This weekend, followers of Jesus will celebrate the high point of the church calendar - Easter - by eating chocolate bunnies and enjoying a couple of days off work.

For many of us, it's also a time to focus on our individual sin and forgiveness - to be thankful for the actions that Jesus took for US as beloved children of God.

And that is good. For you.

But what if it's not enough? What if your gospel is too small?

Let's not forget, Jesus told us that his life and death would be Good News for the poor (Luke 4:18). So, how do we understand what Jesus did on the cross in terms of the poor, the oppressed, the exploited and the enslaved of the world?

What does Easter mean for my neighbors who live in abject poverty?

What no Easter eggs? This bucket of dirty clothing sucks!

Firstly, let's recognize that Jesus chose to identify with the most vulnerable children and people at the bottom of the heap throughout his life and ultimate death.

Born homeless, as a member of an oppressed minority in the Roman Empire, he came to be seen as a troublemaker, rabble-rouser, dissident, community organizer - an agitator, a nonviolent revolutionary, a renegade, a rebel and a traitor to the Empire.

He proved such a threat to the system that he had to be executed. Jesus was subversive.

Easter is the time of year when we recall Jesus' execution as a criminal.

Subversive Jesus was not some nice, polite do-gooder. He was not an American pastor who preached personal responsibility, good citizenship, positive thinking, respectability and American values.

Jesus was no Joel Osteen.

Seriously, NO-ONE would be threatened by such a bland personal morality, because it never extends beyond ourselves.

Such an individualized faith never offers a critique of injustice or an alternative to a selfish system that is Bad News for the poor.

No one would crucify this Jesus. Instead, you’d invite Him over for a cup of tea and a chat about the weather. Ho hum.

In this broken and violent world, what we celebrate at Easter is more important than ever - the overcoming of injustice, sin and hatred by love.

But as Westerners we are often too quick to view the resurrection just as individuals. It's all about me, me, me. And God.

Our gospel is too small. Too privatized. Too limited.

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador once lamented, “A church that doesn't provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed—what gospel is that?”

This Easter, how about we celebrate the ultimate act of love carried out by this controversial, radical, subversive trouble-maker who challenged the status quo and the religious establishment.

Easter is truly Good News for my poor neighbors. It is the high point of the story of Jesus, who embodied God's wild and untame-able love for the vulnerable and the broken. And ultimately laid down his life to overcome the death and violence that enslaves us all.

It is the story of a upside-down Kingdom that Jesus claims will come ON EARTH as it is in heaven - a Kingdom that is nothing like the society we find ourselves in. A Kingdom on earth that is Good News for the poor.

This Easter, let us recommit to walking in His radical footsteps by recognizing that it's not all about us. Let us deny ourselves, remember the poor, and take up the cross. For it is only in dying that we find life - for all.

On April 26th, my book, Subversive Jesus comes out.

In the book, I share the story of our attempts and failures as a family to follow this Subversive Jesus who turns everything upside-down and calls us to lay down our lives for our neighbors.

Click here to pre-order and find out about the freebies my publisher is offering.

This Easter remember, it's not all about you