Last week at church our pastor made a comment about Lent that hit me awkwardly. We come from a very different background than this pastor, which is awesome because we're getting a new perspective which can be eyeopening, and also make us dig a little deeper into why we believe what we believe. This week I dug a little deeper and love what I found!
Lent is a time of prayer and fasting leading up to the Passover and Easter season, to commemorate the time Jesus was tempted in the desert before being crucified. When Jeff and I began observing Lent, about 10 years ago, we decided to participate because we wanted to be able to put aside things our flesh long for and long for the Lord and His Word in place of it. It's incredible how much time everyday we spend on the computer, watching TV, eating, playing sports, etc, etc, compared to how much time we spend in prayer and in the word. I am not at all judging anyone, this is a personal decision entirely. I'm also not one of those super hyper religious people who think you have to begin and end everyday in the word and spend the rest of your day in thoughtful prayer. I don't believe that's what God asks us to do. He asks us to be IN the world, not OF the world. In other words, live your life, go out and eat and play and fellowship with your friends and family, but don't let those things shape who you are. Let the Lord shape who you are so you can be IN the world and not conformed to it.
Anyway, I've always seen Lent as a time to put aside at least one of those things like food or a hobby I really love to focus more on my relationship with the Lord. If it's scrap booking I give up for those 40 days, then the time I would have normally spent doing it, I'd spend reading my Bible. Or if I gave up sweets, anytime I got a craving, I'd go pray or study the Word for awhile. It's really an amazing time for 40 days every year. I usually complain a little, but I'm human!
Our current pastor obviously doesn't observe Lent, and for the first time I see why someone wouldn't want to. He sees it as a time that people use to try to "fix" something or just to make their lives better. Like make up for the time the rest of the year that they haven't given to the Lord. Some people think that if they give something up for the same 40 days every year that it makes them a better person or will make up for something they feel guilty about. Wow! I've never ever thought of that before. Too many Christians are trying to live up to a standard that no one can live up to. They think that if they do something special it will make up for their sin. Jesus paid the price, people!!
I'm a Christian because I want to be. Not because it makes me better, different or weird. I'm a Christian because I know I'm horribly imperfect and I need help on a minute by minute basis to live life to the fullest. Not because I'm striving to be perfect.
If Lent or even Christianity ever become ordinary or simple then I'm doing something wrong and my heart is not in the right place. It's not about results, it's about relationship. Whether you're fasting during Lent, or for a week in the middle of July, it's about drawing closer to the Lord... it's about having the utmost faith and hope that I can ever muster up, and then hoping a little more!
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