Happy Crossmas!

By: Johnny Coggin


Slate magazine recently ran an article on Easter, titled Happy Crossmas! Why Easter stubbornly resists the commercialism that swallowed Christmas.

Granted, Slate is not known as a "Christian" publication in the online news world - it's owned by the Washington Post Company. And I don't necessarily agree with everything the author says. But overall, I found it to be a surprisingly (and unintentionally) worshipful read, and I commend the article to you as you prepare for Easter this Sunday.

Here's a particularly stunning portion:

Even agnostics and atheists who don't accept Christ's divinity can accept the general outlines of the Christmas story with little danger to their worldview. But Easter demands a response. It's hard for a non-Christian believer to say, "Yes, I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, died, was buried, and rose from the dead." That's not something you can believe without some serious ramifications: If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, this has profound implications for your spiritual and religious life—really, for your whole life. If you believe the story, then you believe that Jesus is God, or at least God's son. What he says about the world and the way we live in that world then has a real claim on you.

Easter is an event that demands a "yes" or a "no." There is no "whatever."