Would quitting the job be walking by faith...or presumption

[blhowes]

Nathan's prayer request and situation made me wonder about something.

Assume a person has a job that requires them to work on Sundays, no exceptions. The person needs that job to provide for personal needs, and if married for the needs of their family. The person lives pretty much from paycheck to paycheck, with no financial reserves in the bank to allow them to just quit so they can worship on Sunday.

In some circles, the person would be thought to be walking by faith if they quit the job so they could attend worship services on Sunday, even if there's no job in sight lined up. In other circles, that would be considered to be acting irresponsibly.

Do you think this is an example of walking by faith? Would the person be trusting that God would provide based on promises (such as Matt 6:33) in the scriptures, or would they be doing the wrong thing by quitting, presuming that God would then provide funds?

[Edited on 7-11-2006 by blhowes]

 

[gwine]

Perhaps it is, but I once read an example of a minister, with a family, that gave away his paycheck and trusted God to provide. Well, God did provide in giving him a job, and to test God that way seems a bit presumptuous to me.

I could not in good conscience leave a job without having another one lined up. God expects me to provide for my family, and should my job require that I must work every Sunday and miss worshipping with the saints, then He would provide another job for me to change to.

 

[SolaScriptura]

Exactly.

If one MUST work on Sunday as a normal requirement of his/her job in order to provide for his/her family, it would be foolish and irresponsible to just up and quit.
A much wiser and faithful course of action would be to search prayerfully and diligently for a new position that would allow him/her to have Sunday off. Upon finding the new position, it would then be acceptable to put in a culturally appropriate notice.

 

[srhoades]

I did up and walk out on a job without having another one lined up. I worked customer service and sales for a company that shall remain nameless. Their sales policy was unethical which I did not know at the time of hiring. I basically got around it for as long as I could. They started badgering me about it and I told them I could not violate my conscious by implementing their sales policy. I was stuck. I was purposely disobeying my employer on one hand while on the other I was trying to remain ethical and pleasing to the Lord. One day I just couldn't take it anymore and I put in my two week notice.

 

[JonathanHunt]

Two weeks after I got married, my employer offered me a permanent contract or I had to walk. I had not worked sundays up to this point but Sundays were part of the contract, no exceptions.

I walked, and it was hard going, but the Lord provided.

I also had a job where I was told that I would do better and get a pay rise if I told lies, and if I didn't I might as well go. I walked, and I got another, better paid, better conditions, job within a month.

I certainly look back on these things with the conviction that God honoured me for honouring Him.

If I had been working sundays, for example, and had become a convinced sabbatarian, I wouldn't see it as reasonable to just quit without getting a new job first. On the other hand, if, as in both situations above, undesirable conduct/conditions were being FORCED upon me, I would always see it as justified and expect God's hand to lead and provide.

J

 

[blhowes]

Sean and Jonathan,
Its neat to hear how God provided for you when you left your jobs.

I'm glad so far that I haven't been in a situation where I had to work on Sundays. In principle, I think if I were in that situation, being married, I wouldn't just up and leave so I could go to church Sundays, though it'd make for interesting conversations around the dinner table..."YOU WHAT?! ARE YOU SURE THAT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO?!..."

 

[crhoades]

Depending on the pay level on the current job an option would be to quit it and get another job that didn't require work on Sunday even if it was retail or fast food. If the difference in pay was not substantial the person could petition the diaconate to help with the difference (if it were needed to make ends meet) until the person found a better paying job. To me, this shows responsibility to the sabbath, working, and seeking better gain with minimal impact on others. Again, the wage differences would determine if something like this would work.

 

[Pilgrim]

Originally posted by crhoades
Depending on the pay level on the current job an option would be to quit it and get another job that didn't require work on Sunday even if it was retail or fast food. If the difference in pay was not substantial the person could petition the diaconate to help with the difference (if it were needed to make ends meet) until the person found a better paying job. To me, this shows responsibility to the sabbath, working, and seeking better gain with minimal impact on others. Again, the wage differences would determine if something like this would work.

I agree the diaconate should be prepared to help as much as possible in such situations. Not to appear relativistic, but I think the answer to this question largely depends on the circumstances and doesn't always lend itself to an easy answer.

Of course retail and fast food are probably two of the biggest industries that are open on Sunday that would require Sabbath breaking.

 

[Pilgrim]

I would imagine this is a situation that those of us who weren't brought up in Christian homes and/or are from traditions that no longer keep the Sabbath find ourselves in, and being off on Sunday was not a big issue when choosing a career path. Of course many of us have made several career changes as well.

Those growing up in Reformed Christian homes should see to it that they choose careers that enable them to keep the Sabbath. I think it's incumbent on Reformed parents to guide their children in this way. In today's environment, the best guarantor is some kind of self-employment. My pastor was a minister in NZ and said that a good many of the men were self employed tradesmen, etc and a big reason for this was so they would be able to keep the Sabbath.

 

[panta dokimazete]

I have a full time job as an IT Director and am the Worship Leader for our church - I have found that binding myself to the Lord's worship has made working on the Sabbath decisions moot.

Praise be to Him!

"His yoke is easy and His burden is light..."

-JD

[Edited on 7-11-2006 by jdlongmire]

 

[beej6]

For those of us that work in 24/7 professions (police, fire, medical, etc.), the "every Sunday" detail is key. Ideally those positions would be staffed well enough so that even if someone has to work on Sunday, the "burden" is spread around. Or the hours are flexible enough so that even on Sunday, one can at least attend one worship service.

 

[jaybird0827]

At the risk of introducing a bend in the road, I will tell you what happened to us. This was not as much about working on the Lord's Day as much as where we have, by the grace of God, cast our lot.

OK. The short version. We had been commuting 2 1/2 - 3 h (126 mi) one way (every other Sunday) in order to attend the <a href="http://www.presbyterianreformed.org/northernvirginia/index.php"<font color="Navy"><u>PRC Church of Northern VA</u></font></a>. We attended locally on the in-betweens, and that became increasingly unbearable to us.

My job was showing strong signs of going away. We made a decision to sell our home in PA and relocate nearer the church.

We had our plans, and the Lord had his. We sold the house. I resigned my position. Eventually that led us here. By the grace of God we ended up 8 miles from where our congregation meets and I have a contract position in uptown Charlotte, about 20 miles from here. Half of that I commute by express bus.

We are still thanking God every day for his mercies, much undeserved. We are now able to attend the Lord's worship every Lord's day, we are thoroughly involved in the church, and we love our pastor.

No, I do not recommend everybody go this route. You have to consider all things and evaluate everything in the light of Scripture.

For what it's worth -- Jay