“One-and-done is a term that was first used to describe college basketball players who only play one year of NCAA basketball before moving onto the NBA.”

It has also been used by couples who have been married for an extended period, and when ask was it love at first sight, they would say for them, it was one and done.

A few days after Easter Sunday I sat down with a group of young people and some of the staff at Grace Place School during a one-hour reflections class on the meaning of Easter. I asked the question: How many of you attended church on Easter Sunday? A sample of the class and teachers suggested about 75 percent had attended church on that Sunday. I then asked how many were regular church goers on Sunday mornings? The number then decreased to about 45 percent. These numbers were a mirror image of what most churches had experienced on Eastern Sunday. A tremendous increase in attendance, and then a large drop in that attendance during the rest of the year on Sunday morning.

“The best estimates suggest that more than half of the nation’s adults and their children, at least 120 million people, will attend an Easter service Sunday. Interviews with pastors indicate that a 50 percent to 100 percent jump in Easter attendance is not uncommon.”

More people come to church on Easter Sunday than any other day. Easter Sunday can be looked at as the Super Bowl of Sunday morning worship.

Leading up to the super bowl, there is a tremendous buzz around the qualifying games leading up to the championship game. Those games, though not at the level of the Super Bowl, are talked about, and attendance is always sold out. It is not a one and done in attendance.

If one looks at Easter Sunday, one could easily ask the question: why is there a drop in attendance for the other 51 Sundays?  Are Christians one and done?

If you are in are in a relationship and the person only speaks to you once or acknowledges you or calls you once per year, how would you feel? Would you think they love you? Would you think you are a priority in their lives? Would you think they are listening to anything you say? Would you think they are using you? Would you think this is a one-sided relationship? Most growing and productive relationships are a two-way street. Or is the exception to that rule our relationship with Christ?

 

Love is an action word

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). One can identify where a person’s heart is often by just watching them and seeing where they invest their time, talent and treasure.

Now I understand that one can be in a relationship and show love in many ways. But I am sure you will show that love more than once. It has been said, it is not what you say but what you do. Love is an action word. Let’s look at what God did:

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).

This is the ultimate opposite of one and done. This is putting skin in the game of life. It models and challenges us to honor this God who loves us so much and gave us so much. Is it not worth more than just one Sunday of celebration? You may say, well, I celebrate in my own way. But it is not about you and I. It is about God.

 

Why did you go to church on Easter Sunday?

Let’s go deeper. Young people in their innocence often will give the most honest answer when they see that you are coming from a good place and have their best interest at heart. Easter was fresh in their minds, and I proceeded to ask a few questions about Easter Sunday. Why did you go to church on Easter Sunday? Here are some of the answers. See if you recognize yourself in these answers at one time in your life:

 

* “It is a tradition in my family. We always go to my grandmother’s church.”

* “Take away the guilt. “

* “I do it to please my mother, don’t have to be bothered again.”

* “Don’t see God from a relational position.”

* “Don’t think he cares when I come.”

* “Feel more welcome on Easter, anybody can come on that day.”

* “People don’t look at you funny, how you dress on that day.”

* “Went back on Easter to my Church and everybody wanted to talk to me, asking me where I have been.”

* “Church is not necessary, but good for the soul.”

* “I don’t mind going on one Sunday, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my personal life.”

 

The Super Bowl is one of the most celebrated events in our country. Easter Sunday is one of the most celebrated events in the world. I don’t know about you as a reader, but I plan on going to heaven, and I sure hope all of you that are reading this article have that as your end game plan. Now I believe that everyday in heaven will be an Easter celebration Sunday. We are just in the rehearsal here on earth in this form. That was Jesus’ plan after the resurrection. “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3).

When you are in a relationship with Christ, it is the most beautiful thing you will experience. You will want to go to church on Sundays. You will want to pray. You will want to read his love language (the Bible). You will have a champion you can depend on to fight your battle. You will want your family and friends to experience the same feeling you are having. You are sometimes the only Bible that people will see, read and hear. The closer you draw to Him, renewal, resurrection, new life, the more you will radiate his image, but It will take more than one Sunday out of 52. Are you a one and doner?

 

Newton Fairweather is the pastor of Faith and Joy Church and the CBMC Fort Lauderdale Board Chaplin.

Read last month’s article by Newton Fairchild at: https://www.goodnewsfl.org/the-show-must-go-on/