The church of Jesus Christ has assembled on the first day of the week for over 2,000 years. Brothers and sisters in parts of the world meet secretly on the first day of the week and sometimes in threat of their lives while some — in some need to be edgy — jump on the wagon to cancel.

Last week, friends from Atlanta came to visit and attend our church Christmas program. At dinner after the program they mentioned that their (well-known) church was not having services on Sunday, Dec. 25. On the way home after dinner my wife and I stopped by our local Starbucks for coffee. The sign in Starbucks was clearly posted:
Open Christmas Day, Dec. 25, from noon until 6 p.m.

Like an alarm in my head and my heart I thought to myself, what’s wrong with this picture? The church is closed and Starbucks is open?

The year 2011 is not the first time December 25 falls on a Sunday. The last time Christmas was on a Sunday was 2005. The New York Times ran an article in early December of 2005 about several pace-setting mega churches not having services on Sunday, December 25, citing low attendance in 1994 — when December 25 came on Sunday.

Earlier this year Lifeway Research polled 1,000 Protestant pastors regarding church schedules for Sunday, Dec. 25. Ninety-one percent (91 percent) of the pastors surveyed indicated that their church would have a service on Dec. 25, leaving nine percent (9 percent) not having a service.

What is clear is that there are more churches deciding to opt out of having a service on Sunday, Dec. 25. Yet, Starbucks will be open from noon to 6 p.m.

I have four questions regarding not having a service on Sunday, Dec. 25.

First, what does it say about us? Perhaps it says that we have so capitulated to the world that we don’t see a reason for meeting together as the family of God on the first day of the week.

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