Easter is just around the corner and pastors far and wide are celebrating, not only the resurrection of Jesus from the dead but also the re-gathering of the physical (in-person) church. Despite the ominous statistics (and boy, they are bad) and trends regarding the American church’s trajectory in the post-Covid world, most pastors I know are pregnant with expectations for what April 4th will mean for the days ahead.

Filled parking lots and bursting buildings are what Easter has historically translated into for churches in America. And rightly so! We’re celebrating the defining moment in human history—Jesus, the Son of God, rising from the dead. (All God’s people said Amen?) However, with every expectation of glory comes a kind of infantile, misshapen response even by the most optimistic—pastoral types included.

What I’m pleading for to every pastor, preacher, minister, and even the weird guy who got ordained via the internet and has an online congregation­–don’t try to be cool this Easter.

For the love of all that is holy and good—please, please, please—don’t try to be cool, hip, or “relevant” this Easter. I know you’re feeling the pressure. Me too! We all know the church is making up for last year when all of our people were in sweatpants on Easter morning watching us try to preach into our iPhone.

We’re all trying to put 2020 behind us and the last thing that will help the church is by seeing you in extra tight jeans, newly groomed faux-hawk, and polished language that only makes sense to a 19-year-old who lives in a Nashvillian mega-plex.

We’re all still a little jolted by what we just went through. Be patient with the church. Covid-shock is real. Job losses. Funerals. Isolation and anxiety have gotten the best of the people we’re tasked to care for. They’re over it, but still feeling the weight of it. So be a good pastor this year and just settle down and shepherd your people like a normal person.

The last thing your church needs is a cooler version of you.

They just need you. Unvarnished and fragile. Faithful to your calling. Preaching the Word. Proclaiming the resurrection. Calling the church to be awakened to the gospel of the kingdom. Inviting them back on mission. Challenging their comfort and concessions to the world.

Be you. That is all they need.