Wednesday
Feb172010
Thoughts on Lent
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 11:01AM By Joshua Anderson
Fat Tuesday, 2010
More and more evangelical Christians these days are seeking to engage in the historic and catholic season of Lent in the church year. Is this a good thing? What sort of dangers might there be with such a practice?
Generally speaking, seeking to "practice" lent is a good thing--the church calendar is catholic and historical and helps us to engage the life of Christ as we follow his example and live corporately as his bride. However, there are some dangers with lent in particular, especially because lent is such a long period of the church year (40 days, and over 10% of the year!) and there is a strong emphasis on fasting, pentitence and "giving up things" during this season.
Thus, here are a couple thoughts about some Lenten concerns:
--Remember that in the Old Testament, God gave Israel a "church calendar," describing how she was to live in community as the people of God during the year. In that calendar, the Lord commanded Israel to keep something like 80-90 days of feasting (52 sabbaths, the feast of Passover, the feast of Unleavened bread, the feast of Firstfruits, the feast of Weeks, the feast of Trumpets, and the feast of Booths), and only one day of fasting (The Day of Atonement). Read Leviticus 23 to feel the weight of this ratio. If we emphasize the entire season of Lent as a season of fasting (40 days!), then we are in danger of reversing the biblical ratio of days of feasting to days of fasting. Isn't it odd that Christians will "fast" for the forty days of lent, and then feast only one day for Easter? If we are going to fast for forty days in preparation for the feast of the Resurrection, then it seems as though we ought to feast for at least forty days after.
--Remember that, Biblically speaking, fasting is always (or almost always) done as a sign of repentance regarding a specific sin or asking the Lord to act in some specific way (for example: 2 Sam 12:23, 1 Kings 21:9; 2 Chronicles 20:3, Ezra 8:21, Jeremiah 36:9, Daniel 9, Joel 1 and 2, Jonah 3:5). There is no evidence that regular fasts were part of the piety and regular practice of God's people (with the exception of the Day of Atonement) until the Pharisees, who apparently considered their regular fasts a mark of high piety (Matt. 6:16, Matt 9:14, Luke 18:12).
--Remember that Jesus and his disciples were criticized by the Pharisees for not fasting enough (Matt 9:14, Mark 2:18, Luke 5:33) and feasting too much (Matt 11:19, Luke 7:34)!
--Remember that in the Scriptures, there is always a temptation to reduce piety before God as fundamentally about "giving up something" or fasting (Isaiah 58, Jeremiah 14:12, Luke 18:12, Matt 6:16). But ultimately, defining piety as what you give up (or don't do) is reductionary, and misses the weightier things of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23). It is much easier to give something up than to actually give yourself in constant service and love to those God has put into your life. Do not mistake the lesser things in the law for the greater--remember that we are commanded by Paul to offer our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1), and the royal law of the Scriptures is the law of love and service (James 2:8). It is also very easy to mix pride with your piety when you fast (Matt 6:16, etc) while living in submission to the law of love (i.e. serving others) REQUIRES humility (John 13:12-20).
--Remember that fasting in the bible means fasting (i.e. no eating or drinking--see Deut 9:9, 1 Sam 1:6-8, 17-18, Esther 4:16, Jonah 3:8, Luke 4:2). The only partial "fast" in the Bible is found in Daniel 10:2-3, and it is not described as fasting, but rather "mourning." If you give up chocolate for lent, you may be doing something that is difficult and inconvenient, but Biblically speaking, you are NOT fasting.
--Remember that it is always far easier give something up (i.e. fast from food) than it is to do the greater works of Christian spirituality (love, service, feasting). A child is able to fast, but it takes a full grown and mature man or woman to feast well and glorify God. The trajectory of humanity as a race, and the church as the Bride of Christ, is to move from fasting to feasting. Remember always that when we fast, we do so temporarily, and in order to feast more deeply, and we will feast for eternity!
--Does this mean that it is unlawful or always unwise to engage in the lenten tradition? Of course not. After all, "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the housing of feasting" (Ecc. 7:2)! But when we follow the lenten tradition, we must always remember that "The Son of Man came eating and drinking" (Matt. 11:19), and "the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast" (Matt 22:2)!
--A suggestion: what if, this lenten season, we sought to embody more Biblical principles of fasting and prayer? What if we as a church fasted one meal a day and prayed together for the gospel to advance in Islamic nations, or for the abortion industry to be destroyed, or for the poor and the persecuted to be delivered, or for the kings of the earth to bow down and kiss the Son? What if we spent every Lord's day by feasting for hours on end with our families and friends on the best food and drink, celebrating the resurrection of Christ? How different would that be from typical lenten practice in the American church today?
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Reader Comments (4)
Well done Josh. I like this explanation.
Thank you, Josh. This is excellent -- very helpful.
this is great Josh. my only concern is that you did this on Mardi Gras. you should have been at a parade or eating pancakes or feasting to some extent to "prepare" for the season you write about.
seriously, thanks for this.
Amen, Brother (and son)!