I did not grow up in a church that observed Lent, and have not taken up the spiritual practice of observing Lent as an adult. But that said, even without a full understanding of Lent's purpose (and the purpose behind fasting and giving things up throughout Lent), I can certainly appreciate the value it brings to observers of this Christian tradition.
Inspired by blogger, TB at The Forty-Five last week, after reading this post entitled Apathy (and subsequent comments), I've decided to spend some time considering the ways that I have perhaps grown apathetic to how sin creeps into our lives. Or rather, into my life. I've pulled the following book from the shelf and intend to read and contemplate the thoughts in it:
Several years ago a friend shared about a meaningful sermon she had heard on the subject of Lent. I can't do it justice, but the pieces that stuck with me had to do with disciplining ourselves to reign in our lawlessness. This lawlessness is not about breaking laws that will earn someone a ticket or a stint in the county jail (or worse). But rather, this is a law-less-ness that comes from living without personal constraints, or limits. As Christians we don't live under the Mosaic law, but that doesn't mean that we are simply free to do what we want with no concern of the consequences. No one who's healthy minded and has a conscience believes we can live that way, but am I the only one who, when I'm being really honest with myself, can see that I sometimes behave that way?
Stick with me, if you will. And please don't let my "religious" words put you off, thinking this is all irrelevant to someone who doesn't profess a particular faith. You may not take this topic in the direction I do, but I don't think one has to be of any faith at all to understand what I'm going to write here - if I'm able to write this understandably.
Most, if not all, of us can name things we do not actively participate in because doing so would violate our conscience, or may harm us or others. If the Bible calls these things sin, as a Christian they would be sin to me - even if they are completely allowable by culture and the law of the land. Some may call them vices. You call them whatever you want. We've all got things we don't do - for our own health, for the sake of our well being, for the sake of other's well being. Sometimes because "the Bible tells me so". Or our "moral compass" keeps us in check.
While we all have things we wouldn't do, we sometimes vicariously participate in these activities (or sins) by what we allow to pass by our eyes and ears - through the things we watch, or read, or listen to during our times of relaxation and entertainment, or maybe we stumble onto them doing research or while mindlessly browsing YouTube or even when just innocently passing some downtime blog-hopping.
In some very real ways, in today's culture we cannot escape what lands in front of our eyes. The problem is not just that something accidentally passed before our eyes that we have no business looking at, and we shouldn't listen to, but it's that we feel things, we think things, we may imagine things we can't unimagine, we may begin to seek out the thing. We may internalize things that are harmful, possibly to our conscience, our peace of mind, maybe to our habits, most assuredly to our spirits. Desensitized by what we see or hear regularly, we may begin to do or say things that we know (or at one time knew) were wrong for us to do or say. But regardless of our outward actions, Jesus was pretty clear in Matthew chapter 5, vs 21-28 that if we entertain the thought, we've as good as done the deed when it comes to the heart.
My experience of living as a Christian is that there is a continual tension between things like freedom and constraint. Between being redeemed, and continuing to find myself in need of forgiveness. And there's believing that when I confess my sin "God is faithful and just and will forgive..." - all the while knowing I must not take God's mercy and grace for granted.
So back to Lent.
And the idea of law-less-ness.
And challenging oneself to not live as if harmful things are harmless.
Choosing to give up something(s) any time of the year for the purpose of reigning in a law-less self makes a lot of sense to me. I can see how a time of considering one's law-less-ness (or life lived without limits or constraints), or perhaps the alternative - a concentrated period of time spent actively doing things one knows are being neglected, especially when being prayerful and mindful about it all, can turn one's heart and mind toward Christ. And that seems a very good way to spend the weeks leading up to Easter (and beyond).
I am of the mind that these things should be private disciplines, so I'm not proclaiming things I will or won't be doing. I'm just sharing these thoughts, along with the title of a book I intend to read in the upcoming weeks - in case someone else is interested in checking out said book at some point. This isn't a recommendation to do so. The book could possibly be a dud - I've barely started it. I doubt it will disappoint, though, and maybe I'll come back and write about the book itself at some point. I do expect to be convicted - I hope to the point of some change. I'll probably be humbled. And I hope drawn closer to a life lived with some constraints or disciplines I may not be practicing, but know that I would be happier and more God-honoring if I did.
The back cover of Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
Meanwhile, let's encourage each other to pray for the people of Ukraine and the madness that Putin has unleased and is directing. I've appreciated so many others who've posted suggestions of ways we can help those who are suffering. Thank you.
Peace to you in this time of uncertainty.
