One of the newer arguments advanced by people who frequent restaurants on the Sabbath is that by engaging in this practice, God’s people can actually preach the gospel. The thinking here is that restaurant personnel will see how polite and respectful God’s people are. Additionally, if there are children with them, they will also see how well behaved they are. Therefore, going to a restaurant on the Sabbath is an opportunity to “let your light shine” and to show the world there is a better way.
    If this argument is true, why stop at restaurants? What about an amusement park? Certainly they would appreciate being witnessed to by God’s people on His Sabbath, wouldn’t they? How about the people who work at a bowling alley? Or a movie? What about a sporting event? Certainly a Saturday afternoon baseball game would be a great place to show fans and vendors alike how a child of God conducts himself.
    Perhaps a golf course would work. This would be an ideal place to let your light shine. When one of the players in your foursome misses a three foot putt and begins to take God’s name in vain, you could remind him of the third commandment. However, don’t forget to duck if you do. Tragically, there are some who have actually suggested that each of these activities can be appropriate on the Sabbath for this very reason – it preaches the gospel.
    The idea that a Sabbath meal at a restaurant is a godly activity because it affords His people an opportunity to be a witness to the world the would be silly if it wasn’t so serious. In reality, this argument actually mocks God’s word as well as the very Kingdom His Sabbath pictures.

A Gospel of Defiance
    To be sure, the scriptures exhort God’s people to let their light shine (Mt. 5:16). Additionally, it is also true that one of the great commissions to the Church is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom as a witness (Mt. 24:14). But what does going to a restaurant on the Sabbath say about these two very important scriptural directives? In reality, this activity says plenty, but none of it is good.
    Those who go to restaurants on the Sabbath don’t honor God’s word – they actually defy it. Consider what this behavior is saying – it says: “Don’t take the Bible or God too seriously.” It says, “our children obey us, but we don’t obey our Father in Heaven when it comes to His instruction concerning the Sabbath.” It says, “We believe in God’s millennial Kingdom; we just don’t believe in picturing that Kingdom at this moment.”
    In essence, this single act shouts before the God of Heaven the same declaration that every false religion has cried out down through the ages:

“I have the authority to decide for myself how I will worship the God who made me!”

    To those who believe you can pick and choose what you will and will not do on the Sabbath, consider how many times man has attempted to worship the Creator on his own terms and it met with God’s approval. The answer is zero. Man has spent his entire history in such an endeavor and God has always rejected it. Consider just a few examples. Adam and Eve attempted to decide for themselves how they would worship God. How successful were they? What about those at the tower of Babel? How does history remember them? Even the great King Solomon consented to idolatry when he allowed his pagan wives to construct shrines to their gods in Israel. The scriptures indicate that this act greatly displeased the Eternal (2Ki.1:4-9).
    In the New Testament Church, many tried to craft a faith on their own and were severely indicted for it. The apostle Peter spoke of teachers who brought  “damnable heresies” into the Church  (1Pet. 2:21). Additionally, the apostle John warned God’s people about a proliferation of false prophets, each bringing their own ideas on how to worship the King of the Universe (1Jn. 4:1). Such an approach didn’t work for them and it won’t work for anyone doing the same today. The point here is very simple: God is worshiped on His terms, PERIOD.
    Despite this truth, thousands of God’s people are convinced that by letting their light shine at a restaurant on the Sabbath they can somehow turn the profane into that which is holy. This mistake has been made by countless thousands who have sought to justify their behavior and argue that their disobedience somehow has God’s blessing. It has never worked in the past, and there is no evidence that this trend is changing.     

Justification, Not Faith
    There are numerous stories illustrating how God’s people can fool themselves into believing that their behavior somehow has the blessing of the very King of the universe, despite the fact that it appears to go contrary to the scriptures. The following story reflects how man can spin a behavior into something that he is convinced actually looks godly. 

The “Godly” Coach

     Several years ago, a baptized member of God’s Church left the faith and pursued a career as a high school teacher. In addition to teaching, this young man became a very successful basketball coach. His teams won championships and many of his players went on to play at some of the leading universities in the country.
    When asked why he would coach on the Sabbath, this “believer” explained that what he was doing was in a sense “preaching the gospel” because he was teaching his players about fair play and sportsmanship. He argued that he was building character in young men and positively molding their lives. He then asked, “How could God be unhappy with that?”
    This story is a typical example of how man can justify anything he does. The coach knew about God’s law regarding the Sabbath. Sadly, he thought he could decide for himself how he would honor that law and the God who made it.

The True Gospel

    To those who have advanced the argument that dining out on the Sabbath in an appropriate activity because “It Preaches the Gospel,” ask yourself the following question:

What is a greater witness to this world: your presence at a restaurant on the Sabbath, or your absence? 

    As you think about this question, consider what lies ahead for those who work at restaurants on the Sabbath. The day will come when they will know about God and His Great Kingdom. At that time, they will understand God’s purpose for the Sabbath and they, too, will honor this great commandment.
    Additionally, when God’s Kingdom is established on earth, its citizens will understand why God’s people today did certain things and refrained from doing others – including purchasing goods and services on His Sabbath. They will know that by refraining from buying and selling on the Sabbath, God’s people were not only honoring the Great Creator, they were also expressing a genuine hope for all mankind – a hope that all people would one day enter into God’s Sabbath rest. This is the true witness God’s people must proclaim. It is one that will be affirmed by the very government of God when His Kingdom returns. The gospel is NOT proclaimed by your presence at a restaurant on the Sabbath. It is, in fact, proclaimed by your absence.
    To those who believe that God approves of well-intended Sabbath-keepers eating out at a restaurant on His day and letting their light shine, think of how many people down through the ages have sincerely believed that God approved of their method of worship. You might like to start with 19 men on four commercial jetliners on September 11, 2001. They thought they were doing God’s work, too.