Easter Retail?

I know that the largest shopping day of the year is the Friday after Thanksgiving. I also know that I avoid all shopping experiences on that particular day. I have these flashbacks of News reports that show images of people being trampled entering the mall at pre-dawn hours and that just does not appeal to me. Having briefly worked in retail I also know that many retailers plan for months if not the better part of a year for that one day. Sales are through the roof... they move merchandise at break-neck speeds... everyone is exhausted at the end of the day... and many consumers arrive back home broke, physically spent, and emotionally hungover.

It's the biggest shopping day of the year!

But what about life in the church world? I have spent the last twelve years of my life preparing annually for the "biggest spiritual shopping day of the year". We refer to it as Easter. As an insider in the church industry I have been acutely aware that there will be people (lost people) who will go to church on Easter Sunday who will never walk in on a regular weekend during the remainder of the year. So what do many of "us" do? We market our product, we plan and prepare for the biggest shopping day of the year, and all with the hope that our spiritual-sales receipts are among the highest to date.

Here's my tension point: To whom much is given... much is required. So if you attend or serve at a church who does things big, then you probably experienced a big Easter Sunday presentation which may have included music, drama, and maybe even an imitation Jesus, covered in blood, walking with a cross and eventually bustin' up out of da tomb! I love it. I love how we attempt to replay the story (really I do, please don't read any sarcasm on this one). I know that God blesses churches with an attitude of excellence and expects excellence each and every week.

But what about all of the other Sunday's in a year? Do we slack off our edge of excellence because it is just "another Sunday"? I must admit that I wonder what Jesus himself thinks when we do our "Easter rituals"... don't get me wrong... we hide Easter eggs at my house, we still make-up a downplayed version of the Easter bunny and baskets and the like... but what does He think about when He sees us in our worship?

On the ONE day that should be the most important day of celebration and remembrance for all believers... how do we treat Him? How do we honor the Son of God?

So where is all of this coming from? This Easter Sunday was the first in many years that I did not have a "responsibility" on Easter Sunday morning. As I woke up and watched my girls open their baskets my mind began to rest on this thought... "Today, keep it simple. Set my eyes, heart, and thoughts on the Jesus that loves me more than I could ever imagine." Let all of the pageantry and pomp fall away and just look for Him.

Hopefully, around the world, yesterday was the biggest spiritual retail day of the year... I just hope the consumers got what they were looking for.