Friday, March 31, 2006
These Christians Need A Trip Behind The Wood Shed
It may not have been as gruesome as Mel Gibson's movie, but many parents and children got upset when a church trying to teach about Jesus' crucifixion performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs.And we wonder why we have a hard time convincing people that being a Christian is a good thing!?
People who attended Saturday's show at Glassport's memorial stadium quoted performers as saying, "There is no Easter bunny," and described the show as being a demonstration of how Jesus was crucified.
Melissa Salzmann, who brought her 4-year-old son J.T., said the program was inappropriate for young children. "He was crying and asking me why the bunny was being whipped," Salzmann said.
Patty Bickerton, the youth minister at Glassport Assembly of God, said the performance wasn't meant to be offensive. Bickerton portrayed the Easter rabbit and said she tried to act with a tone of irreverence.
It's one thing to help convince people of their sinful nature, but whipping the Easter Bunny?
Here's what gets to me, the gospel really can be "offensive" to people that don't want to accept it, claiming the performance wasn't meant to be that way is a bit of a cop out to the gospel and to the problem here. Simple taste says this was a bad idea.
So what have we accomplished with this little display? Just given the forces arrayed against the church a pile of ammunition they would not otherwise have, which means we have managed to take God's name in vain.
I hope there is a group of people at the Glassport Assembly of God on their knees, but somehow I get the feeling that they are to busy condemning the press for not "getting it."
Related Tags: Easter Bunny whipping, confession, God's name in vain
