The Lord's Day

For the first 23 years of my life, I grew up in Indianapolis and worshipped with the High School Road church near Speedway, Indiana. I can still remember the kids in my class setting up chairs on sunny days and having Bible class on the church lawn. On race day, we could see the fighter jets fly overhead, the hundreds of balloons drift into the air and hear the roar of the Indy car engines as they circled the track.

Many people have asked, “Have you been to the race?"

My answer is always, “No.” Then comes their next question, “Why not?” It is a fair and sensible question. After all, the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” was practically in my back yard for over twenty years.

So they might ask, “Were you just not interested in racing?”

“That’s not it. I was very interested in racing. There were a few times I had all 33 drivers memorized along with their position and I still remember listening to parts of the race on the radio.”

“Okay, were you never asked? Could you not afford it?”

“That’s not it either. I was invited to the race by friends on various occasions and we could have afforded it just as surely as we could afford a trip to King’s Island or a night out to a Reds game.”

Here is the simple answer: “I never went to the Indy 500 because the race is on the Lord’s day.”

Now, here comes the follow-up questions.

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with skipping church on Sundays, is there?”

My reply, “Well, if you believe the Bible, yes, actually, there is. It is every Christian’s duty to assemble together on the first day of the week to worship the Lord and remember the great sacrifice Christ made (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:24-25). This was the custom of the early disciples—often referred to as the “Lord’s Day” because it was the day Jesus was raised from the dead (Revelation 1:10).”

Some might say, “You mean you can’t skip, just once?”

Here’s my reply: “If you put a race above worship, then where have you just placed God? In second place, right? How is he supposed to rank in our lives? First place, right?—see Matthew 6:33.”

So they say, “Come on, you are not hurting anybody by just missing church one time.”

Let’s answer that too…

“Are you sure you are not hurting anybody when you miss on Sunday? For example, don’t you think it hurts our God when we choose to be with drunken, reveling race fans (or in front of a television set) instead of with His holy nation...His own special people (1 Peter 2:9)?”

“Let’s go on, “Do you think it hurts my fellow brethren when I choose to forsake them to, instead, encourage a race car driver that does not even realize I exist?”

We’re not done yet. What about a young brother or sister in Christ, or a new babe in Christ? If they see me, supposedly a mature Christian, putting worldly events ahead of Christ, then will I endanger them by my example? What if they are invited to a basketball game, a birthday party or a day out on the lake? What if they reason, “Well, Josh went to the race on the Lord’s Day, so I guess I can skip church and go to this!” Am I willing to be their stumbling block (Romans 14:13)? Am I willing to head to the judgment accountable for the example I set forth for these precious souls?”

“There is one last person we need to deal with and that’s me. If I am willing to violate my conscience just one time. If I choose to walk by my desires, instead of by faith, then I put myself on dangerous ground (Romans 14:22,23).”

“First of all, when I choose to sin I willingly choose to break God’s law (1 John 3:4). Yet, even more than that, I violate my own conscience. The more you sear your own conscience, the more you tell yourself and believe your own lies, the easier it becomes to sin (1 Timothy 4:2). Are you willing to put yourself in a position where your heart has grown cold and callous to God’s truth because you make excuses for yourself as you disobey it?”

James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

Can you think of any better thing you can do than to praise God, encourage His saints and remember the wonderful grace and mercy He has shown us by His own broken body and shed blood on the day He arose?

No, I won’t skip church to go to a race, but, will you come worship God with me?

Think about it.

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