The Origin of Things

Too many Christians don't understand the nature of their faith.  We think we have "arrived" because of things we do or don't do.  Our prayers are that of the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 "God, I thank you I am not like other people...."

Have we forgotten that we are all spiritual prostitutes, bought back with the blood of Christ?  The origin of our hearts is a place of death and bondage and sin.

So, it rather surprises me when I see a fellow ex-soul-prostitute cast stones at the origin of things.  I've been ruminating on this as a result of celebrating Easter.  Rather, how some Christians refuse to celebrate the "pagan" holiday of Easter.  As a Christian who follows the rhythms of the the Church Year, the season of Easter is the Pièce de résistance of the entire year.  Without Easter we are still dead in our sins.  But, we have been made alive with Christ!  Easter carries the full weight of our faith.

This is why some Christians have decided to stop the "pagan" madness and only refer to Easter as Resurrection Sunday.  That's OK.  It's true.  But, usually this includes a baning of Easter eggs and the Easter bunny and, well, the word Easter (I mean, even if your ailing grandmother wants to give your children a few Easter eggs to bring moments of joy to her waning life...get behind me, Satan!).  I'm all for people practicing their faith based off of conviction from the Holy Spirit, however, these kinds of banings can be a slippery slope into a pit of hypocrisy and legalism.

If you read about the history of Easter you will, indeed, read about a pagan heritage.  This will be true of Christmas as well.  (It's true of you too...I'm just sayin').  Everyone should be free to make decisions that help them honor Christ with their lives.  If they feel they will be led to think less of Christ on Easter (Ehem, Resurrection Sunday) because they held an Easter egg in their hand then...that's between them and the Lord.  Those people may want to note that the Christmas tree also has pagan origins, oh, and eating ham on Easter, and also, sunrise services, um, also, the wedding ring.  You'd be surprised how many things we Christians have usurped from others for the celebration and glory of God and His people!

Usually, decisions to ban "unclean things" are held (and brandished) with little grace and no chance for redemption.  And, in my experience, they are accompanied by judgements that condemn other people, places, and things with "dirty" origins.  They result in alienating people by way of pride, which is antithetical to the humble inclusion of Christ's resurrection.

Truthfully, it's easier to crusade for a purer Easter than it is to stare into the face of our own hypocrisy and sin. It's easier to show our "devotion" to Christ by abstaining from Easter eggs or secular music or movies than it is to examine how we treat our children or talk to our spouses or judge others in pride.

We serve a God who specializes in redeeming things.  God took a murdering fugitive and used him to rescue His people.  God accepted a prostitute into the very lineage of Jesus for her faithfulness.  God took the idea of the city (which was created by the first murderer in the Bible as a direct rebellion against God's command to wander, and, which has a long history of rebellion) and has plans to ultimately redeem it as the eternal residence of His people.  The entire Bible declares stories such as these.

Our God doesn't care much about the origin of things.  If He did we'd all be screwed.  What He cares about is how His mercy and grace can bring strength from weakness, holiness from paganism, life from death.  And we are to follow our Savior, rushing grace and mercy to those in need, not through alienating legalism, but by waking up each morning and thanking God that the face you see in the mirror is no longer the face of a treacherous, pagan, soul-prostitute, but the redeemed child of God. 

Let's instead be about redemption work!  Let us as Christians (as Christians have already historically done) redeem Easter for Christ...Easter eggs, ham and sunrise services in celebration of the Lord and the family He has given us!  We can include people in our family memories around Christmas trees, knowing our hearts are fully the Lord's.  We can embrace stories like the Lord of the Rings (which for some holds taboo use of mysticism) for the aspects of the story that speak Biblical truth...devotion, sacrifice, loyal friendship, the triumph of good over evil. We can look into the eyes of someone the world has written off--thieves and murderers and drug dealers--and see future men and women of God!

When we really understand God's grace in our lives, everything we do begins to soften in light of it.  Legalism lessens as the love of Christ flows out.  True conviction (and the real Resurrection spirit) starts always with humility and ends in redemption!