Should Christians Practice Lent?
By Michael Lennox
What is Lent?
Many of us are familiar with the Christian calendar’s season of Advent, the weeks leading up to Christmas spent reflecting and worshipping God for the miracle that He sent His Son to save us. We even just had an Advent blog series in December here at Impact. But many young Christians aren’t aware that Advent is only one of many seasons of the traditional Christian liturgical calendar. While the liturgical church calendar is often associated with the Catholic church and other orthodox denominations, there are principles and practices to these various seasons that are helpful for all of us as we pursue Christ and seek to become more like Him.
Another really valuable season on the Christian calendar is Lent. Each year, the season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (this year on February 14) and continues through to Holy Saturday (the day before Easter). This period of Lent is specifically designed to last for 40 days, mirroring the 40 days that Jesus fasted and was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. The astute among you may notice “hey, that doesn’t add up, there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday” and you would be correct. The traditional practice of Lent excludes the 6 Sundays in this period from the 40 days of Lent, as “rest days” from fasting.
You may be thinking to yourself, “okay Michael, but who cares? What is up with these 40ish days between Ash Wednesday and Easter? Why does this matter?”
This is a valid question, why am I talking about Lent? It is because this season is designed to be one in which we as Christians take a significant amount of time (40 days) to emulate Jesus through reflection, fasting, recognition and confession of sin, and the development of spiritual disciplines as we prepare to celebrate Easter. As Paul David Tripp puts it:
“Lent is an important tool in the inescapable battle that rages in all our hearts between worship and service of the Creator and worship and service of the creation. Lent calls us to remember once again that sin reduces us all to idolaters somehow, someway. It gives us a season to take time and reflect on things that have taken too strong a hold on us, things that we have come to crave too strongly and love too dearly. It reminds us that often things that we are holding tightly have actually taken an even tighter hold on us.”
What does practicing Lent look like?
As mentioned the season of Lent is a framework that Christians throughout history have used to take some time to recalibrate, or realign, their hearts to the things of God through intentional focus on some of the Spiritual Disciplines. There are many ins and outs of what this could look like, but I want to spend some time looking at 3 things that are commonly associated with Lent.
1) Fasting
Most often, the season of Lent is associated with the Spiritual discipline of fasting. Fasting is the practice of intentionally abstaining from eating with the intention of spiritual focus. Fasting is meant to be a reminder of God’s provision and faithfulness. When we feel the pangs of hunger, we are to reflect and remember who God is, what he has done for us. Not only that, but the intention behind fasting is to replace the time or energy spent on eating or thinking about being hungry with focused time of prayer, confession, and thanksgiving to God.
While fasting is traditionally the practice of abstaining from all food for a certain amount of time, the more typical fasting of Lent for Christians looks more like giving up something(s) for the duration of the Lenten season as a means to focus time, energy, and relational effort toward the Lord. This practice can range for many Christians, but some common things given up during Lent are: alcohol, social media, chocolate, soda, caffeine, video games, television, and dessert.
Fasting is spoken about all throughout Scripture, not necessarily as a commanded practice, but as a helpful one. In Matthew 6, Jesus says “When you fast…” assuming that it is something that followers of God would do. Why? Because the act of giving up something as a reminder of all that you have been given is a powerful catalyst for God to work in your heart. This is what fasting during Lent is all about — making room for Christ to work in your heart by remembering that food (or insert what you’ve given up) cannot satisfy the deep longings/hungers in your soul. Only God can do that.
2) Prayer & Meditation on Scripture
Following closely after confession, prayer is a key component of practicing Lent that is usually intricately tied to fasting. The purpose of the fast is the root out sin in one’s heart and to teach dependence on the Lord. We can develop this heart posture through prayer. So when the pangs of hunger come or when you’re tempted to check Instagram during your fast, you can stop and pray that God would remind you that he is the only true source of satisfaction. This is clearly indicated in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:
“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Another desired outcome is that the removal of something would teach us to replace that time and energy with something else to push us to learn and grow, which is where meditation and study of the Scripture comes in to play during Lenten practice. Our physical hunger is not only supposed to prompt us to pray, but to satisfy that craving with the food of God’s Word. This metaphor of God’s Word being food is common throughout Scripture to describe our need. Psalm 119:103 says “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” and in 1 Peter 2:2 it says: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
3) Confession & Repentance
Finally, a major goal of practicing Lent is to become more aware of our sin. Through the practices of fasting, prayer, and meditation, the hope is that we would take time to ask the Lord to reveal sin in our hearts and bring it to the surface so that we can lay it at the feet of the cross. 1 John 1:8-9 says:
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
As Paul David Tripp says in his book Journey to the Cross: “The Lenten season is about the sin that was the reason for the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior. It is about taking time to reflect on why we all needed such a radical move of redemption, to confess the hold that sin still has on us, and to focus on opening our hands, in confession and submission, and letting go of sin once again.”
In other words, at its core, Lent is all about identifying, confessing, and repenting from sins that separate us from God. It is a season of restraint that is meant to highlight our dependence on and need for our Savior.
So, should Christians practice Lent?
The answer to that question is a bit more subjective as it depends on your reasoning as to why you would practice Lent. Are you considering practicing Lent because you’re a rule follower or because you think it will make you look pious? If yes, then perhaps it’s not a great idea to practice Lent. Alternatively, are you considering practicing Lent because you want to develop spiritual disciplines, grow in spiritual maturity, expose sin in your heart, and/or grow in your relationship with Jesus? If yes, then Lent could be a great framework for you to focus in and do those things!
Like many things, the season of Lent is morally neutral. Practicing Lenten fasting won’t earn you jewels in your crown or get you a better spot in heaven. You won’t earn any special “salvation points” with God for religious piety. Similarly, not practicing Lent won’t make you “worse off” in your standing with the Lord. No, salvation is by GRACE through FAITH in Jesus Christ - nothing we do can earn us any more favor with the Lord.
However, after the point of salvation, the life of a Christian should look different than that of the world. As James 2:17 says “So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.” Genuine salvation breeds heart change, and heart change leads to obedience to the Lord through the development of Spiritual Disciplines (stay tuned for a new blog series coming this year!) and striving to become more like Christ through the process of sanctification. It’s typically not a bad idea to introduce habits and practices that attune our hearts to the Lord.
This would be a good opportunity to ask some self-reflection questions such as:
Where am I at in my walk with the Lord?
Am I obedient to His calling on my life through His Word?
Am I living a life that’s worthy of the Gospel?
Would practicing a Lenten fast spur me to make room for the Lord in a new way?
Paul David Tripp tell us “…It is right and beneficial to take a season of the year to reevaluate, recalibrate, and have the values of our hearts clarified once again. Lent is such a season. As we approach Holy Week, where we remember the sacrifice, suffering, and resurrection of our Savior, it’s good to give ourselves to humble and thankful mourning. Lent is about remembering the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior. Lent is about confessing our ongoing battle with sin. Lent is about fasting, and not just from food; we willingly and joyfully let go of things in this world that have too much of a hold on us. And Lent is about giving ourselves in a more focused way to prayer, crying out for help that we desperately need from the only One who is able to give it.”
Perhaps practicing Lent as you prepare your hearts and mind for the celebration of Easter will enable you to surrender more deeply to your Savior. I can speak for myself in saying that it has certainly done that for me over the last decade as I’ve practiced it annually. So, should Christians practice Lent? You have to decide for yourself, but if practicing it is going to make you more like Jesus - then YES, we should do anything to that end!
REFLECTION
Grab a notebook and a pen. Take some time to write down some honest answers to the 4 self-reflection questions above.
If you were to practice Lent this year, what is something that you think would be beneficial for you to fast from? In other words, is there anything that is consuming your focus or attention right now and distracting you from God?
Are there any sins that you’re struggling with that you haven’t confessed to God or to others? Take some time to consider. If you can think of something, take this opportunity to first confess to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Then, open up to a trusted friend and ask them to pray with you.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Journey to the Cross by Paul David Tripp, a Lenten Devotional Guide