By Clare BruceThursday 29 Mar 2018FaithReading Time: 2 minutes
Many churches and Christians see Easter weekend as a great chance to invite someone to church, promote their faith, and highlight social justice causes.
But something we can overlook, is the opportunity to look inward at our own faith, and reflect on how Jesus can liberate us, change our hearts and character.
It’s a thought that Karl Faase has raised, in an interview with Hope 103.2 about the Easter period.
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“One of the things the church is often talking about, is that Jesus’ death and resurrection is actually about release of captives, and that there are people in oppressive situations around the world, and we need to do be involved in social action to release them from that oppression,” Karl said. “That God stands against the powerful who are oppressing people.”
“And that’s absolutely true.”
“But one of the things that worries me about some of that language is, it actually lets us off the hook.”
Karl says Christians can often focus on how faith in Jesus can change others, but forgetting to let it transform themselves.
“Easter is about God working in the world, but it’s also about God working in us,” he said. “And sometimes by looking at the bigger problems of the world, we fail to see the bigger issues within us.
“We’re all imprisoned in some way, and the message of Easter gives us the opportunity to get ourselves free.”
“I think that Easter gives us an opportunity to reflect on ‘where I’m at’, where each of us are at, reflect on the life that Jesus lived, what was his death and resurrection about, and how does that influence who I am?”
People in oppressed nations aren’t the only captives, he said, pointing out that those living busy, materialistic lives struggle too, under different kinds of burdens.
“We’re all imprisoned in some way, and the message of Easter gives us the opportunity to get ourselves free.”