[box]RVWD is my abbreviation for Religious Vocabulary Word of the Day. (You can read my introduction to the RVWD series here.) I do not intend for these word investigations to be exhaustive, but I hope they stimulate some thinking about assumptions. Possibly they will help with honest evaluations about what is truth and what is unnecessary baggage in life. [/box]
The word lent is apparently derived from an Old English word meaning “spring.” As a word, lent is not in the Bible. As a concept, there is no ritual or remembrance like it described in the Bible that Christians are commanded to follow. There are certain stories and ideas in the Bible that are used to explain why lent is thought to be of spiritual consequence. For instance, fasting is something Christians might do, and fasting, of sorts, is part of the lenten tradition. The idea of lent being observed for 40 days is linked to the fact that Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness without food or water, although there is no admonition for us to do the same.
The history of how and why lent has become a custom is a bit blurry. Suffice to say that how it is “traditionally” participated in is still changing. (To read more on the Biblical perspective of tradition click here.) The general idea is to offer some sort of sacrifice, combined religious ritual, to purify oneself to be soberly ready to celebrate the day memorializing the resurrection of Christ (commonly referred to as Easter). Only in religion does the use of the word celebration seem so linked with the idea of being sober with dour connotations.
What people do during a time they want to call lent is probably not as important as what they think they are accomplishing by it and what they think God requires. If they know the completeness of what Jesus Christ has accomplished and simply want to say or do things in worship of Him, they should be free to do so. If, however, they think they need to do and say certain things to maintain standing with God, or to “bring themselves closer to Him,” they probably don’t understand the fullness of His solution that is available for them. It is by His Holy Spirit, given to those who have chosen to take hold of the gospel that God works to bring believers to maturity, not by their striving to be good on their own power. What is the gospel? Here is one place it is spelled out very clearly:
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (I Corinthians 15:1-4, NASB)
The structures of self-proclaimed religious authorities also seem to have a funny idea of what God thinks is of value in a person’s life. Much like the Pharisees, they often advocate outward and flaunting shows of religiosity, rather than actions which truly come from the heart. God cares much more about us having a correct view of how much He loves us and how that should spill over into how we love others than He does about what we eat (Acts 10) or if we pray and grovel about our limited human state. I could only find one place in the New Testament where the words fast and pray are even mentioned in conjunction. Praying (as I studied here) is most clearly spoken of as asking for things for ourselves, not telling God about the ways we have failed.
A more Biblical model than lent for followers of Jesus Christ is to encourage one another daily based on the goodness of God in their lives. Each individual lives in hope and celebration daily. And when believers/followers/Christians get together with others of like mind, there is a sharing of this ongoing celebration. There is no “non-spiritual” time, because there is no separation between beliefs and reality. There is no secular versus religious. Otherwise, beliefs are meaningless.
If you want to read some about the Catholic perspective of lent, this was an interesting article, written by a Catholic. To me, the way lent seems to be most commonly spoken of and observed, it seems to encourage the appearance of piety by acts of self-righteousness. Attempts to sooth the conscience because of a real or imagined sense of failing. We cannot ever take care of that through our own methods.