Sunday observance

Christian practice regarding Sunday observance varies significantly, shaped by theological convictions about the nature of the day and how strictly it should be kept.

The Theological Foundation

Christians adopted the sabbath tradition but shifted it to Sunday, celebrating that through Jesus’ resurrection, God has done something new and graced time with the promise that love will ultimately prove stronger than death.[1] For Christians, the moment of greatest significance is no longer creation or the exodus but the resurrection of Jesus Christ—a re-creation and redemptive event that eclipses all of God’s mighty acts of the past.[2]

Importantly, God did not command Christians to observe the Sabbath in the way Old Testament Israel did.[2] Jesus taught that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath,” suggesting that if sabbath observance becomes burdensome rather than beneficial, it need not be observed.[3]

What Sunday Observance Means

The emphasis in keeping Sunday holy is not primarily on resting or not working, but on actively celebrating the difference between ordinary days and Sunday, with full attention directed toward God and God’s vision for our lives.[1] Sunday presents an ideal opportunity to honor God in public worship and witness, providing time for rest, relaxation, reading, prayer, and service—including family time, visiting the lonely, caring for the sick, and offering hospitality—so that the day’s special character is maintained and the Lord is honored.[4]

Regarding Specific Activities

Christians who work on Sunday are not disobeying God; early Gentile Christians were mainly slaves who had to work on Sundays and met in the evening for worship, so for them Sunday was not a day of rest but of work and worship.[2] We do not specifically address shopping or entertainment, but the principle remains: Christians should heed warnings about legalism and avoid falling into restrictive legalism that was not God’s will for his people.[4] The day should be set apart meaningfully for God while avoiding burdensome rules that contradict the spirit of grace.

[1] Thorwald Lorenzen, Toward a Culture of Freedom: Reflections on the Ten Commandments Today (New York, NY: Cascade Books, 2008). [See here, here, here.]
[2] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003). [See here, here, here, here.]
[3] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Lord’s Day, The,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 2:1348.
[4] Raymond Brown, The Message of Nehemiah: God’s Servant in a Time of Change, ed. J. A. Motyer and Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1998), 184.