The Season of Lent

The season of Lent is a time of fasting and repentance that Christians around the world have participated in for over a thousand years.  It is not a biblical season, per se, but it recovers a biblical practice we Baptists have lost over the years: fasting.  On the other hand, we do have in our tradition season of revival and various kinds of altar calls that have allowed believers to re-focus their commitment to Christ, or deal with personal issues of discipleship.  However, in general, fasting and repentance are more often lost in the shadows of evangelism and missions.  Jesus dealt with a similar issue in the gospel of Matthew when he admonished the Pharisees to focus on the greater virtues of justice and mercy, without neglecting the lesser issues of tithing.  In other words, discipleship is not a unidimensional event, but has multiple expressions and responsibilities.  Fasting is something Jesus assumed his disciples would practice, and something he promised his disciples would practice when he had left them.

So, how can we make fasting and repentance a part of our spiritual life these 40 days before Easter?

First of all, find something you can literally fast from!  A meal a day, or a day a week is a start.  Maybe cutting things our that are unhealthy: sodas, sugar, snacks, dinners out at the restaurant, or some other ‘extra’ that we really don’t need.  Fasting from food puts us in touch with our very human need for sustenance, and possibly, some of our unacknowledged addictions or dependencies (Like coffee in the morning, or sugar in your tea!).

Secondly, find something you can abstain from that is not merely about ingesting food: TV, social media, shopping, entertainment, and replace these time-consuming events with something more noble, more sacred: Reading through a book of the bible, spending time in prayer, helping someone in need (watching kids for a young mom so they can shop, visiting a shut-in with a meal).

Thirdly, fill up that space with something godly.  Fasting is not an end in itself.  It is a pathway to something greater: holiness.  As you fast, you may find that you have more time and resources that were otherwise occupied beforehand.  Use this new-found time and possession to turn your heart, mind, soul and strength to God, and to your neighbor!  One of the ways we can actually love ourselves the most is when we make ourselves vessels of God’s glory by worshipping him, or by serving one another.  Jesus warned the disciple that cleaning a house of one devil, but leaving it empty, only invited seven more to come and harry the house of one’s soul!

Finally, look at this time of fasting from excess, and repenting of indulgences, as a time to draw closer to God, and prepare to remember more deeply and celebrate more gratefully this coming season of Easter and Pentecost, in which we live more deeply into all the mysteries of the resurrection, and more powerfully in the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit.

P.S., if you are fasting and fail to be faithful, remember, it’s a time of repentance anyway, so, acknowledge your failures, and start again! Paul said to forget what is behind us, and strive ahead for the upward calling in Christ!