by Dan Jones
Well, Lent is here again as we can tell by the numbers of fast food restaurants all putting their fish sandwiches on sale.
Actually, if not for the vast American merchandising machine processing and promoting piscatorial foodstuffs, it seems the general public would hardly notice this time of year existed at all.
In an internet search to find the number of people who observe Lent, various web pages cited statistics varying from 24% to 40%, but some of the pages no longer exist. Further research shows that while 70% of the American public knows what Lent is, apparently only about 17% actually observe it.
And, of course, the vast majority of people who observe Lent do so by giving something up. (Fasting.)
According to the Barna group, the number one thing people will give up for Lent is chocolate.
This is closely followed by meat, sugar, soda drinks, and alcohol. There are also small numbers who give up butter and cream or even fruit. (Fruit?)
Rapidly growing in popularity of abstinence are: social media, smart phones, television, movies, and video games.
But why?
Lent is commonly defined as a way for Christians to prepare themselves for Holy Week and Easter through 40 days of prayer, penance, repentance, alsmgiving, atonement, and self-denial.
And that’s all fine and well, and there are ways of fasting that are good for our soul and do indeed bring glory to God, but there’s a few parts of it that kind of put a burr under my saddle.
“Fat Tuesday” (a.k.a “Mardi Gras”) would be an example of a rather large one of those burrs as it is, for all intents and purposes, a way to get in as much sinning as possible before one repents and does penance for said behavior. It is, in effect, exactly what Paul said NOT to do in Romans 6:1.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
(The answer is “By no means!”)
While that’s a blatant and obvious abuse of the intent of Lent, another obvious question to all the things people give up for Lent is, “So, what happens on day 41?”
If you give up chocolate for Lent, do you bite the ears off your chocolate Easter bunny with all the more celebratory zeal on the great and glorious day when Christ arose from the grave alive?
Do you jump on Facebook on Easter Sunday morning and proclaim your joy at His triumphant resurrection by posting selfies in your Easter bonnet, duck lips and all?
If we desire that we be changed forever by what we give up for those 40 days, why would we go back to it when Lent is over? If it was bad for us in the first place, why return to it at any point?
And what of our souls for the rest of the year?
What of prayer, repentance, penance, alsmgiving, atonement, and self-denial for the other 325 days of the year?
Today’s Praise
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (ESV)
