Working Sundays and Feeling Guilty? Read This

By Oz Muwaniri · 27 March 2025

Pastors work on Sundays and nobody minds. (I’m one of them.)

Doctors, nurses, gardaí? They work Sundays too. Nobody bats an eyelid.

But if you work in a shop or a café on a Sunday, some Christians look at you like you’ve gone off the rails.

Something’s not right there.

If you’ve started following Jesus and your rota has you in work most Sundays, this one’s for you.

What’s the Sabbath anyway?

You’ll hear Christians talk about “the Sabbath”. It’s from a Hebrew word meaning “to stop” or “rest”. In the Bible, God gave his people one day in seven to stop working, rest and remember him. Most Christians mark that on Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead.

It was always meant to be a gift, not a trap. Jesus said:

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27, NIV)

The question Jesus asked

When religious leaders criticised Jesus for healing someone on the Sabbath, he asked them this:

“I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9, NIV)

That’s a brilliant test. So, whether you should work on a Sunday doesn’t come down to what job you have. Ask yourself:

Is working this Sunday doing good, or doing harm?
Is it giving life, or draining it?

When working is the right thing

Some people need that Sunday shift to feed their family. They can’t risk their job by refusing.

In that case, work. Provide for your family. The Bible takes that seriously:

“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8, NIV)

That’s not a backslider. That’s a responsible parent.

When it’s about something else

For others, if we’re honest, it isn’t about survival. They could take Sundays off, but the extra money is hard to say no to.

That’s worth a second look. Not because a rule says so, but because of what it slowly does to us. The Bible warns that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10, NIV). And it tells us not to give up meeting together:

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NIV)

Here’s the bottom line. You’re free to work on a Sunday. Just let the choice be guided by what’s good and life-giving, not what’s selfish or soul-draining.

The man from the Guinness factory

I knew a Christian who worked at the Guinness brewery in Dublin. He didn’t get to pick his shifts. Everyone rotated through Sundays.

When his turn came, he worked. But the rest of the time, he made space for his small group, for prayer, for dinners with other Christians. Whatever it took.

Because church is more than one hour on a Sunday. Church is people. God’s people, doing life together.

If you have to miss a Sunday for good reasons, that’s okay. Just don’t miss the bigger picture.

Your next steps

A question to sit with: Is my Sunday work giving life or draining it? And where else in my week can I connect with God and with other Christians?
Try this: If you work Sundays, pick one other time this week to rest on purpose, and one way to connect, a midweek group or a coffee with a Christian friend.
Read next: How to Grow as a New Christian.
Come and say hello: L15 Church meets Sundays at 11am in the Maldron Hotel, Galway. If your rota allows, come along. If not, get in touch and we’ll help you find a midweek connection.