I grew up in an evangelical Christian church that observed Lent every year. So when I was recently challenged by a conversation about Lent not being “Christian”, it caused me to do some reading and pondering about the validity of some of the reasons people give for not wanting to observe or celebrate Lent.
“Lent isn’t in the Bible!” That was the first reason that I heard. But as I said in my last post neither are the words Christmas nor Advent nor Easter. However, that doesn’t make those special days wrong. No, the word Lent is not in the Bible, but the concept of Lent is which I’ll get into shortly.
“Lent is a Catholic tradition.” So? If there’s a spiritual value of Lent that Christians can benefit from, why not observe it? We don’t have to observe it in the same way as our Catholic friends. Take what’s of value and leave the rest. When I get a salad at a restaurant, there are certain food items that I push aside or remove from my salad because I personally do not like them, but that doesn’t make the salad bad or wrong for someone else who likes those items. I just choose to not eat that part of the salad. Some people may assume that if “Catholics celebrate Lent. So I won’t talk about Lent because it must be a Catholic thing.” This could be a very good opportunity to talk about the truths in Scripture. Catholics celebrate Christmas and Easter and so do we. What makes Advent and Lent different? Why do we isolate Advent and Lent but not Christmas and Easter? Isn’t that a bit inconsistent?
Lent is a period of spiritual renewal that is observed by Christians around the world as a way to prepare their hearts for Easter which celebrates Jesus’ resurrection. Christians do celebrate Easter, correct? So why not Lent?
Lent has many facets and topics that can be very beneficial. A few big ones that are often emphasized during that season are prayer, fasting, and generosity. These are all Biblical as they are taught and encouraged in the Bible. The 40-day time frame also referenced in Lent is also of great Biblical significance and some churches use that time to emphasize these topics and others that can enrich the Christian life. There 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, excluding Sundays which are already days of celebratory worship. In Matthew 4:1-11 we find one of the references to 40 days in the story of Jesus in the wilderness and the temptations He faced. Our world looks a lot different than in Jesus’ time, but we all face temptations, don’t we? So the 40 days or season of Lent is a good time to focus on dealing with temptations. More about this in a coming post.
The days we spend anticipating Easter are valuable days that can be spent learning and growing. Sure, we can do that any time, but most of us need a reason or a little push to make the time to really concentrate and meditate on a certain topic or aspect of our faith. I know people who never use a prepared devotional because they would rather get their thoughts straight from the Word of God, and that’s great if it works for them. Then there are others (like myself) who need a little more guidance and dated structure to keep focused and disciplined as we are nudged to consider a specific thought in the devotional and meditate on what the Bible has to say about it.
One year I found a book in my church’s library about the cross. It was a 40-day journey through various Scriptures surrounding the cross, thinking about things like its texture (the fact that it was splintery, rough, and heavy), the person who carried the cross for Jesus (blood from Jesus now dripping onto him), and so much more, of course ending with Jesus’ death on that cross. Some of the things mentioned in this book were aspects I had never thought about before. It was a real learning experience and gave me more to think about as I meditated on these new concepts that I had never thought about before. Had I not decided to do something special during Lent, I would have missed the blessings of this study time.
There are a lot of good devotionals out there online and in book stores that can take you on a very special journey during the season of Lent, helping you to focus on Jesus and what He has done for us. The mindset we have if we observe Lent should be one of growing closer to God. Lent is NOT just about what you give up because that really has no value in your spiritual life (especially if you only give it up for Lent and then pick it up again after Easter!), nor even what you will do. Throughout Lent I will be posting some things you could use to focus your thoughts on Jesus during this special time of preparation leading up to His death and resurrection. I hope they will be a blessing to you. If you don’t “subscribe” to Lent per se, think of it as a special 40-day time of reflection and meditation and see what the Lord has for you during this special season of the year.