Happy Easter! I mean, I mean "Passover ", I mean "Resurrection Sunday".

Every year when the church puts out our social media outreach campaign to invite people to our Easter services, I inevitably find myself in some version of this discussion - maybe you've experienced something like it: "did you know.... "Easter" is really a pagan holiday?" Some may tell you that Easter came from an old Germanic fertility goddess Eoster. I personally heard the argument that it was from the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. But either way, the story goes that early Christians co-opted this pagan holiday in order to promote (or possibly pollute) their religion.

Sometimes you will hear this from the standpoint of an unbeliever who is looking for reason to cast doubt on the truth of the resurrection. Sometimes these comments come from other believers who are warning us away from what they believe to be a slippery slope into pagan worship. But either way, these claims could be a source of doubt and confusion if we let them…

So first - Is there any truth to these claims? Is our celebration of Easter in vain, or (at worst) actually false worship offered to a demonic pagan idol? Are we leading others into idolatry by bringing them in for what we call Easter service? And even more startling: if there is truth in these claims is it possible that our hope in the resurrection foolish?
 
To start with - Yes - there is a kernel of truth in some of the claims... but just stick with me here.  If you check the storehouse of all knowledge - Google- you will probably see that there is likely a connection between the Germanic goddess Eoster, and the word "Easter",

But don't let that shake you. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a literal historical event: For anyone who would try to argue that the hope we celebrate on Resurrection Sunday is a fairy tale - the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is extremely well attested in and outside of the Bible. What the disciples claimed happened on that first Resurrection Sunday was never in doubt – their confessions got most of them killed and they never once changed their tune. Of course, unbelieving scholars and historians deny that Jesus was actually physically raised from the dead – they would have to admit to a supernatural occurrence to accept it… But very few serious historians or scholars would claim that the celebration of Resurrection Sunday (or whatever you want to call it) was an appropriation of some other religious myth. The truth of eyewitness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith from the very beginning of the history of the church (2 Peter 1:16). If anyone wants more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus we can give so many resources. Seriously, just message me and I’ll help get you started.

OK – so while we are waiting for those books to be delivered, let’s examine the other part of this claim. Often, well-meaning fellow believers take the root of the word “Easter” along with some of the other spring, bunny and egg imagery, and come to the conclusion that Easter is a distraction from Christ, and a pathway to idolatry.

To these people, I say “yes, Easter CAN BE a distraction”. The god of this age has an insidious goal to blind the minds of unbelievers to the truth of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4) – and in Easter (as well as Christmas) the enemy has had tremendous success in doing just that. If we want to, we could have an Easter party, an egg hunt and a spring rebirth message without one mention of Jesus and the empty tomb – and the world at large would celebrate. If we allow it to be that, it absolutely is a pathway to idolatry.

Then why do we – a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church – make a big deal about this Easter holiday, and use this word “Easter” that may even come from pagan roots?

Are we accommodating or watering down the Gospel to appeal to the world? The answer is “NO”.
 
At our Easter Services – and every other opportunity we have – we boldly declare the truth of the Resurrection. Jesus is displayed in glory through our worship, prayer, teaching, Bible reading, hospitality and fellowship – and Easter Sunday is no exception. At no point would anyone ever walk away from our service confused over Who we worship – the “bunny” is not promoted… Jesus is. When a person comes to an Easter service at Calvary Green Valley, they will hear a clear and direct declaration of the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ alone and they will have an opportunity to respond to that message by putting their trust in Him as Lord and Savior. That’s not idolatry or accommodation – that is evangelism.

As far as language is concerned, the word “Easter” may have some pagan roots… but so does the word “Thursday” (“Thor’s-Day in Old English) or the month of “June” (which alludes to the Roman goddess “Juno”) or the shoe brand Nike, and so many other words we use in our language every day. Removing all pagan references from our language would be difficult to say the least. If that is your desire, get ready to make some major adjustments to your wardrobe, food selection, set all of your calendars to orthodox Jewish – calendars and just for good measure, you should probably consider switching over to Hebrew to remove Greek, Latin and Germanic influences from your word choices. I don’t mean to make light of it or to imply that we should be careless with our words…

but the reality is that the “Easter” Season – captures the attention of a world who SO desperately needs to hear the truth about Resurrection Sunday – and this gives us a unique opportunity to do exactly what Jesus commanded us to do – make disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:19-20)

What the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means for you and I is just mind-blowing – we share in the righteousness, and victory over death and eternal life that Christ won. Whether we call it Easter or Resurrection Sunday, or Passover or Empty Tomb Day – we NEED to tell people about it.

So how do we respond? 

1. Don’t practice idolatry in your home. Do not allow an Easter tradition (or any other tradition) to distract from the Gospel in your family - be clear about Who you worship on that Sunday – and every other day of the year. If people can see the “Easter” in your life and they can’t see Christ, you should reconsider your practices and traditions.
2. Don’t worry too much about the words – worry about the Worship – its ok to attend Easter service, have Easter dinner, even to dye an Easter egg if our worship is directed toward the One who is Worthy of all worship. Use the appropriate words that you feel comfortable using. And be clear what you are celebrating if anyone has questions.
3. Don’t argue – it’s just not worth it. Whether you prefer to use the word “Easter” or “Resurrection Sunday” – Ask yourself how arguing the point to exhaustion is going to glorify Jesus Christ and help people to know Him and trust in Him for Salvation.

And – at the end of the day – whether the person is a skeptic who doesn’t believe in the Resurrection, or a believer who is very concerned about the words we use in worship, or just someone with an inquisitive mind, invite them to “Come and See” (John 1:39).

A Day late and a dollar short. I know, but sometimes I'm a little slow.

Have you guys heard of "Giving Tuesday"?  Until this year, I hadn't. But for some reason I got emails and text messages about this all day yesterday. At first I thought it might be some kind of a scam. So I did a little research (i.e. google "what's the deal with giving Tuesday") and here is what I found:

Giving Tuesday was started in 2012, by "92nd street Y" and the "United Nations Foundation", (both secular organizations) with the goal of increasing "global generosity movement". This "day of global generosity" is meant to capitalize on the growing post-Thanksgiving special days like "Black Friday" & "Cyber Monday". On its surface, Giving Tuesday is meant to stand in contrast to the consumerism of the proceeding Monday and Friday. The idea was: "since you are already spending all of your money on stuff, why not do a little good with whatever's leftover too".

Now we know... which is great! But, how do we relate to this new secular holiday as Christians?

First of all, giving is good- God’s Word says that He loves a cheerful giver, (2 Corinthians 9:7) and not only that, but that we are are to put test the Lord in our giving by bringing the whole tithe into the storehouses - that He will respond by opening the floodgates of Heaven (Malachi 3:10). This is God's Word and we affirm all of this to be true.  If God put it on your heart to give to a cause on Giving Tuesday, that's great, I'm sure you will be blessed that you obeyed.

But, the question got me thinking... So, let me give a couple of Biblical principles to think about as we consider #givingtuesday and how we approach giving in general:

• Christian giving is intentional - its not meant to be by impulse - As Christians we make a plan to give according to our finances. We are told to know the status of our finances (Proverbs 27:23) and to give intentionally, purposefully and regularly (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).  At times the Holy Spirit will convict us in a moment to give freewill offerings to other works He is doing - when He does this, we obey. But in general, our giving should be a regular expression of our worship and an outpouring of our love for God - not as a response to social pressure.  

• Christian Giving is sacrificial - The Firstfruit principle of giving (throughout Scripture) commands that whatever we give to God (service, money, time, worship) must be the first and best - that we give God His part before taking for ourselves. Cain gave an offering of leftovers to God and it set him down the path of disobedience (Genesis 4). David refused to give an offering that didn't cost him (2 Samuel 2:24). Jesus praised the widow - not because of the size of her offering, but because it was a sacrifice for her (Mark 12:42-44). Can we do this on Giving Tuesday? Absolutely! However, in practice this seems to be more of an expression of "what can I do with my Thanksgiving leftovers." 

• Christian giving is worship - Our giving is meant to be an act of obedience and worship by which God is glorified 
  • a "global generosity movement" tends to highlight the virtue of generosity without giving credit to the Author of all generosity. As believers, we must always be aware that every good and perfect gift is from the Father (James 1:17). In other words, when anyone gives, those resources came only from God. Generosity is a good quality we are meant to possess as believers, but generosity should never be elevated above or apart from the Giver. Elevating the gift above the Giver is at the core of idolatry.
  • more to the point -  the giver (little "g") is not meant to receive public recognition for their giving (Matthew 6:2-4). This flies in the face of the whole #hashtag activism behind Giving Tuesday. God uses our giving to accomplish His will, and when we do so generously, cheerfully and anonymously, we see His generosity instead of the generosity of individuals.

• Christian giving is "equally yoked" - I know it seems out of place here but indulge me for a moment if you will... most often we associate "unequal yoking" with marrying an unbeliever... but that wasn't even the main context when Paul warned against it (1 Corinthians 16:14). The big idea behind this warning is that we (believers) cannot go into a partnership with an unbeliever expecting the unbeliever to uphold and accomplish Christian goals or values. We certainly will find agreement with some of the goals of a secular charitable organization, but there are often hidden caveats to how money is used and what they view as acceptable methods to achieve those goals. It is possible to give money to what appears to be an upright charity looking to solve a problem that is near to God's heart only to find out that we have unknowingly partnered with an organization that funds something in direct opposition to God's Will. This is not to say we can never give to a secular organization, just that we need to be diligent in your research.  Also, we may be able to find an organization that addresses the same need from an explicitly Christian viewpoint. Always research the company - their leadership, values, mission, vision, and stewardship practices.

• Christian giving accomplishes God's purpose - during the 1st Temple period in Israel, the "Tithe" (or tenth giving) was established for the purpose of maintaining the temple, the priests, and religious functions of the Tabernacle and then the Temple (Numbers 18:21-24). This was the center of teaching and worship in Israel and the meeting place between man and God. The Levites and Priests also took alms for the needy and distributed all kinds of aid for widows orphans and medical care for the sick. Israelites certainly were encouraged to give outside of the tithe to those who had need and to provide personally for others, but often those blessings came from the bounty of the tithe and were distributed through the priesthood. In our day and age we are not bound by Mosaic tithing law, BUT God's heart is still the same and we still live with the same principles and truth expressed in the tithe. The Temple doesn't exist, but the Church (universal and local) is Christ's Body. He uses the church to glorify Himself, make disciples of the nations, feed and care for the broken and poor, and to proclaim His Gospel. Although we don't have Levitical Priests fully dependent on the tithe, we do have dedicated pastors who work full time in the ministry - and the Apostle Paul affirms that the congregation must provide reasonable support for these (1 Corinthians 9:14; Galatians 6:6). In principle, if we consider ourselves a member of a church, and we believe that our church is being faithful to her calling and good stewards of our giving... we should be glad to give, knowing that our giving supports God's work and ministry and fulfils His purpose. So - this is not to discourage giving outside of the church, but simply to encourage us to ask ourselves - have we given to support the work that God is doing and calling us to support?

Don't get me wrong...  Giving Tuesday is not an evil or bad thing. We should celebrate when the world is looking to do something positive. But as Christians, we are called to a different set of standards for giving. The take away here is not for us to dwell on whether or not we have given on any particular Tuesday or Sunday. Instead, I encourage us all to examine our heart and practices on the issue of giving to see that it is in line with God's heart and command. So, my brothers and sisters, I will leave you with this thought. Is your giving an intentional and sacrificial act of worship? Is it equal yoked? and does it accomplish and support God's purpose?