Sometimes church people and even well-meaning pastors miss some of the most amazing moments for reaching people through the cultural windows that are present and create opportunities for the gospel to come alive. I’m thinking about those moments in the Christian calendar that intersect with a huge cross-section of nominal Christians–Christmas and Easter.
Tomorrow is Easter. Just today, as a church, we conducted a 2 hour event that took more man hours, resources and organizational energy than you might imagine. 10,000 eggs, Circus Boy, popcorn, cotton candy, cookie decorations, you name it! Some people, even in my own church, think this kind of effort is a total waste of time.
For me, this kind of bridge-building is exactly where most people who don’t attend church are at. We’ve got the chance to build bridges and points of contact with our community. Easter is just one of those natural points where Christianity and the secular calendar collide to create amazing potential for reaching people.
More than 650 people came through the doors this morning. I had an amazing time helping our associate pastor, Todd Hair, and his wonderful team of volunteers pull off the morning that was more about fun, sharing information about our church and shaking our community’s hand than it was about making conversions today. Many of the people who came said they would be back at church tomorrow. I can’t wait.
Christmas and Easter are filled with all kinds of magical lore that is non-sense, but when people see the bunny or the elf in red, they’re more likely to turn to the biblical stories associated with these things than at other times. I want to do all I can to reach people where they’re at and will continue to. Maybe there’s a more subtle philosophical point to be won here, but I’ll go with the apostle Paul’s words on this issue: “I have become all things to all people that by all possible means, I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22b)
There you have it, some Easter Bunny theology. 🙂