Webster defines culture as the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time.

Culture is a social system created by man. Culture can be good, bad or indifferent.

Case in point is the culture we have created around Easter, which includes bunnies, bonnets and egg hunting.

Many churches embrace the Egg Hunts and the Easter Bunny while other churches feel that the added hoopla takes attention off of Jesus, especially for children. I can see both sides of the argument. What about you?

We see examples in the Bible of preachers using culture to present the Gospel. Jesus used cultural examples such as sheep, harvest, and fishing to teach spiritual truths.

The Apostle Paul was troubled by the idol worship in Athens. Instead of preaching against their idolatry, he used their culture to present the Gospel.

Standing before their high council Paul addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I noticed you are religious in every way, and one of your altars had this inscription on it ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God whom you worship without knowing, is the one I am telling you about.” Paul went on to preach to the people of Athens about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

I personally like to use the influence of culture as a platform to preach the Gospel. At Family Church we gave away 10,000 Easter Eggs in our Egg Hunt and invited the Easter Bunny so kids could get their picture taken with him.

We are currently averaging 55 people on Sunday mornings. We had 220 visitors show up for a total of 275 people.

It was standing room only at the back of the movie theatre that we turn into a sanctuary on Sunday mornings. I preached a strong message on “The Cross” and fifteen people received Christ.

I was overwhelmed by the response from the community, but I was most blessed by our members as they stepped up and served our visitors. Our visitors outnumbered us three to one and our team stepped up and hit a Home Run.

Why do I do the Easter Bunny and the Egg Hunt?

I am in the business of fishing for men. If I want to reach families for Christ I need to use some bait. The Bunny and the Eggs are the bait.

Did it work? I think so. I am already making plans for next year. One thing I’m going to do is buy some more bait.

What about your church? What did you do for Easter? What were the results?