Seventh-day Adventist Youth Make National Headlines for Defending the Sabbath, a Lesson Some Church Administrators Must Learn

Despite the fact that our institutions have been counseled to avoid competitive sports, I regard this as a failure on the part of the school, not so much on the part of the students. What’s making headlines is that the students are speaking out about the importance of remaining true to God by not breaking the Sabbath commandment. Students on the Oakwood Adventist Academy varsity boys basketball team have forfeited a game and an opportunity to advance to the Class 1A Northeast Regional final, the first in their history, because the game was scheduled to take place on the Sabbath.

In an interview with the media, Rayon Andrews, the Oakwood Adventist Academy team captain, stated that obeying God’s word is more important than a game. Raynon Andrews went on to explain how God commanded us to keep the Sabbath holy when He created the earth and that we need to “stick” to the “faith.” Notice what the news reported:

“For Raynon Andrews, senior captain of the team, holding true to their faith takes precedence over playing in the historic game. ‘When God created the earth, on the seventh day he rested, he calls us to rest on that day and give that day to him,’ said Andrews. ‘I’m not going to play on that day no matter what, because it’s bigger than basketball.’ He added, ‘People want us to play, they say, ‘just play on Saturday,’ but I got to stick to my faith and stand up for what’s right and believe God will make a way for us to play.’” [1]

This controversy has gone viral, and major news sites have picked up the story. [2] Even the Governor of the state of Alabama praised the boys for standing up for their faith. [3] The Sabbath question has gotten a lot of attention as a result of this. And it’s encouraging to know that some of our youth, when it comes to the Sabbath, understand what God expects of us. It’s unfortunate that church administrators at AdventHealth, who are hell-bent on desecrating God’s Sabbath day, are unaware of this basic, fundamental truth. [4]

Sources

[1] https://yellowhammernews.com/standing-for-the-sabbath-oakwood-adventist-forced-to-forfeit-game-for-religious-observance/

[2] https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2022/02/19/alabama-seventh-day-adventist-school-forced-to-forfeit-basketball-playoff-game-time-change-for-sabbath-denied/

[3] https://www.waaytv.com/news/gov-kay-ivey-praises-oakwood-adventist-academy-for-picking-faith-over-basketball-playoffs/article_cc58bd62-9433-11ec-9e9a-47fd866d5e2c.html

[4] http://adventmessenger.org/church-backed-sabbath-breaking-adventhealth-is-sponsoring-a-ticket-sweepstakes-for-a-friday-night-orlando-magic-basketball-game/