By Dr. Sam Currin
Christian Action League
April 5, 2024
Eastertide 2024 has come and gone. Holy Week—the seven days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday—is the most sacred interval on the Christian calendar. Celebrated throughout all Christendom, Easter has largely remained a deeply religious event that has not suffered the crass commercializing of the Christmas holidays.
Without the resurrection, of course, there would be no Christianity. As the apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Cor.15:14 NIV).
Resurrection Sunday is traditionally high attendance day in most churches complete with baptisms and special music. It’s also a time when families gather to share a Sunday dinner together. Children will typically get new outfits to wear to church. No wonder Easter is such a time-honored tradition among Christian families.
This year, however, Holy Week seemed to have more than its usual share of distractions and detractors. For one thing, it had to compete head-on with March Madness and the basketball driven mania of the nation, not to mention the ACC.
The games in the Sweet Sixteen brackets were played during Holy Week itself with no letup for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or even Resurrection Sunday. And Wolfpack basketball was the talk of the state and the news reported mobs of fans in the streets of Raleigh on Easter Sunday.
Professional hockey also beckoned with 19,000 fans wildly cheering on the Carolina Hurricanes for securing a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs by defeating the Detroit Red Wings at Raleigh’s PNC arena on Maundy Thursday no less.
And did I mention all the hoopla surrounding the Tarheel state’s new experiment with legalized online sports betting? In the first week alone, an astounding $200 million was wagered on sports teams. Some now say that sporting events are the new religion of the American people.
But nothing could have prepared the American church for the double-barreled shotgun blast from the Biden White House on Good Friday.
First, officials banned children of servicemembers from submitting designs for the White House Easter Egg Roll that included Christian wording or symbols. That order was then followed by an unexpected White House proclamation whereby the president declared Easter Sunday as the “Transgender Day of Visibility.”
Intended or not, Easter was immediately politicized.
No surprise that the internet exploded and public backlash came quickly. House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that “Biden had betrayed Easter’s central tenet—the resurrection of Jesus Christ—by banning religious symbols and declaring ‘Transgender Day’ on Easter Sunday.”
President Trump called on Biden to apologize to the American people. A spokesman for the former president said, “Sadly, these are just two more examples of the Biden Administration’s years-long assault on the Christian faith.”
Religious leaders from across the country also criticized the White House with Catholic Archbishop Carlo Vigano calling the declaration “unprecedented and scandalous.”
Unsurprisingly, Biden’s actions were a major topic of conversation in churches on Easter Sunday morning. Not what the country needed on the holiest Christian day of the year, regardless of your politics.
How all this plays out politically remains to be seen. Keep in mind, however, that polls and surveys reveal Christianity in America is struggling and loosing influence. Less than half of Americans now belong to a church. Belief in orthodox Christian doctrine is at an all-time low.
Just maybe the president’s advisors think they are right in line with where America is headed in terms of religious belief. If so, what does this mean for your church? The best advice I can give is to not be in denial of where the culture is going, but continue to faithfully preach the gospel and let folks know that God loves them and your church loves them.
And let’s all pray that Holy Week 2025 will have less distractions.
Dr. Sam Currin (drstcurrin@gmail.com), a former judge, law professor, and United States Attorney lives in Raleigh. An ordained Baptist minister, he holds degrees from Wake Forest University, UNC School of Law, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.