Is Easter Still The Holiest Day In The Church?

Easter is the “big show” for churches. It is the most significant day of the Christian calendar. One might say that it is the holiest day of the year. So, Christians often want to have a particularly special church service. Additionally, Easter is one of the two days a year (the other being Christmas) in which people who rarely – or never – go to church might be the most likely to attend. What is a church to do on this special day in order to attract people and share the Good News of Jesus Christ?

A Tale Of Two Churches

Before I moved to Wisconsin, I was an Illinoisan. My family and I were a part of the great exodus of Illinois. At the time of this writing, I believe it still has more people leaving each year than moving in. Before moving, though, we were fully immersed and planting roots where we were. Immersing ourselves into our community included finding activities in which our children could take part. We even tried Easter events at a few churches that we didn’t belong to as members, and two experiences in particular really stuck with me. Here’s what happened.

Church 1 (The Christless One)

I should say, as I begin, that I did not like Church 1 before we even went to its Easter event. This church was very seeker-friendly and focused on children and youthful adults. In fact, the staff appeared completely disinterested in anyone over forty. The church was super “relevant,” and that relevance seemed to be chipping away at truth. But they had an Easter egg hunt, and a church that popular with so many young people just had to be putting on something special!

Volunteers handed us gift bags while we entered, and they hurriedly pointed out the different rooms we could visit while waiting for the egg hunt to begin. I remember a room for babies and toddlers set up with toys. It was quieter in there and probably safer for the Littles to roam around. The other room I recall was a gymnasium. Games were stationed around the room, and the bleachers had been set up for people to sit on while waiting. In the center of the gymnasium stood a large platform with a sound system that blared secular pop music.

And it was pandemonium.

The Easter Bunny made his rounds to meet children, and eventually, there was a large crowd sitting in the bleachers. A man (pastor, perhaps?) walked onto the platform, and he tried to fire up the crowd. He talked about the upcoming egg hunt, and he explained how to know when it was your child’s turn to participate. Finally, he told the story of Easter, and he explained why each one of us needed Jesus. Nope, just kidding. He finished up by blaring popular dance music and having people, mostly women and girls, get on the platform for a dance competition. It was not as sensual as it could have been, but let’s just say that no one was showing off their Running Man…

Finally, our children hunted for eggs for a few minutes, and we all poured out the doors of the building clutching our goodie bags that contained an invitation to the Easter service the following Sunday.

Church 2 (The One That Is Desperate To Be Cool)

I didn’t know much about Church 2 when we went. I thought that it likely gave the gospel, but it did seem pretty ecumenical. Honestly, though, that could be said about nearly all the churches in my area at the time. The egg hunt featured contemporary Christian music (CCM) blaring outside while we stared at a sea of plastic eggs. Children were divided by age/grade, and our wait mostly offered cute photo ops with adorably impatient kids. The Easter Bunny did not make an appearance, but free donuts and breakfast beverages awaited inside after the egg hunt.

Everyone piled into the auditorium eating and drinking while they waited for the rest of the program to begin. First, the pastor called out names for a raffle. Kids won gift cards, bikes, candy, and toys. The room was abuzz with excitement. Then, the pastor moved on to a short gospel presentation. Meanwhile, everyone in the room either left with their winnings or talked over him. I suspect most of the people who stayed were already members of his church. We were invited to return for the Easter service, and we all went on our merry way. My husband and I felt really bad for the pastor. He had a successful egg hunt and raffle, but the event seemed ineffective regarding his ultimate goal…sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Comparing Churches 1 And 2

Jesus Who?

Church 1 disgusted me. The strategy was to get as many invitations out as possible and to be worldly and relevant. If I had not known who hosted the egg hunt, then I would have had zero indication a church was involved. I mean, the event was even held off church property! I still don’t know what booty dancing and twerking have to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Maybe the pastor could have explained it to me if he had taken even the slightest interest in talking about Jesus at his EASTER event.

I do not know if the result of this egg hunt included increased attendance and conversions, but the church was definitely growing when we left Illinois. I will also say that most of the people I personally knew attending Church 1 displayed no living testimony. No one would guess they were Christians by their lifestyles and speech. And when I asked them about their church, the response was a list of children’s programs they loved and how much they liked their cool pastor. That church had lost sight of what it ought to focus on and was letting down its members, even if those members didn’t realize it.

Jesus As An Afterthought

Church 2 tried to find that mythical middle ground between looking like the world and like the Church. I appreciated the lack of secular music, and I was also pleased to see no Easter Bunny. Moreover, the pastor clearly wanted to use this event as an opportunity to share the gospel. However, there were so many distractions competing with the gospel presentation. More than anything, he came across as the timeshare presenter you have to hear in order to get the free dinner coupons. Visitors were excited about food and stuff, not Jesus. And when we tack Jesus on at the end of “more appealing” things, then visitors will not take notice of your message.

My husband knew the pastor at Church 2, and he asked the pastor how well these outreaches were working. Simply put, they were not. Plenty of people came to them, but Easter service did not show any difference in attendance. He saw no spiritual response, but he kept doing them. It makes me wonder why pastors keep enticing people to church with worldly gimmicks and then expect spiritual responses.

What Should Churches Do?

Churches should recognize Easter for what it is. Our faith and all that we believe in hangs on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was born in the flesh on Earth to be our savior (Luke 2:10-14). He rebuked the hypocritical Pharisees and called sinners to Himself (Matthew 23:13-36; Mark 2:16-17). Christ performed miracle after miracle (Mark 8:22-26; Matthew 9:18-26; Luke 5:12-16). He willingly endured mockery, torture, shame, humiliation, and a painful death so the sin debt could be paid (Matthew 27). He was our spotless sacrificial lamb, but without the resurrection, there is no eternal life. Death, with no resurrection, wins, but Jesus is risen (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)!

How do we honor our Lord and Savior? What is the best way to give thanks for everything He endured for us? How does the Church show the world the love displayed to us through Jesus? Bunny costumes, egg hunts, and door prizes. It’s shameful when we water down the sacrifice at Calvary and the miracle of the empty tomb and prioritize these modern Easter church outreaches.

Final Thought

Should we scrap all the fun and games on Easter Sunday? No, I’m not saying that. We should, however, inspect our hearts and take a closer look at how we reach out. If the thing we hold most dear to us on Easter Sunday is the food, the family gathering, or an egg hunt, then we’re missing it. If we downplay Jesus to make people more comfortable or to see church as a fun place to be, then we’re on the wrong path. Easter Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. That, above all else, should be the focus. Easter should point to the empty tomb and the salvation available to us because Jesus lives. The rest is window dressing and isn’t what Easter is about.

The best way to honor Jesus on this most holy day is simply to tell others what He did and to do it unashamedly without the cover of relevance or being disguised as the world. He is risen. He is risen, indeed!

How does your church celebrate Easter Sunday?

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Image courtesy of Frank Zhang via Unsplash.