Can You Celebrate Easter Without The Resurrection?

Christians have a monopoly on The Resurrection but not on Easter

Yesterday, on Good Friday something happened at work that really made me contemplate the Resurrection more solemnly. We use an application for communication at work made by Microsoft called Teams. Within Teams, there are a number of "group messages" where we talk about work-related and non-work-related topics. Yesterday the topic of the day was, "What is your favorite Easter memory?"

Now, this may sound pretty ordinary on the surface, but when you consider the makeup of our company it's actually a pretty interesting question to ask because of the many belief systems and religions represented in the chat. Sometimes as Christians, we assume that everybody is Christian, but that's simply not true. I'm torn between two convictions on this. I think we either naively assume everyone believes what we believe, or we believe that all religions and belief systems are essentially the same.

I think the latter explains what made this question a bit odd in the group chat. As a Christian I understand Easter to be about the resurrection. However, there were tons of responses from atheists, Catholics, and Muslims sharing their favorite "Easter" memories. My first thought was, "How can someone who is not Christian have Easter memories in the first place?"

This question opened my eyes to a reality concerning my own faith tradition. If people who either don't believe in or find value in the resurrection of Jesus Christ can celebrate Easter, it could be pretty easy for Christians to "celebrate" Easter without a biblical understanding of the resurrection. It is possible to celebrate Easter and not the resurrection. According to this pattern of thought all you need to have a good Easter is a ham, an Easter egg hunt, rabbits, and a basket. Unfortunately, there are probably more than a few Christians who don't realize how we've been distracted from the resurrection. That is a concerning reality and one that I am going to have to spend time praying about as I think about my responsibility as a spiritual leader and shepherd for the Lord's people.