Argument XVI
Meal Utilities
S ometimes there is no telling how far someone will go to prove an unprovable point. When it comes to arguing that God Almighty actually appreciates His people going out into the world and purchasing a meal from Sabbath-breakers, Richard George makes a stratospheric leap into the bizarre. According to him, restaurants today are a type of "meal utility," much the same as gas and electricity is a power utility. If we hadn't read this with our own eyes we never would have believed it.
Mr. George:
The Bible's expanded comments on Sabbath-keeping show we should not force those over whom we exercise sole and total control to work on the Sabbath. It is a desperate stretch to attempt to apply this to a chef or waitress who is voluntarily there, working for a boss, and serving dozens of other customers at the same time -- even though you speak of this consideration dismissively. It is more reasonable, in the light of Christ's teaching and examples, to look at restaurants as meal utilities.
Our Response:
Let's see if we understand Mr. George correctly. He contends that it is a "desperate stretch" for the authors of A Sabbath Test to believe that God's prohibition against compelling a servant or a stranger to work on the Sabbath extends in principle, to restaurant personnel today, but it is perfectly logical to consider restaurants more of a "meal utility."
We are just curious, but what does the gas and electricity at Mr. George's home have to do with the meal he pro-actively solicits from Sabbath-breaking restaurants on God's day? Furthermore, why did God prohibit His people from preparing their food on the Sabbath (Ex. 16)? Was it because He anticipated that there would be restaurants and wanted His people to be ready when they arrived?
Finally, it is true that the decision to work on the Sabbath rests solely in the hands of restaurant personnel. But it is equally true that the decision to purchase that labor rests solely in the hands of those, like Mr. George who buy their goods and services. Mr. George may not be able to prevent restaurant personnel from working on the Sabbath. But he most certainly can prevent them from working for him on that day! He simply chooses not to do so.
Argument XVII