there a different class at a different time that you could do? Is there a different studio that would give you the option of still connecting with your church family? It is a difficult decision. I will be praying with you.
Trust and Obey for there’s no other way. Honor God, though imperfectly, and he will direct your path. Our daughter is graduating from college this semester and she secured an athletic scholarship playing basketball. We/she chose to Honor the Sabbath Day, on Sunday’s, and avoid sports and travel ball on that day. The teams grew to respect that decision and on a few occasions while “out of state” at a week long tournament in Orlando Florida, she cheered for her teammates from the bench and then we allowed her to play some that afternoon. But, we demonstrated that this was the Lord’s Day first and we did not treat that day like any other day. Maybe we should not have compromised that day but a point was made that this was the Lord’s Day first and we trust/hope that we honored God correctly in that decision. The Holy Scripture says, “Chose ye this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. …….I can also tell you that our daughters testimony had a bigger impact on those she was around, not because she “evangelized” to them but because she placed her creator before a sport team. Do remember that the Scripture is clear on this point……For I, the LORD you God, am a Jealous God….but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Now our 11 year old is playing ball and local travel sport teams have been very gracious to us and have offered to play him during the week and Saturday’s. They are respecting our decision to avoid Sunday sports and we have not been labeled us “uncommitted” although you do honestly feel a little uncommitted when you miss a game with the team. But, it gets back to, chose ye this day whom you will serve, sports or the Creator God, the God of all and in whom all things exists! Really, is this that hard of a question?
Who decided on Sunday as the “Sabbath”? Maybe you should be asking yourself more in depth questions!
It’s not about it being any certain day. It’s about making God the priority in life altogether, and if God’s people are not a priority then neither is He. The only way this will change is if we all decide to make the hard decision and stop participating. This will bring persecution, but believers are expected to be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12). Instead, we want to please everyone else, including our teammates, rather than glorify the Lord. We can all make excuses to neglect our meeting together “in the name of evangelism” for any imaginable activity. My question would be, “So who did you share the Gospel with while you were there?” Most of the time they will be speechless. Most churches have chosen Sunday as their day to gather and worship as a family. That makes Sunday a priority. The more in depth question that needs to be asked is, “Is God actually #1 in all of my life?”
Amen
How true ! We custom combine 38 years and of course we had to cut on Sundays.I know now the mistake it was ! We missed the the important relationship and learning times with out Lord , Christ Jesus. How I have wished my husband and I had made different choices. I pray for my family now to be walking with and to be committed to the Lord.
Sounds like you could have had church at the fields if you’d just taken the time to think outside the box. We’re a generation of church goers who believes Sunday means time spent in the church building with other believers. It’s too bad people need a pastor to tell them how it should work. Just one person could easily have organized an informal gathering for everyone at the fields. Make sure you get in your tithe. Somebody has to pay for that building whether it gets used or not.
O how little you think of the creator God who upholds us and sustains our very being. You can think out of the box but our Lord teaches us to think Biblical? My guess is that you have not read his Holy Inspired Word to any significant degree, “Search me and Know me”! My guess is that you have not been impacted by his very Word, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit”. My guess is that you have very little reverence for his Word. My guess is you don’t know who God is, his attributes and what he requires of us. My guess is you don’t know what the scripture says about how we are to Worship him? Or, who is to lead us in the Worship of him? Can you tell us who is the Head of the Church and how is the Church to be structured? (not an outside the box opinion answer, but a biblical answer). What does the scripture says about the sacraments of the Church and who is to administer them? Also, who are the sacraments to be administered to and how often are the sacraments to be administered? ……. PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOUR “OUT OF THE BOX THINKING” TELLS YOU/US ABOUT THE SACRAMENTS AND FURTHER EXPLAIN WHY WE SHOULD BELIEVE YOUR OPINION. Then please justify or support your opinion with the Word of God. Who are you – O Man – to establish where and how the Church is to be administered and governed? So you, “the created” tell us and “the CREATOR” how you/we should Worship him? The scripture says, “Fear not him who has the power to destroy the body but fear him who has the power to destroy not just the body, but the soul”. If you want to give advice on how to Worship the Living and True God, be careful! The scripture says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. Do you Fear God and have a reverence for him? …..AND THEN YOU MOCK TITHING? Am I missing something or are you mocking Jesus Christ and the Word of God who tells us to tithe? I’m sorry, did you die for the church or did Jesus Christ? The scripture further says, “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”. You, I and everyone will give an account before the living and true God. It’s not about Church as you seem to understand or perceive it! …….I have to ask, is Jesus your Lord or are you leaning on your own understanding and just putting him in one of your boxes?
I leave you with Proverbs 3:5…Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. ESV
With 20 families on the field that day, what a great opportunity to sit together before one of the games, break bread, share the word of God, worship and pray for one another, give testimony to God working in your lives and invite others on the field to join you. I love church, and I love church family, and but church is not a building.
Hi Rebecca. In the last year, how many times have you don this? What about the other days of the week….how many times have you done this during the week when “the church” (not the building) have gathered together? What days and how many times? How long did you meet and how many “others” joined in with you? Do you think any might have participated because they felt guilty about not Worshiping in a more formal, reverent setting, on the Sabbath Day? Also, how do you Honor the Sabbath Day as the Lord our God commands us to do? I mean, how do you treat the Sabbath differently than the other days? Also, how many times have you partaken in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in the last 12 months? Were you in a building or meeting outside when you partook in this? When was the last baptism you witnessed and where did that take place?
If the Bible tells us that true worship is the preaching and the sacraments….and the bible also teaches that elders and deacons should be appointed…….and the bible also tells us not to forsake the gathering of the Saints…..and the elders are to oversee the spiritual welfare of Christs Church and Deacons have been assigned by God to oversee the physical needs of the Church and the Elders are to guard the Lord’s Table and to exercise discipline to those whose profession bares no fruit……how do you do this without regular appointed times and locations? How?
Who is the head of the Church? What does he/she/him/God say about how we Worship and Honor the creator God? Can you back up your position with scripture and not with just one verse? In other words, does the word of God support your interpretation that leads to our further sanctification?
Why don’t you research this, study this topic from God’s word and then post your findings.
Interesting article. I know there are those with different denominations and even different faiths so I will try to keep this as general as possible.
The original word is ‘ekklesia’ – means assembly, and has it’s origins in a meaning of, “to come out of one’s self,” or to be “untouched” by worldly (unclean) things. Church has it’s origins in the word ‘kuriton’, which means the Lord’s house. This was newer Greek and could mean anything from a Jewish house to a pagan house and was in reference to a lord of a realm…an earthly lord. This is very important distinction because, we will be judged by our every word Matthew 12:36-37.
Additionally, every church is a business and is a man-made religion with terms made by man. The relationship God has with you is established by him, and is a personal one, not public. Christ did not start a “religious organization.” He did not start a religion. There is only one religion that His followers are to engage in. James 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” What Christ taught was from the “beginning,” it did not start 2,000 years ago.
His chosen leaders walked around EVERY day spreading “the Good News” and not regulating it to a single day of worship. Remember when he was in the fields and debated Pharisees about helping a man in need?
My point is, the author is focusing on attendence to a building on a specific date, and misses the fact that “20 church families” are gathered in a place together with a common belief and could be spreading their beliefs to the others who aren’t of their group through their words AND ACTION (living as an example is probably a better way to spread a message then just words). The consistency they are afraid of abandoning is in living their faith and relationship with God 24/7/365, not in attendance of a building. They are missing the point. How often after all, do you here of Jesus and his followers in a building on a particular day? Food for thought and my opinion. No offense to anyone intended, and no judgment…just thought I would offer a different perspective.
In short, what is your definition of Church. Is it an assembly of believers at a specified time at a designated building? It is an assembly of believers at any time in any location? At any rate, I’m off to have a cigar and bourbon with three brothers. You decide if we’re about to attend church or not. That debate is not on the table nor will it ever be. We seek to share our hearts not our minds.
I. The universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.[1]
II. The visible Church, which is universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion;[2] and of their children:[3] and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,[4] the house and family of God,[5] out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.[6]
III. Unto this visible Church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto.[7]
IV. This universal Church has been sometimes more, sometimes less visible.[8] And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.[9]
V. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error;[10] and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan.[11] Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according to His will.[12]
VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ.[13] Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.[14]
WCF…The Church
I always thought Saturday was the Sabbath. But anyways I have a family member who plays for the Houston Texans, and we get hooked up with tickets in the suites!! What a blessing!!. I live 5 hours from Houston. Obviously we are beyond thrilled to experience his dream. So we travel up there and watch every game sometimes travel to a distant city like Jacksonville, Indy, Nashville, etc. Some church folks I have kind of frown on that but I don’t care. We try to find a good church service on Saturday night in Houston. Get our praise and worship in. One of our church leaders is an amazing man. But if there is such a thing he is an excessively happy person. (This sounds weird but excessively happy people scare me, I’m not used to it, my family tree is filled with arrests, violence, drugs, depression, anger, strife, plus I work in a penitentary)But if you tell him no like I’m not afraid to do.(lots of people even church members, don’t understand or refuse the word NO, because if you kindly say it, all of a sudden you are a bad person)he gets so confused like “im such a good person how can you tell me no”. Or him or the pastor who i dearly love and puts out a great word says something like “please do not miss or don’t miss next sunday or wednesdsy it can be life changing, you will miss out on some supernatural event etc.”Also I work 12-13 hour shifts sometimes and I know church is like 4 hours from starting when I stumble in the door, sometimes i lie down to rest and set my alarm and i crash out and i dont even hear my alarm next to my ear!! One thing I know is you can experience God, a supernatural, or a beautiful worship service, and phenomenal message at many other churches. Also I mentioned that I’m pursuing job opportunities that may require me to move back to Houston. Something I’m used to and its not life changing for me. Well my excessively happy brother in Christ gets so disappointed when I said or say that, and he says things like “why you have everything here.”” “Why do you want to move”. “A great church, great pastor, etc.” “Your family is here.”etc.. etc.. Note:(I have plenty of Christian friends, and many other great friends in Hou, and they have never met my 2 baby beautiful daughters.) Other friends have met them when we drive there. Also they imply things like ex. “Its good to go on family vacations, etc. But don’t miss on Sunday, or Wednesday”. So what are they saying oh don’t drive to California cause its 2 days there and 2days back so only spend a day or 2 there because you will miss 1or 2 church service I’m getting confused because bottom line is this. I will go where I want whenever I want at the time appointed to me by my employer with my family to enjoy the pleasures(not sinful) of this land. And to me if I got my bible, and my worship music, I engage in prayer with others whether in person, over phone. To me that’s church! That’s experiencing the grace of God. I can find a church at my vacation destination spot, etc. I mean am I gonna lose my name in the book of life if im not at church on Sunday during football season because I went to a different bible based church on Saturday night or at 8am Sunday or i missed a couple of Sundays?? I don’t believe that. So why Do they believe because you went to a “NFL football game” I’m gonna do nothing but engage in sin?? It seems to me church attendance is the goal, so they can continuously hammer you about not “tithing enough”. That your not experiencing the “holy spirit” because your not at “our” church. I worry sometimes in what I’m hearing(note: I don’t believe in the prosperity gospel, its false) I hate the judgmentalism of people in today’s society its ridiculous. I hear of the term “righteous judgment”. There is nobody and I mean nobody righteous other than Jesus himself! Again I love my dear brother in Christ he has been a blessing in our lives, but this is what I do with my family, I’m not going to burn for it, because I wasn’t at “there” church on those Sundays.. I’m not going to struggle because I may move back and not attend there church anymore. Only visit! Again I love that church and all those who are in it dearly. But that’s my opinion on this subject.