Yesterday, many churches sang the wonderful words, "He arose a victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign." Soul-stirring words, weren't they?...yesterday...
Easter is a soul-stirring day, an emotional "upper" for the Church of Jesus Christ--His Body here on earth. Many of us rose early to greet the sunrise (if there was one, and even if there wasn't), and we sang "Christ Arose." We believed it then.
And we filled up on sugar (Easter breakfasts and Easter candy)...and on spiritual sugar, too...eye and ear candy to seduce us into believing that what we were doing was "worship". The music was great, even if there were none of the old hymns, and the beat was a trifle loud and we stood looking at lyrics on the wall for 40 minutes. The pews were cushioned, even though we had to sit a lot farther back in the sanctuary than usual. The dramas were, well...dramatic. The message or reflection or meditation was short enough so that we could get home in time to change out of our church clothes and prepare a "Martha" meal for the extended family. Appetizers, salads, an interesting entree and plenty of yummy dessert. Insulin, adrenaline and somnolance. Now that was a great Easter...wasn't it?
Or was it?
It's Monday morning, and where is the resurrected Christ now? And where are His saints? Are they truly reigning? Is He reigning in them? Is He reigning in me? Are today and tomorrow and the tomorrow's after that downer's? Are we living in the reality of Christ's resurrection? Or are we all just a little sick from all that sugar? Too much sugar is bad for the heart...and maybe for the soul and spirit.
If we truly believe what we sang as the sun rose yesterday, we'd better let Christ reign in us today.
http://where-we-live.blogspot.com/2007/04/uppers-and-downers.html#links
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Monday, April 09, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
For Sale: Easter
For the industrialized church, Easter is the greatest marketing opportunity since Christmas. Re-enactments of Christ’s Passion, Seder for Gentiles, Tenebrae, Taize, Cantata’s…all are employed to fill the pews and to reinvigorate the faithful. Each year we have been conditioned to expect something just a little more spectacular or a little more “spiritual” to satisfy the vague discontent we have with the product offered each week at our local house of worship. Why?
Is it because we are so used to media hype in every other area of life that we have come to expect it in our spiritual lives, too?
It is a great temptation for church leaders to follow the world’s example and to use Easter (and Christmas, for that matter) as a sales pitch…a public relations opportunity to get their name out before the public at a time when it is politically acceptable to do so. We’ve all gotten the catalogs offering Easter press kits and door hangers and bulletin covers and posters and DVD’s and… We are a nation of consumers, so I guess we expect people to respond to advertising, but I don’t see that as a Biblical principle in evangelism. There is more to making disciples than persuading people to wear team t-shirts or lighting candles or walking a labyrinth once a year or packing a pew.
Perhaps a more pervasive problem to that vague spiritual discontent felt by so many believers is that we are also a nation of spectators. There are far more people in the stands at a football game than there are on the field. From a spiritual standpoint, there are far more spectators in the congregation than there are vibrant players in the field—and I don’t mean the worship team or the Sunday School teachers or the pastor. We all have the option of becoming spiritual spectators instead of participants in the Body of Christ. And spectators become bored and dissatisfied when the team isn’t winning.
So, every year it becomes a greater challenge to motivate people to appreciate the Ultimate Sacrifice. Where does the answer lie? Should we quit celebrating the Resurrection as a one-time event, and begin looking at it as a present reality?
What do you think?
Check out bob.blog's The Dangers of Easter”
http://bobhyatt.typepad.com/bobblog/2007/03/the_dangers_of_.html
and Greg Laughery’s Living Spirituality at
Is it because we are so used to media hype in every other area of life that we have come to expect it in our spiritual lives, too?
It is a great temptation for church leaders to follow the world’s example and to use Easter (and Christmas, for that matter) as a sales pitch…a public relations opportunity to get their name out before the public at a time when it is politically acceptable to do so. We’ve all gotten the catalogs offering Easter press kits and door hangers and bulletin covers and posters and DVD’s and… We are a nation of consumers, so I guess we expect people to respond to advertising, but I don’t see that as a Biblical principle in evangelism. There is more to making disciples than persuading people to wear team t-shirts or lighting candles or walking a labyrinth once a year or packing a pew.
Perhaps a more pervasive problem to that vague spiritual discontent felt by so many believers is that we are also a nation of spectators. There are far more people in the stands at a football game than there are on the field. From a spiritual standpoint, there are far more spectators in the congregation than there are vibrant players in the field—and I don’t mean the worship team or the Sunday School teachers or the pastor. We all have the option of becoming spiritual spectators instead of participants in the Body of Christ. And spectators become bored and dissatisfied when the team isn’t winning.
So, every year it becomes a greater challenge to motivate people to appreciate the Ultimate Sacrifice. Where does the answer lie? Should we quit celebrating the Resurrection as a one-time event, and begin looking at it as a present reality?
What do you think?
Check out bob.blog's The Dangers of Easter”
http://bobhyatt.typepad.com/bobblog/2007/03/the_dangers_of_.html
and Greg Laughery’s Living Spirituality at
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