Troublesome Topic: Can We Eat Out on Sunday?

I believe it is unfortunate that the Sunday noon meal has become a time to go out to eat. I know the idea is that no one has to work hard in the kitchen; it saves work to go out to eat. I have two answers to that excuse:

1.) God is not ignorant of these things and therefore He commanded that preparations be made ahead of time.

2.) Eating out may save work for you but it creates work for someone else, and it fosters a greater sense of all days being the same, no day being holy. Part of the reason that restaurants and other businesses are open on Sundays, part of the reason that some Christians have to work on Sunday to keep their jobs, is that the Christian community has patronized those places that are open on Sunday.

If you are travelling and must eat at a restaurant on Sunday, do so with a clean conscience. Some people, like missionaries, have no choice but to travel on a Sunday. It is possible to pack a sack lunch for a meal or two, but much more than that becomes tricky. If you must eat out, do so. If you can refrain from eating at a restaurant on a Sunday I believe God is honored. Some who read this book will choose to do so by not eating out on Sundays, others will keep eating out and strive to honor God in other ways. I personally prefer to eat at home on Sundays, but I will not force my preferences on others. For instance, if my family and I are invited to a restaurant after Sunday worship we will accept the invitation, valuing the fellowship rather than forcing others to conform to my convictions. You may think this is a contradiction, but it is part of the flexibility I feel God gives us, and it is where I find myself in my personal journey at this time. Ask me a year from now and my response might be different.

 One more thing—if you do eat out on Sunday, be sure to leave a very generous tip. The Sunday noon crowd has gotten a reputation among waitresses as being the worst tipping group of all the identifiable groups of people. Christians must think that since they just gave some of their earnings to God, they are somehow exempt from giving good tips at the restaurant. We should be ashamed of ourselves!

If you need to make a purchase on a Sunday in order to “get your ox out of a ditch,” do so. However, in general I believe that refraining from making purchases on a Sunday honors God. Therefore, I strive to prepare ahead so I don’t have to run to a store on Sunday. And I am trying to train myself to do without if I forgot to prepare ahead.

In summary, you will not die if you eat out on Sundays, but you will die inwardly if you fail to connect with God.

(The next section in this topical study is called Wrapping up the Topic of Rest. You can go to the first lesson of that section by clicking on this link: Freedom, Flexibility and Toughness.)