I've found that I'm more likely to blog when I'm irritated about something. I realize that we live in a world that's already obnoxious in shoving negativity down our throats that it hardly makes sense (well, actually it makes no sense at all) for me to be throwing fuel onto that fire.
But
I'm irritated about something, and we need to talk about it. It's an
irritation caused by those who are, or at least
claim to be, Christian. I include those belonging to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) as Christian,
because—quite frankly—we profess that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God and Savior of mankind. Last I checked, that's Christianity.
Anyway.
As the
snow falls outside, it's hard to believe that Easter is only a week
away—and it came later this year, so I was really hoping for that
magical “springy-bunnies and chicks frolicking in green fields”
Easter this year. Maybe the weather will cooperate next week, but
probably not. Not pessimism, just the reality of living in the Rocky
Mountains.
My
annoyance isn't caused by the weather. It's caused by, well,
hypocrisy. At least the weather knows what it is—April always
comes accompanied with snow, and it doesn't profess to be anything
different. People, though—even and especially Christians—tend to
be a different story. Myself included, but I'm trying really, really
hard to remedy that.
Truth
is, I'm a little fed up, in general, with the way terms and words are
used nowadays. Words flow from our mouths, from the television, from
the lyrics of our music. Our words are spoken, printed, and
digitalized, but I often wonder if those words mean
anything. We can say we're
Christian, but what does that really mean?
Especially during this time of Easter—what should
our profession of Christianity during Easter mean? And shouldn't a
Christian's celebration of Easter mean a little more to them than it
would to a non-Christian celebrating Easter?
You
see, we've commercialized our holidays. It doesn't bother me so much
on Thanksgiving or Halloween or Independence Day. These are, of
course, secular holidays—maybe not in origin, but they certainly
are now. Naturally, I'm not going to get all in a tizzy when we
treat a secular holiday as a secular invention. If it looks like a
duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and smells like a duck,
it's probably a duck. (Except for the talking part. Ducks don't
talk.) PS—Don't forget Mother's Day. It's coming up too.
Then
there's Christmas and Easter. I'm not saying Christmas and Easter
shouldn't involve Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny. I'm not saying
kids shouldn't be introduced to Rudolph or Easter egg hunts. These
are traditions which bring families together, which is at the very
core of Christian values. What I am saying,
is that there are some stark contrasts between the religious
celebration of Christmas and Easter and the secular celebrations of
Christmas and Easter. What I am saying
is that far too many of us “Christians” are Christian by
tradition only.
I do not hold any non-Christian people at fault for hypocrisy in
Easter or Christmas celebration. I would never expect my Hindu or
Muslim or Buddhist friends to revere my religious holidays. If they
want to take part and celebrate—cool. But I would, in no way,
expect them to worship Christ, which is what the holidays are
supposed to be about.
Now,
Christians. That's a different story. We do worship
Christ. We're supposed to. We do believe
that he was born, that He lived a perfect life, that He atoned for
our sins, that He rose from the dead. Explanation of “how”
aside, we do believe
that, don't we? So how is it that going to Church only on Christmas
and/or Easter is acceptable? How is it that participating in Lent
(ps—I didn't even know what that was until about two years ago) is
enough to demonstrate our believe in Jesus Christ? How is listening
to a couple of sermons—and then blatantly disavowing those
teachings during the rest of the year—revering Christ?
What
is more important: 1) buying spiffy Easter outfits to impress
everyone at Church? 2) gorging ourselves on Reese's peanut butter
eggs (which are, somehow, waaaaay better than the cup kind)? 3)
patting ourselves on the back for dutifully attending church twice a
year—adherence to actual church doctrine optional? OR 4) living a
Christ-like life, observing loyalty to Him, and doing our utmost to
keep His commandments all of the time,
because we love Him?
Hint:
The correct answer is number four. (Number two is a close second,
assuming your gall-bladder can handle that kind of abuse..... Yes,
I'm still not over that ball-bladder thing either.)
So,
yeah. If you're that kind of hypocrite,... you suck.... (Myself
included, at times.) The good news, though, is this: Easter
happened. I would hope that all of us take the time to read the
Biblical account of that event. Of Christ's Atonement. Of His
trials before the Jews and then the Romans. Of His crucifixion. Of
His Resurrection. Of His invitation to us to follow Him, to repent
and receive forgiveness, to find new life and new purpose as we do
so. If we've been less than valiant in our adherence to true
Christianity, we can change that—rather, He can
change that. If we let Him.
I know
that we live in a time where I may offend some in saying, but I know
that Jesus is the Christ. He is who he said He was. His is not a
Gospel of inactivity, but a Gospel where His disciples are commanded
to actively and purposefully emulate His teachings everyday,
even if it's inconvenient or
politically incorrect. I know that as we strive to do as much as we
can to follow Him—the Resurrected Lord—we will find peace in this
world and everlasting life in the world to come. Because that's
what Easter is all about.
