Why I practice Lent as an Evangelical Christian.

What is lent?

Do you celebrate lent?

Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the tradition.
I’d never heard of it either, growing up belting “Amazing Grace” within the four walls of a bible church.

Lent is the season of spiritual preparation before Easter. Some say the word is derived from the Old English word for “lengthening” as in the days growing longer during the transition from winter to spring. Others tie it to the Latin word Quadragesima, which means “fortieth.”

The forty days of Lent begin on Ash Wednesday and end the Saturday before Easter Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness when he fasted and was tempted by the devil. It is a time of fasting, deep personal reflection and preparation for the solemn observances of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Traditionally the forty days do not include Sundays, which are considered “Feast Days”.

During Lent, most people choose one specific thing to give up such as meat, or sugar, or TV or coffee. Other common practices include self examination, repentance, daily devotionals and extended times of prayer.

Why I celebrate lent

When I first became interested in observing the season of Lent, I was warned by people in the church who were concerned with its catholic origins. They reminded me that the gospel of grace and the freedom of Christianity was about relationship with Jesus, not religious practices.

Paul did say in Colossians 2:21-23 that ” Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?  These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.  They have an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh”

Truly, without focusing on Gods undeserved and unmerited mercy, fasting during Lent, or anytime, is pointless.

And yet, Jesus, who was God, fasted.

And Jesus, who was God, expected his disciples to fast as well.

In Matthew 6:16 he says ” When you fast, (Not if, but when) do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. “

It is obvious from this passage that there is a clear distinction between fasting for the right reasons and fasting for the wrong reasons however. The motivation must be for God, not for men.

Interestingly, Martin Luther, the founder of the protestant reformation himself, condoned fasting saying, “Of fasting I say this: It is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body. For when the stomach is full, the body does not serve for preaching, for praying, or studying, or for doing anything else that is good. “

John Calvin also condoned fasting saying, “Let us say something about fasting, because many, for want of knowing its usefulness, undervalue its necessity, and some reject it as almost superfluous; while, on the other hand where the use of it is not well understood, it easily degenerates into superstition. Holy and legitimate fasting is directed to three ends; for we practice it either as a restraint on the flesh, to preserve it from licentiousness, or as a preparation for prayers and pious meditations, or as a testimony of our humiliation in the presence of God when we are desirous of confessing our guilt before him.”

Still, you may say, Jesus set us free from the law of rules and regulations. In light of that, why would you want to celebrate Lent?

Yet with equal enthusiasm I flip the question around:
Why would you not want to celebrate Lent?

Why would you not want to take part in a tradition that allows you to spend more than Easter day alone pondering and reflecting on how the death and resurrection of Christ affects your life? Why wouldn’t you want to annually evaluate some of the comforts in your life, slow down and sanctify them for the Lord’s purposes?

I am an evangelical Christian and I look forward to Lent every year.

Not because of legalism, but because of freedom.

Because by fasting and focusing on my God, who supplies all my needs, I actually find more freedom. I find freedom from myself, freedom from my flesh, freedom from the world and freedom in the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection.

I do not celebrate it because it is required of me, or because I think it makes me a “better” Christian, but because it allows me to spend intentional time removing distractions from my life and seeking that which is most important-

God.

WHAT I’M FASTING FROM THIS YEAR

As Jesus warned, I don’t want to be like the hypocrites, tooting my own horn and boasting in my fasting. However I did want to give you a heads up that for lent this year,

I am fasting from social media.

I will still be posting on the blog as I don’t really count this as social media. Furthermore as Sundays are recognized as “feast” days during the Lenten season, I will be popping on instagram and facebook once a week to check in and give a brief update.

Ever since I’ve downloaded and started using social media apps, I’ve pondered if they are good for not only my spiritual health, but my physical and mental health.

I have seen the way they affect my brain, body image, attention span, outlook on the world and overall judgement of others.
It isn’t always positive.

I have taken many breaks during my time on the internet, yet I am looking forward to another one during this special Lenten season.

During this time of fasting and reflection, I will also be asking God if my social media presence truly brings him glory, or if it would be wiser for me to spend my time and energy elsewhere.

I would deeply encourage you to do the same, whether you fast from it for 40 days or 4. Social media is becoming the idol of our age and I for one, do not want to be guilty of worshipping it.

Final Thoughts

I wanted to write this post not to brag and not to condemn or condone religious practices and traditions, but simply to share something that has been pivotal in my relationship with God.

Like the Christmas season prepares me for the joy of remembering my Saviors birth, the Lenten season prepares me for the joy of remembering my Saviors death and resurrection.

Whether you observe Lent or don’t observe it makes no difference to me and it doesn’t make you a better follower of Christ whether you choose to fast or not.

What matters is your heart and where you are at with the Lord. As the days grow increasingly more evil, my heart cries out to know more fully the goodness and holiness of God. I pray that for you as well, during this Lenten season, and always.

That whether you eat or you fast or whatever you do, you’d do it all for the glory of God.

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 3:7-14