Easter is my favorite Sunday of the year.
Not just because of the resurrection. Not just because of the crowds. But because of something that happens in the church on that one day that I wish happened every week.
Unity of focus.
On Easter, every church, every pastor, every worship team, every volunteer wakes up with the same mission. Preach Christ. Proclaim the resurrection. Share the gospel with as many people as possible. There is no confusion about the mission. Everyone knows what they are there for.
And the results are always remarkable. Record crowds and record altar responses. That is not a coincidence. That is the power of focus.
But here is what breaks my heart a little. The week after Easter, we go back. Back to the fragmented messaging. Back to the series about this and that. Church at the movies. End times eschatology. How to have a better marriage, better finances, better parenting. Please hear me, none of those things are inherently bad. Some are needed. Yet in all the mixed messages we lose that focus that made Easter so powerful.
What if we learned the lesson?
Paul gives it to us plainly in Colossians 1:28.
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28, ESV)
Paul breaks the focus of the church into four clear movements and each one matters.
“Him we proclaim.” Christ is the message. Not a message. The message. There is no secondary content. There is no other book we go to. Every Sunday should carry the same focus Easter carries. Jesus. Crucified. Risen. Alive. That is the declaration. Every Sunday should be the story of Jesus told clearly and without apology.
“Warning everyone.” That is correction. Not lording over people. Not shaming them. But pointing to Christ, showing the gap between who He is and who we are, and making the answer Jesus every single time.
“Teaching everyone with all wisdom.” That is discipleship. And this is where the Sunday morning message hands off to the rest of the week. Small groups. Bible studies. Sunday school. Classes. The goal of all of it is the same. Close the gap between the perfection of Christ and the imperfection of man. Walk that long, slow road together toward Christlikeness.
“That we may present everyone mature in Christ.” That is the ultimate win. Christ followers who simply show people who Jesus is by living Christ like lives.
That is it. That is the whole assignment.
Everything we do that does not move in that direction is a distraction. It may feel productive. It may draw a crowd. But if it is not pointing people toward Jesus and forming them into His image, it is working against the mission.
I think this is why the Sundays after Easter often feel a little hollow. We felt the electricity of unified focus. And then we went back to being fragmented. And the difference is noticeable. Not just in the numbers, but in the room. You can feel when a church knows what it is there for. And you can feel when it doesn’t.
Easter proves what is possible.
Imagine if every Sunday carried that same energy. Not manufactured hype. Not a better production. Just focus. Every church, every pastor, every message pointed in one direction.
Not your brand. Not your platform. Just Jesus.
He said it himself.
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32, ESV)
We do it every Easter. And it works every Easter.
What would happen if we never stopped?