Church Chronicles: Beyond the Bunny: Navigating Pagan Symbols in Easter Celebrations

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Welcome back to the Church Chronicles by the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and today we're continuing our series on Easter

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with the essential discussion on converting a pagan world and reclaiming Easter.

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In our last episode, we uncovered the pagan origins of many Easter traditions.

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We examined why it's crucial to keep our focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Today, we dive deeper into how the early Christian church navigated a pagan

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world and what lessons we can learn about reclaiming Easter as a celebration of truth.

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2 Corinthians 6, 14-16 from the NIV reads, Do not be yoked together with unbelievers,

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for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?

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Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between church and Belial?

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The early church faced tremendous challenge.

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How to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in a culture saturated with pagan customs and beliefs.

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They sought to introduce the truth in a way that resonated with their audience.

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Still, in doing so, they often adopted familiar symbols and festivals.

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While this strategy may have increased the church reach, it also introduced

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a compromise that would have long-lasting effects.

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The Early Church Mission in a Pagan World The Roman Empire, the center of early

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Christian mission, was a melting pot of pagan rituals, gods, and festivals.

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To convert a predominantly pagan audience, early Christians reframed Pacific

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festivals with Christian significance.

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For example, the timing of Easter was aligned with the spring equinox and the

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Jewish Passover, making it more relatable to non-believers.

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Romans 10, 14-15 NIV says, How then can they call on the one they have not believed in?

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And how can they believe in one whom they have not heard?

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And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? The goal of the early

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evangelist was to make the message of Christ accessible.

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However, blending cultural practices with worship can be a slippery slope.

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Can we relate to the early church desire to make faith relatable without compromising truth?

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I think we've got so used to doing that that we haven't even recognized that there was a merge.

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Right? We just kind of like, if it's a day, we just kind of merge it together.

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You go to church. I celebrate Easter. You finish going to church.

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You come back and you do what you do. Right?

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We haven't really noticed that. But this season, take a notice at how you worship

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the Lord and how these pagan holiday events.

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And how it works in your life, how it merges together. The impact of syncretism.

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Syncretism refers to the blending of different religious and cultural practices.

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I just got through saying that.

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Imperial Constantine adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the

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Roman Empire intensified the incorporation of pagan customs into Christian worship.

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Symbols like the egg and the hare or the rabbit, once associated with fertility

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rituals, became commonplace in Easter celebration.

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While the intent may have been to unify the empire, it also diluted the purity of Christian worship.

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You see, when you mix it, it doesn't make it stronger, it makes it weaker.

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2 Corinthians 6.17 reads from the NIV, Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.

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Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.

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We are called to be distinct in our worship, separate, set apart from the world's practice.

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A lot of times we say, it don't matter if you do this or that, if you mix it.

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We see here that when you dilute Christianity, you dilute the purity of it,

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and it loses its power. The Bible tells us to separate from it.

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So how do we discern between cultural traditions that honor God and those that

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distract from its truth?

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Reclaiming Easter with truth and integrity.

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It's not enough to identify the problem.

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We must take action to ensure our celebrations honor Christ.

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Reclaiming Easter means removing distractions and returning to the true meaning of resurrection.

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How do you do that?

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How do you do that? Center your celebrations on Christ.

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Make the resurrection the focal point of your Easter worship.

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By reading the gospel account and reflecting on the victory over death.

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Many times people don't use Easter in most of the Christian churches.

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They call it Resurrection Sunday. So that right there is making it about Christ. Okay.

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Number two, avoid pagan symbols. Replace symbols like eggs and bunnies with

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imagery that points to Jesus, such as the empty tomb or the cross.

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And so you'll see that, you know.

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Number three, share the gospel using Easter or Resurrection Sunday as an opportunity

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to explain significance of the resurrection to family and friends.

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And then number four, create new traditions. Introduce Christ-centered traditions

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such as hosting a resurrection theme, prayer, breakfast, or organizing a family Bible study.

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Like you can have your traditions.

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Like remember they used big, big thing for me when I was a kid was getting what

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you call an Easter basket full of all the sweets and candies and stuff.

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You know, that is that harmless?

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You know, I, you know, I don't, we don't do that anymore, but they still sell them, right?

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With toys and stuff. So if you have a small kid, you're trying to wean them

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from the Easter tradition, but they go to church and you buy them Easter baskets. Is that confusing?

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That's something you have to talk to God about for your family.

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So the practical steps of reclaiming Christ in your celebration for this Easter,

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instead of Easter, is you want to center your celebration on Christ.

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Avoid pagan symbolism. So that might mean no Easter basket, right?

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And three, share the gospel and create new tradition.

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And, you know, you start young enough, pretty soon they don't remember an Easter basket.

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My kids, I think we started young enough that as we kind of slowly faded out

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of that Easter bunny stuff, we began to get more Christ-oriented.

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First, I couldn't afford it. And then second, didn't understand how that really

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related to Christ on the cross anyway. So if you really think about it,

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sometimes when you're smart, you're like, that doesn't make sense.

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And then you get dressed up on Easter to go to church, but then come home and color eggs.

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It just, it didn't go together in my mind.

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And so sometimes maybe God causes that little bit of, kind of a little bit of

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conflict in your mind to really snap you out of some things that may,

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he's trying to get attention, get your attention on. So needless to say.

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I'm not the Easter egg police, but we're talking about church chronicles where

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we kind of explore some things.

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And then the early church mission to spread the gospel was bold and necessary,

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but it came with a challenge that we still face today.

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We honor their legacy by standing firm in our faith and ensuring that our worship

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remains pure and focused on Christ alone.

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And so as we get closer to that time of the year, I want you to reflect on your

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practices and just see where you can modify or replace to ensure that your focus remains on Jesus.

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Like I said, pray for God's wisdom as you make these changes.

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Church Chronicles, just to give you information, a little history on why people do what they do.

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I really love it because I'm learning too, you know, and so pray for God's wisdom

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as you make these changes.

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In our next episode, we'll explore steps that we can take to reclaim Easter

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by creating Christ-centered celebration that honor the resurrection and remove distractions.

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So thank you for joining me today on Church Chronicles by the Diary of Black Women.

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Once again, I'm your host, Connie Morris. This episode has blessed you.

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Please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need encouragement.

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Till next time. God bless you.