Easter for a Recovering Evangelical

Hi, I’m a recovering evangelical.  This is the second Easter holiday that I can say I’m a recovering evangelical.  Thefreedictionary.com’s third definition of an evangelical is:Of, relating to, or being a Christian church believing in the sole authority and inerrancy of the Bible, in salvation only through regeneration, and in a spiritually transformed personal life.  That definition has been my understanding of what an evangelical Christian is.  There is more to it, such as the doctrinal positions taken by a specific denomination and the idiosyncrasies one might find with a specific church, but to the uninitiated this definition is pretty comprehensive.  I’d spent many years within the constricting embrace of the evangelical world and it’s effects will be felt for many year to come, so it’s with relatively new spiritual sobriety that I get to reflect on this Easter Sunday.  With the baggage I carry from years of evangelical emersion, reflection has proven to be a bit more challenging than I would have thought.

Let me start with a confession; I did not attend an Easter service this year, perhaps for the first time in 18 years.  And it was pretty strange. Here's why.  The central belief of the Christian faith is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  Without it there is no Christianity.  It’s the reason for the Easter celebration.    In light of today’s focus on Easter consumerism it would be easy to think that it’s about Easter egg hunts, chocolate bunnies and family get-togethers.  In 2000, Americans spent $1.9 billion on Easter candy.  That’s just behind the $2 billion spent for Halloween!  And believe me when I say that a good part of that consuming is done by evangelicals.  And in full disclosure, I did not miss that aspect of the Easter holiday.  I have eaten my weight in jelly beans today and I’m already paying for it.  My kids received their Easter baskets full of goodies despite the fact that they haven’t believed in the Easter Bunny for quite some time.  No, it has been strange because this Easter hasn’t been about the resurrection for me.  For the indoctrinated that is as blasphemous as it can possibly get.  And I’m okay with it.

Here’s the reason for my comfort in missing the resurrection story on Resurrection Sunday and all the spiritual trimmings that go with it.  I had two choices for Easter worship opportunities.  One church gave me the option to attend one of three services to meet my Easter worshiping needs; one Saturday night service and two on Sunday.  They have a killer praise and worship band that could rival many pop-rock concerts.  If the pastor was to lose his gig preaching he could easily hit the road doing comedy.  There’s an opportunity to grab a cup of coffee and a pasty before or after the show, er, I meant service.  The place simply is awesome.  Then there was the quant, traditional church service.  It offered a more tired, wait I mean tried service, one we would remember from years gone by with piano and organ based music and traditional service elements.  They advertised a Easter morning breakfast for the attendees.  For those who have grown up with this worship experience it held all the bells and whistles they like, and none of those they don’t.  Both advertised their services.  Both offered special enticements to attract attendees.  Both have adopted modern market practices to increase their bottom line.  All of this to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus, the same Jesus who cleared the temple of those selling animals used for sacrifices and those who exchanged money.  Hm. 

So, where’s the resurrection?  Well, it’s part of the package being sold. Now, I’m not trying to say that today’s church is wrong to adopt consumer market practices to increase membership.  Evangelicals would say that it’s not about membership to their churches, but about reaching everyone with the gospel.  Of course church membership is a reflection of how well they are sharing the gospel, so growth is the natural byproduct of effective ministry. What I’m saying is that as a recovering evangelical I don’t really mind missing out on the packaged product being offered this Easter.  It doesn’t seem much different from aluminum foil wrapped chocolate eggs or those marshmallow peeps that are simply everywhere at Easter.  Maybe the Easter message is the resurrection, but the church doesn’t seem to be about the resurrection, just the church.  As a recovering evangelical, I think it’s easy to celebrate Easter without the resurrection package because, either way, you’re buying some product.

Now, I wonder if Jesus would run off the clerks at the coffee shops located in the lobby of the church?  Would Jesus toss pans of scrambled eggs and pancakes used to draw a church crowd?  I don’t know.  I think I’ll mull those questions over with one of those chocolate bunnies and an Easter egg.