I cannot believe the times we are living in! For those of you who live outside of Anderson, SC I need to do a little explaining…we have something in our county called “Blue Laws.”
What are “blue laws?” Simple—these laws basically state that no business in our county can open on Sunday before 1:30 and all businesses that do open must close by 6:00. There are exceptions to this…food and medical items can be purchased at certain grocery stores…but that’s it. (No, I am NOT making this up—YES, this is the year 2007!!!)
Looking back over history it does not take a genius to realize that these laws were originally put into place by well meaning Christians who feared that people would attend a sale at the mall rather than a worship service. Their answer—FORCE the stores to close, thus FORCING more people to church.
Uh…it hasn’t worked! Around 48% of Anderson County does not go to church anywhere! FOURTY EIGHT PERCENT!!! So much for hoards of people flooding the church because they can’t shop ‘till they drop!
I know I will take heat for this…but frankly I do not care. If you are a Christian then please hear me—it is ridiculous to think that sealing off options for people on Sunday’s will drive them to church! I say open the mall—open Wal-Mart…businesses do not scare me at all—BRING THEM ON! If NewSpring cannot provide more excitement than Wal Mart then we need to shut our doors! It’s up to the church to provide something worth coming to.
People are going to go where they can find something of value—period!
To be honest…this blue laws debate proves the hypocrisy of some Christians in our county. I mean, the same people that are yelling about stores being open on Sunday have NO problem when the county “temporarily” lifts the ban on blue laws during the Christmas season. Uh…WHAT THE HECK? If there is EVER a time to fight for the blue laws…shouldn’t it be Christmas? Uh…Jesus’ birthday!!! BUT…because it is convenient for many Christians to shop on Sunday during that time they say nothing.
This whole thing is just stupid. I mean…you can go to Wal-Mart and buy a pineapple…but you can’t buy a pen and a pack of paper. What is that? Are you godly because you ONLY bought food?
Then there are the Christians who yell, “You should not work on Sunday!” I have two problems with that…I WORK ON SUNDAY…so does our entire staff. Like it or not—it takes WORK to make things happen around here.
And then (this BURNS ME UP) the same Christians that YELL about people NOT working on Sundays…what do they do when church is over? Answer: THEY GO OUT TO EAT!!! Uh…isn’t that forcing people to work on Sunday’s? HYPOCRITE…don’t you dare scream about people not working on Sunday’s and then go to a business that is open on Sunday and support it with your money!
In fact…do you watch television on Sunday? That’s forcing someone to work! Do you drive your car on Sunday? That’s forcing someone to work…the gas stations have to be open you know. Do you…well…you get the picture.
NOW…I am ALL for a day of rest. God COMMANDS it in Scripture…if you will look at Exodus 20 the LONGEST of the ten commandments is the one about rest. BUT somehow I do not think that by this command that God meant that Christians are supposed to legislate morality and pass laws that force people to follow Him!
Please…save your verses…I’ve read them—and, to be honest, I do not have time to debate with you…neither does anyone on our staff.
You see…our focus here at NewSpring Church is Jesus! How can we tell more people about Jesus? How can we teach about Jesus in a way that people can understand? How can we help people discover the awesome life that Jesus has for them…and we do NOT believe that passing laws that prevent stores from opening is a way to accomplish our vision.
See you guys at First Wednesday tonight!!! 6:30—don’t miss it!!!