I am not a “Scrooge”, contrary to
the assertions of many of my closest friends and even a few family
members. I dislike the way Christmas has
turned into a hype of spending and commercialism. Perhaps the holiday ought to be renamed, “Consumer
Day”. Christmas has lost much, if not
most, of its worship and reverence. My
rejection of what is happening in Christmas is not because I am a Scrooge type
character. I prefer to be called a
Christmas purist.
It is sad, but it appears the
same thing has happened to Easter. I am
also an Easter purist. Easter has been
turned into a springtime version of Consumer Day, er…, I mean Christmas. And the invitation to spend to excess has
crept into what ought to be the holiest day of the year. The camel got his nose into the tent with a
few small treats for children, the purchase of gift baskets filled not simply
with treats but gifts, to the question, “What do you want the Easter Bunny to
bring you?” Sadly, many churches seem
to be leading this charge to secularize Easter and rob it of its beauty and
meaning. It appeared that something
backfired this Easter and maybe, just maybe, we can gain a warning.
Over the last few years, a fad (and
I use that in its most derisive sense of the word) has swept into churches’
Easter plans, the helicopter egg drop (HED).
In these events, a church hires a helicopter to fly over tossing out
plastic eggs filled with prizes, and, once the bomb run has passed, masses of
people rush on to the field to greedily gather the eggs. An HED is expensive. One report I read said that for 10,000 eggs
and a fairly short flight for the chopper, a church can expect to spend up to
$10,000. We might suspect that only
mega churches try this. Not true, a
small church (less than 100 in attendance) near my home did an HED last
year. The rational for an HED is simple:
1) it is wonderful community activity which leads to, 2) positive disposition
and popularity in the community for the church which will lead to, 3) better
attendance at Sunday services. (I will resist the urge to talk about how much
these three motivations are like the temptations of our Savior in the
wilderness.)
Something happened this year that
ought to cause us to stop and ask, “Is an HED or other gimmick a good idea?” Lifepoint Church in Plano, TX, planned an
HED. The resulting crowds and
disorderliness made it impossible for the event to take place. Read the details here:
I do not blame the church or the
staff for the behavior of sinful people.
We should not expect that sinful people would behave like good Christian
people. However, when a church appeals
to the selfish, fallen human nature we might expect bad behavior. I applaud the church for its desire to reach
the community. I am sure they do a great
many wonderful things. But it appears
that Lifepoint and the church in America, is often willing, for the sake of
popularity, to squander the holy and sacred.
In the exchange for a little temporary publicity and press, we lose the
ability to speak of eternal things.
Consider this alternative to next
year’s HED. For a few weeks before
Easter call the church to a season of deep, painful, and passionate, fasting,
meditation and repentance. Let the
church celebrate the week before Easter with a close review of what our Lord
did in His last week. Mark Lord’s Supper
Thursday and Good Friday with special prayer and worship. Use Saturday before Easter to serve the
least, the last, and the lost. Worship
Sunday and if you want to spend $10,000, hold a feast for the hungry,
destitute, or homeless. My hero once
said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Pray for the Lifepoint church, that
this fiasco will not inhibit the witness for Christ. And if we want to look above for a great
Easter, let’s look to our resurrected Lord not a Sikorsky!
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