Synchretism or Plundering the Egyptians?

As Christians, we too often recoil in fear at the idea of celebrating in any way that might resemble the way "the world" celebrates...especially when it comes to our distinctly-Christian holidays.

For example, at Easter, many among us shy away from egg hunts, bunnies, chicks, pastel colors or new clothes. Afterall, pagans who don't lend any credence whatsoever to the resurrection have popularized and commercialized these symbols for their godless celebrations!

The use of the symbols apart from the substance is indeed an exercise in futility which brings only momentary pleasure, but let's face it! When coupled with the Truth of resurrected life, these symbols can deepen, enhance and rejuvenate our understanding of and appreciation for the truths we confess.

But doesn't that mean we're attempting to synchretize idolatrous practices with True Religion? Well...no! The Truth is, that God himself incorporated the reality of the resurrection into the rhythms of creation. Sometimes we Christians are so caught up with minute details of our precious doctrinal statements that we fail to recognize the symbols of Truth that are all around us! Spring, with its accompanying visions of life springing from death, it's abundant reproduction, new birth, mortality putting on immortality, etc., are lost on us! On the other hand, the unregenerate regularly take the time to notice these God-ordained cycles of creation in a way that we stubbornly refuse to see.

Can we actually benefit and learn from the pagan's approach? Well...yes! At times we can. False religions (such as the worship of Ishtar, from whence the name Easter is derived), contain and reflect undeniable nuggets of Truth! Even man in his natural state cannot help but recognize the spiritual weight of patterns in nature. He often sees the symbol, but apart from Christ, he either supresses or misinterprets the significance of it. But his misinterpretation doesn't negate the value of Truth and certainly should not result in our abandonment of the symbols themselves!

The cycles of creation, including seasons, are designed by God to teach us - they are instances of speculative revelation which are made sense of for us by God's special revelation. When we take the time to pair the observable, revealed truths of God with his special revelation in the written and Incarnate Word, we gain the greatest benefit!

We need not fear the worldly celebrations of new life but should instead use these to our advantage in pointing out, both to ourselves and to the faithless, the truth of God's activity and self-revelation in creation.

All of the traditional symbols of Easter belong to the Creator and therefore to us! Bunnies? Ours. Lillies? Ours. Baby chicks? Ours. Colors of Spring? Ours. Sorry, but it's all ours! Let the unbelieving use them as they will, but let us not hand the symbols over to them in resignation!

No! Let us live in confidence, not fear, taking every advantage of the Creator's design! Let us train our children to contemplate the divine complexities that are made known about the resurrection through meditating on God's good work in creation! Let us sanctify our eyes, our ears, our imaginations! Let us lighten up and, instead of mindlessly incorporating these practices into our celebrations, let's plunder the Egyptians by reclaiming the proper and fervent use of that which belongs to us already!