It’s the time of year when we pause our calendar to make room to celebrate Holy Week, repeating the Gospel events leading up to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus -Christ.
For centuries, Christians have followed a religious calendar to mark the seasons and special days honoring Jesus and the Gospel: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time ( which marks the periods between Lent and Advent). And while most nondenominational churches are aware of them in theory, they tend to only participate in one or two throughout the year.
We may distribute palm fronds on Palm Sunday or gather for evening worship on Good Friday – and we almost always celebrate Resurrection Sunday with much more pomp than our usual services. Later, in December, we could do something special for each of the Sundays before Christmas. But some of these others historical church eventsas Ash Wednesday or Pentecost Sunday, for example, are most often observed in more liturgical traditions and faiths.
Especially for “low church” Christians, the idea of following the church calendar generates mixed reactions. As heirs of the Protestant Reformation and evangelical revival, many non-denominational believers pride themselves on not adhering to tradition – which is sometimes seen as artificial and unbiblical, intended only for Catholics, and even as a stone of choice. stumbling block to authentic faith and worship. It is not uncommon to hear: “It is not a religion; it’s a relationship,” and for such events to be compared to the “religious festivals” seemingly downplayed in Col. 2:16.
Thus, on the Monday following the Easter weekend, most evangelical churches resume their usual programming. Instead of continuing to organize congregational gatherings, special events, and sermon series around the life and ministry of Jesus, we are beginning to pattern them after other cultural events and holidays, like summer vacation, back to school or even the Super Bowl. Our lives once again become focused on our work, school, extracurricular activities, hobbies, entertainment, and other priorities driven by our personal goals or career aspirations.
But what if, this year, even the most skeptical among us discovered how the Church calendar can help us live the truths we celebrate during Holy Week, long after it is over? Like Mike Cosper explainthere is an advantage to following the sacred traditions of the historic church:
To many Protestants, the Church calendar may appear as an arbitrary regulation, a testament to Rome’s authority and micromanagement, but to its authors it was pastorally designed. The Church Calendar was designed to guide believers through the gospel story each year, from incarnation to ascension. If we allow historical biases to influence our perspective too much, we lose sight of the brilliant pastoral creativity that shaped some of the Church’s inventions.
In the words from Pastor Andrew Wilson: “Calendars are not neutral; they tell a particular vision of the world. The calendars we use tell a story about what we value and how we view our identity and purpose. The way we plan our years, months, and days cultivates certain rhythms, habits, and fruits in our lives. And if we look at the spiritual fruit we produce (or don’t produce), we might realize how much our schedule affects our ability to be more like Christ.
Spiritual formation is also not neutral – meaning that if our habits are not making disciples like Jesus, they shape us, by default, according to the ways of the world. And research shows that the world shapes believers in many, often negative, ways.
Barna published a recent study we find that many believers today are busier and more distracted than ever. Nearly 50 percent of Christians struggle finding time to fellowship with other believers because they say they are too busy. This dynamic is present at a time when 30 percent of American adults report feel alone on a daily basis and 20 percent of Christians say the same thing.
According to Lifeway, even if a person spends an hour each day reading the Bible and praying, they will likely spend more than twice so much time on social media. Some say that our increased habits of overconsumption are causing a growing epidemic of mental illness among adolescent girls – not to mention growing polarization and political and racial divisions. The last few years alone have shown us that our use of social media is impacting us, and not for good.
Rather than empowering us to embody the gospel story daily, the way we organize our lives can lead us to forget it completely.
Forgetting the Gospel is not a new problem. Whether it was the nation of Israel in the days of the judges or the Galatian believers in Paul’s day, God’s people have always struggled to remember their footing in God’s world. This is why, as we see in the Old Testament, God orders Israel’s life around holidays and celebrations. This is also why, in the New Testament, Jesus commands his disciples to observe sacraments like communion and baptism.
Such spiritual habits are intended to remind us of our covenant relationship with God and our responsibility to one another as the body of Christ. And the church calendar—which organizes our year around the Bible—is an important way for Christians to practice these spiritual habits and resist the formative tide of our culture.
Unfortunately, the story told by the calendars of many Christians today aligns far more with the world than with the Gospel. World history centers on radical individualism and self-redemption. As the main characters of this story, we are on a journey to find freedom, authenticity and happiness. This quest for fulfillment often materializes in the desire to find and maximize our true selves, leading us to prioritize selfishness and self-sovereignty. This account, in turn, can lead us to accept our sin and reject God.
The Gospel story is radically different. God is the main character, not us – and on our journey we realize that as a creation, our desire to flourish can only be satisfied through our relationship with Him. But this relationship requires that we surrender our desires, submitting the entirety of our lives to His authority. Ultimately, this act of faith connects us to our true selves as divine image bearers, and our story ends with the receipt of abundant and eternal life with God.
Each year, as we recount the details of Jesus’ life on earth, this remembrance is not just intellectual but a fully embodied exercise that changes the way we live. Through Christ, we are God’s covenant people, and this reality shapes our perspective of the past, present, and future.
Although there are a diversity of views on the Church calendar, I have found Robert Webber’s framework useful because it separates the Christian year into two main sections: what he calls “the cycle of light” and “the cycle of life”.
The cycle of light strong points the incarnation of Jesus and encompasses the experiences of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, while the cycle of life is commemorated through the seasons of Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. The first cycle celebrates the coming of Jesus and the second speaks of the purpose for which he came: his sacrifice to free the world from Satan, sin and death, and to ensure forgiveness, healing and life for all its people. peoples. .
To quote Webber, using this cycle framework helps illustrate how “the church is called continually proclaiming and implementing this central mystery of God’s reconciling work in Jesus Christ as it moves through time from year to year, month to month, day to day, and hour to hour. As we remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus throughout the year, we in turn are led to respond by living in the light of our own baptism into Christ.
Rather than revolving our lives around our children’s entertainment, personal aspirations, or school activities, we can stay in tune with the rhythms of death to sin and resurrection to new life in Christ. Whether this reflection takes place daily or weekly on Sunday, it will confront us with God’s everlasting, overflowing love and grace and simultaneously force us to wrestle with the ways in which we have become too comfortable with the sin that Christ died to save us.
Additionally, regularly repeating the biblical story of redemption and restoration sheds light on how we use our resources and care for our neighbors. This light leaves no shadow of complacency or passivity in how we spend our time and money or respond to the mistreatment of other image-bearers. Instead, it produces a thriving spirituality rooted in God.
This cyclical repetition of the gospel message also provides a counter-narrative to world history. Far too often, we Christians are drawn by its allure and tempted to live in our own strength, seeing the ultimate goal of our faith as our personal happiness. But celebrating the holy days in our church can equip us to resist the tempting lure of our culture.
For example, Pentecost Sunday, which will be celebrated soon in May, reminds us that it is only through the gift of the Holy Spirit that we have been given the power to live in God’s world and experience the abundant life that Christ came to give us. This power is manifested through his work of sanctification and through the spiritual gifts he gives. Thus, rather than seeking human omnipotence, we are led to accept a weakness that highlights the power of God.
This special day also refocuses us on the collective nature of our faith. We have not only been saved in an individual relationship with God, but also in a worldwide church community that includes the entire body of Christ from ages past. God established the Church as an essential, non-negotiable part of His plan of redemption. Pentecost helps us reaffirm our commitment and realign our life goals with proclaiming the Gospel and restoring the world, all to the glory of God.
This year, on the Monday after Easter, I encourage you to continue to integrate the ancient Christian calendar into your personal life and into the life of your church. Find tangible ways to continue to align yourself with the life of Jesus, whether through prayers, songs or readings from the Bible.
Although some aspects of tradition can hinder our relationship with God, the Church calendar is a long-standing Christian tradition worth embracing throughout the year.
Elizabeth Woodson is a writer, Bible teacher, and host of Place of departure podcast and founder of The Woodson Institute. She is the author of Embrace your life And From the Beginning to Forever: A Study of the Grand Narrative of Scripture.
