Backwards Christians
This is a big week for my team and I. We have a completely programmed Good Friday service with no “sermon” and 2 days later, 3 amazing Easter services. It is looking like I’m going to be at the BC for a while this week.
Why this week? Well it is Easter week of’course. The week this whole Christianity thing got going. The week before tons of Catholics can start drinking again. The week there will be thousands of southern children dressed in baby blue overalls and pretty white dresses.
So in the midst of this all, I remembered a comment made in my Starting Point class I led earlier this year.
The comment was made by a relatively new Christian. Or maybe not a Christian at all.
It went something like this…
Um…I have a question. Why do Christians spend over a month celebrating Christmas with parties, music, decorations, songs, and presents, then only a day celebrating Easter? I mean, isn’t Easter the reason we have our faith in the first place? Shouldn’t we be having Easter parties? It seems kind of backwards to me.
He’s right.
It does.
Discuss
Los
RAIN IT DOWN
so true! my husband (also a pastor) says the very same thing!
And I don’t know why we do it backwards. I guess people like Santa more than the easter bunny… Santa brings STUFF while the bunny only brings chocolate?
Mostly I think it is because we just don’t get how HUGE easter is. If we really GOT it we would certainly celebrate it more.
Uh…because we like presents. It’s true…but sad.
Christmas is not just a religious thing, it is a social holiday and a school break. Because of time off from work and school people travel to meet with family. So while the idea is nice and it does have warrant it isn’t totally feasible because our society takes a break for Christmas, not Easter.
I wonder if we hyped up the holiday with trees and decorations and presents up the… uh, you know — and wrote all these songs all about it that turn into classics, if maybe THAT would create a crazy Easter buzz?
“Have yourself a happy little Easter…”
“I’m dreaming of a green Easter…”
“Here comes the Easter Bunny, Here comes Easter Bunny, right down Easter Bunny Lane…!”
Nope. Just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?
Hmmm… backwards indeed.
Hmm… I started celebrating Easter about a couple weeks ago.
Focusing on the genealogy of Jesus, ministry of Jesus, death of Jesus and resurrection of Jesus.
I have Easter songs, Easter movies, etc. etc.
It is a celebration of victory. Pure and simple.
people can more easily wrap their minds around the fact that a “good man” was born than they can that this “good man” died and then rose again.
even the non-Christian knows that a man named Jesus was born… and that Christmas is supposed to be about that. but less people like to think about the fact that this man supposedly rose from the dead. Him raising again is something a lot more people don’t believe in at all.
we as Christians and we in ministry do a CRAPPY job of making Easter a priority. after all, it is that He was born or even that He died… it is that He rose again… that’s what is worth celebrating above all.
or it could be that the Easter Bunny is way less believable than Santa Claus so we don’t spend as much time and money on the holiday.
Uh..we do or should be celebrating Lent. That is a 40 day preparation for Easter. The church calendar really is important and should be paid attention to. I really am a low church, non-liturgical guy. But We should be having an Ash Wednesday service and regular Lenten services, etc.
christmas gets the stage time because there’s nothing dangerous in celebrating the birth of someone. anyone can jump in on that. but coming around the story of a resurrection, that’s a different level of marketing, one the industry (probably) doesn’t want to touch.
Like many of the previous comments have said, I believe the reasons are simply cultural. Everything is built around the month of Christmas for Christians because evrything is built around the month of Christmas for everyone. It’s a little thing many like to call Relevant Environments.
I mean, that is what Lent is all about right? 40 days of walking in the sufferings of Christ so that on resurrection Sunday we can truly rejoice in the fact that Jesus DID die for us…
Not to mention….it’s officially Holy week…the most important week on the Christian calender.
Maybe the celebration just looks a little different. Sometimes we focus so much on the “YAY JESUS ROSE FROM THE GRAVE” that we forget to share in his sufferings…it could be a humbling experience if we open ourselves up to the understanding of what Jesus REALLY did on the cross.
um, why do two weekends a year have to be “big ones?” why can’t it be every weekend?
just sayin.
I think because at Christmas we get stuff, at Easter we celebrate something that is empty, and things that are empty are bad most of the time. (i.e. empty gas tank, empty glass when out to eat, empty checking account). This is the only time that something empty is good, therefore we as Christ followers and even unsaved people don’t get that. Or forget it one. The tomb was empty so your life can be full!
Christmas has become more of a secular holiday than a religious one for most of America in my opinion. Also…there’s a huge difference between a “Christian” (I grew up going to church and live a good live) vs. “Follower of Jesus”. As a Follower of Jesus, I get a bit nauseous when I hear “Jingle Bells” on Oct. 15th or so.
However, you’re totally right about it being backwards. This Friday/Sunday is what our Faith is built upon. The sacrifice of God to give us freedom from sin. Christ’s birth is certainly important, but it’s his death and what that means to all of us that we should truly be focusing on.
Thanks for reminding me…Easter sneaks up on me a bit. Probably because there isn’t a huge secular following surrounding the holiday that signals from the malls that it’s here.
I think we get caught up in the commercial part of Christmas, and that’s why you tend to see it in Christian churches more that time of the year. As a holiday, though, I think we hold Easter more reverently and closer to our hearts. It’s what we’re all about as Christians.
I am also a bit upset about how we celebrate Easter. I own my own business and I employee some teenagers. Come to find out, they have to go to school on GOOD FRIDAY!!! I just don’t get that. My kids go to a great Christian School, so I guess I live in a bubble, but the public schools are removing themselves from a religous holiday that should be considered sacred and holy.
Anne, I agree with you too. Think of what our weekend gatherings would be like if we put the same effort into them every week as we do Christmas and Easter – now there’s something to think about!!!!
Why do we always want to prioritize things and make one thing or “day” better than another? That is uber-American.
The truth is: Easter is the day that proved Jesus was more than a man…He was God. But does it have to trump God becoming man? They are both equally meaningful days. But so was the day the dirty woman was made well, the lame guy could walk, the children sitting in his lap and being blessed. They all were events of His love, compassion, and deity being displayed.
Christmas. ARRRRGGGG…
Easter…YIPPIE!
@Dolores: Did public schools ever take Good Friday off? Not that I can remember, not back in the 70’s anyway.
i was thinking about this during church yesterday (shhh… don’t tell my pastor) – i had the same thought.
easter = death defeated. sin defeated. HALLELUJAH!!!
then, i thought we should REALLY celebrate Pentecost – that’s when Christ’s Spirit came to live INSIDE man. that’s just AMAZING. we have Him here. now. NOW.
In the last few years this has bothered me also…but I can only change my own “celebration”, not the culture or other Christians around me. So in my own way, in my own life I’m trying to make Easter the highlight of my year (with private devotion and church events). Christmas is still very important, special and sacred. But as we enter into Holy Week I am preparing to celebrate that which is central to all that I love and believe on Easter.
Jesus is Risen!!
(and all the schools and stores are closed here on Good Friday)
Yup, that’s a good point that I’ve thought about before. This is really a great season to talk about why we celebrate our faith as Christians and what it’s all about.
Brad Ruggles
http://www.bradruggles.com
no denying that something truly is amiss!
my guess is more folks genuinely are celebrating the risen Christ at Easter than are celebrating the Incarnation at Christmas (though many still miss the main thing). the sad truth is that culture has overwhelmed what ought to be a sweet, simple time of celebrating the birth of Jesus.
i got no problem with gift-giving/receiving, but i fear it hides for many people the purity of the season. even as a Christ follower, i need to regularly ask the Lord to keep me focused during the Christmas season.
Um, my church DOES celebrate Easter – through the season of preparation that is Lent – for six weeks. No, it’s not a time for parties, but we have special retreats and sermons and other opportunities to reflect in-depth on Christ’s sacrifice. For Holy Week, we have services every day at noon. I think it’s more a question of cultural priorities than anything.
Our (public) school gets away with taking Good Friday off by calling it a ‘bad weather’ day. But as long as I can remember we’ve never had Good Friday off just because it was Good Friday.
I thought this was interesting and basically states what I would have said in a much more eloquent, thought-out way.
http://watersofmormon.org/archive/2007/12/20/holiday-smackdown-christmas-vs-easter.aspx
Funny, I was thinking this today. My Ma-in-law came over and said she didn’t care if we got together for Easter, since it isn’t as big a deal as Christmas. And I was all, “WWWWHHHHAAAA?????” Because, after all, isn’t his death and resurrection the real deal? I mean, the reason Christians exist? CHRIST? CHRISTIANS? Get it?
OMG. I nearly fainted.
Christmas is safe. It’s easier for people to celebrate a cute little baby in a manger than it is to think about a man suffering and dying on a cross. I always find it interesting that unbelievers don’t mind singing Christmas carols that talk about Jesus but any other time during the year it’s unheard of. And I think Christians and the church sometimes feed into that way of thinking that Christmas is just more popular, more fun, more safe.
My old churches did recognize and celebrate the days leading up to Easter (Lent). I remember we used to have a big ceremony for Palm Sunday where we would wave palms in the air and sing songs in celebration of Jesus. I just don’t see churches doing that anymore. I think it’s one of those things where we’ve become so focused on going against tradition that we’ve forgotten some of those practices that help us remember and observe why we’re Christians in the first place. Maybe we’ve thrown some babies out with the bathwater.
Hi Rick,
Yes, we always had Good Friday off when I was in school. I graduated in ‘82 – I think alot depends on where you are from. I did an unofficial survey in the Chicago area and most schools are closed, even the public ones. Out in the suburbs is where I found some schools open, which caused me to question why…
Dolores