By Mekala Seme
After Easter sales began in department stores in the country on Sunday, March 31, consumer spending during the holiday this year is “expected to top $22 billion,” according to a survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Easter —also referred to as Resurrection Day—is celebrated within the religion of Christianity as a day of remembrance for Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and gift of eternal salvation.
Families worldwide use Easter as an opportunity to attend church or engage in cultural activities like seeing the Easter bunny, creating Easter baskets, or participating in Easter egg hunts.
Along with its significance to Christianity, Easter is a part of a major consumer spending season.
According to the NRF survey, 81 percent of Americans planned to spend an average of $177.06 per person on Easter. This marks the third-highest per-person average in the survey’s history.
Michael Zdinak, the U.S. economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, finds that consumer spending demand comes not just from tradition but also from the desire to spend time with family and friends, seasonal sales, and warmer weather.
“Holidays can have a significant impact on consumer spending patterns. Consumers tend to increase spending, and retailers often offer special promotions to attract more customers,” said Zdinak.
Kenneth Jones, lead pastor of Redeemer City Church, says that in Christianity, Easter is a day to celebrate the resurrection.
“Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus because it is only through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we can not only have eternal life when we die, but it’s also the only way we can have true life while we live,” said Jones.
Redeemer City Church began ten years ago with the mission to be a family that makes disciples of Jesus and transforms the world and vision to see God redeem brokenness into beauty, one relationship at a time, according to Jones.
The pastor acknowledges how cultural and religious celebrations of Easter differ in society.
“For the most part, culturally, it seems like the day is seen as an opportunity to get together with family and do Easter egg hunts,” said Jones.
Over the past year, Utah native Atayima Santino has recognized the mentality Christians hold on Easter is an appreciation they should carry out every day as believers.
“As for me, being a Christian, I am learning in this walk to not think of the day of Easter as any different than any other day when it comes to remembering the death and resurrection of Christ because that is the main thing that my faith is founded on,” said Santino.
A frequent churchgoer since she was young, Santino recognizes that holidays like Christmas and Easter are the few times of the year when people practice their faith.
“As believers of Christ, I think it’s important to spend these holidays by living out the example Christ has shown us,” said Santino.
We should be sharing the gospel and helping people who are less fortunate instead of wasting food or buying gifts and consumerism for people who live in abundance,” she continued.
