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Sorry Pastor Driscoll, The Church Should Not Be In Bed With The Easter Bunny

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Do you notice the leaven being mixed in here? The usage of Christianese terms such as "redeem." Christ redeemed us with His blood shed on the cross. I am sorry but you do not "redeem" the Easter Bunny. Besides that though, you tell your kids the bunny is fake and non-Christian but then you allow it to be a part of the day when we celebrate our Lord's resurrection? Really? You don't see an issue with that?

We tell them that years ago in Germany children would build a nest for the "Easter hare" to lay her eggs in, and that it wasn't until Germans immigrated to the United States that this tradition was widely accepted and practiced here. We stress that Easter is a time for us to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that the Easter Bunny is a make-believe character who has been adopted as the official Easter mascot.

Is that in Leviticus? In which Gospel did Jesus make the bunny the mascot? I must have missed that verse"

Just as early missionaries didn't reject or receive the pagan holiday of Eostre but rather redeemed it for Jesus, we too seek to redeem the cultural practices we observe in the U.S. without letting them overshadow Jesus and his Resurrection, and without making us completely irrelevant or even antagonistic to culture and those weird Christians on the block, the ones everybody tries to avoid because they believe that being for Jesus also means being against fun.

And finally at the end of the article the truth is revealed. Driscoll appears to be basing this upon seeker-friendly theology that says the Gospel of Jesus Christ is somehow not relevant enough anymore to reach the culture in this country. It is complete heresy. The Gospel does not need to be marketed, it needs to be preached. Every Word of it needs to be preached, including our key verses today which outline that God actually views us as adulterers when we go down the road Pastor Driscoll seems to be advocating. In his conclusion here we see the things that actually concern Pastor Driscoll is not the Gospel or protecting the integrity of Christ but rather that we are not viewed as being antagonistic or irrelevant to culture. Jesus in the Great Commission did not say to go into all the world and make friends with everyone. He said to go make disciples. Disciples of the Gospel. In fact here is how Jesus said the Gospel would affect the world:

Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against--or two in favor and three against. -- Luke 12: 51-52 (NLT)

Now I know the "lighten up" crowd is already chomping at the bit. But those who know me know I am far from legalistic. I just refuse to compromise the Gospel for anything, any cultural event, or any fear of somehow not being relevant. My job is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not my job to entertain people or to make them feel more comfortable in their customs. That is supposed to be Pastor Driscoll's job too. But when you are trying to be relevant to 12,000 people per week it becomes the Gospel that gets marginalized. The Apostle Paul warned us:

Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powersa]"> of this world, rather than from Christ. -- Colossians 2: 8 (NLT)

This is a spiritual issue. The world is constantly fighting against the will of God. The Bible is clear on this. The church was supposed to go into all the world but what is happening today is the world is infiltrating the church. If your philosophy is based on children remembering the risen Savior over candy and bunny suits then either you have never met a child or your philosophy is empty. Pastors should not be in the business of selling the world's culture to the saints of God. They should not be trying to trivialize paganism and goddesses of sex (fertility). They should not be trying to convince people to fit Christ into their lives and customs but rather preaching them Christ so that they make their lives about Him and not their customs. This article from Pastor Driscoll bothered me on several levels. I did not see a lot of Scripture. I did not see a lot of Jesus. I did not see a lot of the Gospel. I saw a lot of seeker-friendly theology. I saw a lot of human thinking. I saw a lot of personal attacks and opinions. I saw a lot of high sounding nonsense. Don't be fooled.

Reverend Anthony Wade - April 5, 2012

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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