Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Easter Bunny Churches

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I have experienced too many churches that are like chocolate Easter bunnies.

The chocolate bunny looks so enticing with the shiny foil wrapping on the outside, but often when you unwrap it you find that the chocolate is waxy and the bunny is hollow.

We are in an age when churches feel pressure to be trendy and culturally hip to attract people in. We rely on large screens, loud music, stage decorations, and pop culture references to give people an experience that will leave them wanting more.

There is nothing inherently wrong with these things as long as what is under the wrapping is what it should be and isn’t hollow. But if the “experience” is all there is, we will not accomplish the mission that Jesus called us to do.

When there is little or nothing on the inside, the chocolate bunny analogy is a perfect illustration. Like a Ponzi scheme or a house of cards, it is hard to sustain the growth when the foundation is weak or non-existent. Eventually, the structure becomes unstable and will collapse.

The glitz and technology will not keep people coming in for the same reason that I am unlikely to ever buy a chocolate Easter bunny again.

As always, it is what is on the inside that counts.

In what did Christ’s humiliation consist?

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Question 27 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “In what did Christ’s humiliation consist?“

The answer given is, “Christ’s humiliation consisted in being born, and that in a poor circumstance; in being subject to God’s law; in undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God and the curse of death on the cross; in being buried; and in continuing under the power of death for a time.“

The first question that needs to be asked is, “what is meant by the word humiliation?”

The basic meaning of the word is to be brought down to a lower position. In the case of Jesus Christ, he moved from Heaven to earth and took on the limitations of being human.

Isaiah tells us:

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6, CSB

The eternal son was given to us, born as a child. Not only was he born as a human child; he was born into a poor family. Amazingly, the creator of the universe grew up in a family with limited resources. The king of kings experienced poverty instead of privilege.

On top of this, there would always be questions surrounding his legitimacy. After all, Joseph didn’t marry Mary until after she was pregnant. People in that day could count the months just as well as we can today. I’m sure that many a gossip had some fun with the story of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

During his years of ministry, Jesus had a great impact. Many miracles are recorded in the Gospels and many more were done that remain unrecorded. But still, Jesus didn’t fix all that is wrong with the world.

I listen to the news and sometimes get overwhelmed with how much of a mess humanity has made of this world. Injustice, oppression, and murder can be found on the pages of any newspaper or on the evening news broadcast.

But the thought, which is strangely encouraging, is that all of these things were present in the world when Jesus walked the earth. The Pax Romana was maintained with cruelty and injustice. In the midst of this, Jesus showed us an example of how to stay on mission despite the circumstances around him.

We can also be encouraged by the thought that through his death on our behalf, Jesus also secured the ultimate defeat of our enemy. He will one day return to complete the victory over evil and make everything right.

How does Christ fill the office of a priest?

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Question 25 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, How does Christ fill the office of a priest?

The answer given is, Christ fills the office of a priest in his once offering up of himself to God as a sacrifice, to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God; and in making constant intercession for us.

I notice first the word “once” which is used to modify the verb offering. Christ does not continually offer himself up as a sacrifice, nor does the sacrifice need to be repeated on a daily or weekly basis. It was completed once and is effective for all time.

The answer also provides the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice. It was done to satisfy divine justice and provide the means were we can be reconciled to God. In other words our relationship with God was broken and we needed Jesus to intervene to restore the relationship. We bring sin and failure to the table and Jesus takes it and gives us his righteousness in return.

But perhaps the most comfort of all can be obtained from the last part of this answer. Jesus functions as a priest by continually interceding on our behalf.

This really hits home with me right now. I have gone through a period of time when I wasn’t really sure who was fully in my corner supporting me. When life is difficult and nothing seems to be going right, it makes all the difference in the world to know that Jesus has not given up and has not abandoned me. The reminder that Jesus is making the effort to intercede on my behalf makes it possible to persevere and avoid despair.

If you are in need of encouragement right now, may I suggest that you take a few moments and read the prayer In John 17 and spend some time letting it marinate? By reading this prayer, we get a deep view into how Jesus intercedes for us.

Second place is first winner

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In America, we have imbibed the idea that winning is everything. You may have even heard someone say, “second place is first loser.” We apply this principle to our sports teams and to life in general. While this attitude may be helpful with regard to sporting endeavors, it is absolutely devastating in the church.

This morning, I was reading in 1 Samuel where Saul began to be jealous of David because people were ascribing greater success to David as a battle commander. Saul’s resentment of David went so far as to cause Saul to attempt to kill David.

Contrast this with the attitude of John the Baptist when he said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John understood his role and was willing to step aside an allow Jesus his rightful prominence.


(c) Can Stock Photo / DinoZZZ

Unfortunately, I have seen the drive for success to cause some church leaders to act more like King Saul than like John the Baptist. While these leaders may verbally acknowledge that Jesus is the head of the church, they find “spiritual” reasons to make sure that they stay in the prominent role.

When I have seen controlling pastors, I suspect that they are controlling because of underlying insecurity. My observation is that they lack confidence in Christ’s ability to lead his church and as a result feel pressure that was never theirs to bear.

On a positive note, I know of a situation where the founding pastor of a church has retired and remained in the church to encourage and support the man who replaced him. The founding pastor is willing to be in the background and allow the new pastor to grow into his larger role.

The question for all of us is whether we are willing to accept the role that we have been given. The even harder and more foundational question is “for whose glory am I working?” If my heart is in the right place and I am working for God’s glory alone, then I will be willing to accept whatever role is given to me by God.

In the case of John the Baptist, he rightly understood that Christ alone deserved the honor and that his role was to point people to Jesus.

In the case of King Saul, he failed to understand that the role of Israel was to point to the glory of their God and his role as king was to be an example of doing so. David was God’s provision for the needs of the Nation of Israel and to fight against David was to fight against God.

In the same way, the church is to be pointing all the glory to God and as church leaders we need to be supporting anyone who is is doing that well. We need to make sure that we are not skimming off some of the glory to feed our own insecurity.

In leading the church, we need to understand that second place is first winner when we surrender to Christ and allow him to build his church. We win because Jesus can make something more beautiful than we can even imagine.

If we let him do so.

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