Every day, every service, every brick, every event, every staff member, every sermon, EVERYTHING at First Baptist Church is about Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. We are relentlessly committed to the proclamation of the Gospel of our risen Lord. We are relentlessly committed to seeing the glory of God cover Etowah county like the waters cover the sea. Our primary goal as a church is to make disciples and penetrate the darkness around us with the light of the Gospel of Christ.
That’s why we hunt Easter eggs. In the context of relentlessly Christ0centric life and ministry, I believe there is safety in celebrating Christian holidays in healthy cultural ways. We don’t go too far (that line is different for everyone of course, so maybe we just don’t go beyond my comfort level), but let me make the case for careful cultural celebration.
Built into our calendar year are times when non-Christians think about God. Primarily, those times are Christmas and Easter. If Christians are not taking advantage of this, then I would call it an outright abdication of cultural stewardship. God has given us built-in missional times in our calendar year! What a blessing. Missionaries in Saudi Arabia or Malaysia don’t have that opportunity.
So then why not meet the lost in your community on common cultural ground? Why not have an Easter Egg Hunt or Egg Drop or Easter Festival to provide common ground for your church to engage with the community around it. Why not take advantage of the built-in cultural commonalities God has blessed us with? Is it not ok for churches to have an event where they and their community have fun together and build relationships?
Don’t depend on these things. Don’t think events will save people. Don’t think that just because you have a well-attended event means you’re actually making Gospel impact. Don’t let these things replace the actual proclamation of the Gospel of Christ. You have to do follow-up, personal evangelism, and more to ensure that those things happen. But for the glory of Christ and the sake of your community, don’t be afraid to hunt eggs every once in a while.
