I’m not trying to place blame, but I grew up in a non-denominational church that did not follow the liturgical calendar, so it was not until I reached adulthood that I learned to appreciate many of the traditions I missed out on as a child.
It was actually a story that a college-pastor friend told me that helped me see that Lent can be about so much more than self-denial. Here’s the story:
My friend was preaching a sermon series about the spiritual disciplines to his young adult group. When he reached the topic of fasting, he encouraged the group to consider joining him in a week-long fast. Give up something important to you for one week. Spend time in prayer and reflection. Then come back next week with stories of how God worked in your life this week.
One girl’s story stood out enough for him to share it with me, and it has stuck with me for almost a decade now.
This young lady decided to give up television for the week. Now it wasn’t as if TV consumed her life or that all she watched was garbage; she watched about as much television as you would expect a working college student to watch. She simply felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to give it up for the week.
Something interesting happened during that TV-less week. This young lady found she had a lot more free time on her hands. When classes were over and she had clocked out from work, she found herself sitting around with nothing to do. So she decided to look around to find something to fill this newfound free time.
What she found was an opportunity to serve the poor and needy through a local charity organization. Through this service opportunity, she found a joy and fulfillment that she had never experienced before. She quickly went from checking things out to being a regular helper at this outreach ministry.
At the end of the week, she turned her television back on, but she watched it a little less often because she continued spending a couple hours each week volunteering her time helping the less fortunate. She was so excited to share her story when she returned to church after her week-long television fast. She hadn’t experienced some huge epiphany or spiritual breakthrough, but she had discovered a new passion for helping those who need a hand–something that might not have happened had she stayed on the couch watching TV.
The Lenten season and the self-denial typically associated with it do not need to be only about spiritual reflection and renewal. It can have equally practical and long-lasting benefits. For example:
• Perhaps giving up sweets or desserts might lead you to a healthier diet, which causes you to feel better and become more active in your free time.
• Perhaps giving up social media will encourage you to get out and build relationships through face-to-face meetings rather than just Liking friends’ status updates.
• Perhaps giving up television will give you time to read those great books that are collecting dust on the shelves.
• Perhaps giving up the radio on your drive to work will allow you to spend your commute in quiet reflection and meditation.
Lent is not just about solemnly and sacrificially giving up stuff; it’s a time of preparation for the celebration of new life found in the resurrection of our Lord. Sometimes we temporarily need to remove some of the distractions in our lives to see the new things God wants to do in us and through us. So instead of counting down the days until we can log in to Facebook or enjoy a cup of coffee, perhaps we ought to wait in anticipation to see what God has for us. We might just be surprised.
