Rather than assuming that our friends understand why we celebrate Easter, maybe now would be a good time to explain

3 min read

And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

2 Corinthians 5:15

I recently had an encounter that made me aware of how much I assume.

I was talking to an adult man from the small town where I live who had reached out for some guidance. As we talked, he explained how life had been especially challenging for him lately. He had marriage and family pressures, a history of addiction, issues at work, and so on.

At one point in the conversation, I wanted to invite my new friend to an upcoming Easter service at our church. But in the moment, it occurred to me, What if he doesn’t know what Easter has to do with church? So I asked him.

He said he wasn’t completely sure, but that maybe Easter had “something to do with the birth of Jesus?” I gently and respectfully explained to him that Christmas is the holiday when we celebrate the birth of Christ, and that Easter is a celebration of his resurrection.

It was a God moment for both of us. My friend got a quick overview of the Gospel message – the good news that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). I explained to him that because Jesus died for our sins, we can be forgiven and have peace with God and that because he rose again, we have hope, even in death.

And me, I got a needed wake-up call about my many wrong assumptions.

Going away from that experience, I realized that I could no longer assume that the people I come in contact with know or understand the basics of the Christian message. Even though I live in the middle of the United States, a country that at one time was steeped in a Christian worldview, this is no longer the case.

It appears that the generational chain of faith that has largely defined our nation since its birth is broken. A dis-connect has happened. And now, like many of our European ancestor nations, we are a secular society.

Consider a simple example of this. When I typed in “Easter” to find an image that would go with this devotional post, only two out of over 100 images that came up had anything to do with the resurrection of Christ. There were plenty of easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, and spring flowers, but precious little Jesus.

So, what does this mean for us? For one thing, it means that we cannot assume these days that people know of Jesus – about his life, death, and resurrection – and have rejected him outright. As hard as it may be for us to believe, they may have never gotten the message.

And that’s where we come in.

I am so thankful for the conversation I had with my new friend a few weeks ago. By the way, at the end of it, he prayed and invited Jesus into his life. Together, he and I will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus this Easter Sunday.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.