What are we doing with the concept of Sabbath? I remember being raised with a certain respectful conditioning towards the Sabbath. There were always particular things which just weren't appropriate for the sabbath (working, shopping, certain recreational activities, etc). In fact, I still feel a significant amount of guilt if I play a round of golf on Sunday. Last year I mowed my lawn one time on a Sunday because I knew it might be a couple of weeks before I could get to it again...more guilt!
Now I'm beginning to think that "sabbath" should be a more dynamic concept that we apply to our lives rather than a strict application to one day of the week. Certainly our culture has lost most of its respect for the sabbath as an off-limits day for activity. As a youth pastor, I witnessed the gradual use of Sunday for sporting events, school programs, practices and many other urgent activities. And from a commercial standpoint, although there are many retail stores and businesses which have shortened their hours on Sundays, I don't think it has anything to do with a faith-based conviction. It probably has more to do with marketing and sales trends.
But the great tragedy of losing an understanding of the Sabbath is the toll taken on individuals and families from an emotional and physical standpoint as well as a spiritual impact. As I serve lattes and Latin grown coffees on Monday morning, I observe that people are typically as worn out from their weekends as they are from their work weeks. The concept of sabbath is a primarily biblical, yet quite practical mandate for rest and health. I would link this to our need for pursuing simplicity as well. It will be very difficult to apply the concept of sabbath (whether it's a Sunday or Thursday or whenever) until we trim and truncate our obese schedules.
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