The Christian religion is not one of asceticism. Sometimes we confuse difficult with God-honoring. But pleasure is not a bad thing in the Scriptures. This seems an important concept to remember during this season when many are participating in lent. In Rome, penitent Catholics are still climbing on their knees up the stairs called Scala Santa, especially popular during lent. In our country, chocolate and coffee are popularly given up for lent, and not because it's thought to be sin, but because to some, we just have to give up something...
If we seek to please God by our denial of personal pleasure, we misunderstand what it is that God is pleased with. Paul prays that the Christians in Colosse would be fully pleasing to the Lord, which he describes as being fruitful in good works and increasing in knowledge of God. If anyone thinks the Bible is against pleasure, consider how the goodness of wine is described in Psalm 104:15, that it makes the heart glad. Food is given to be received with thanksgiving (I Timothy 4:4). And then there's Song of Solomon.
Self-denial for the needs of others is a good thing (Philippians 2:3). But self-denial for it's own sake has no value against the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:23). Colossians 2:20-23 calls the regulations to not touch, taste, and handle the commandments of men. These teachings are self-imposed; it is false humility.
There is a time for mourning. There is a purpose to fasting. And so we all know we should be thoughtful about the things we indulge in. But let us also be careful about the things we forbid.
11 comments:
This is a really interesting point you bring up Jen. I haven't looked into the meaning of lent myself or talked to anyone who is giving something up so I don't really understand why it is done. Have you heard any reasons aside from tradition why people do it? It seems to make sense that to give something up you are disciplining yourself, but whether that serves our own feelings of holiness or God's true will is what matters and the scriptures you posted here seem to make it pretty clear. Great post and pictures! Thanks for your thoughts.
There seem to be so many different answers to that question! There are the specific dietary rules associated with lent which not of those who observe lent participate in, and there are younger Catholics who participate for different reasons than more traditional Catholics. I haven;t found an explanation for why Evangelical Christians are participating in lent more and more. A good question is, for those who are participating in fasting during lent, but they themselves don't hold to Catholic theology, is what they're doing really lent?
Here's an article on the modern spin on lent:
http://www.christianity.com/news/religiontoday/11646515/
Well written Jen! Grace and peace to you! I have been thinking about this much.
Jen- I'm so glad you wrote this. I appreciate some of your points that I have never considered. I read through the previous comments and thought of this link that a friend had put on FB. It gives some of the reasons behind lent and is written by evangelicals (not catholics). This article is brief and has a link to a lengthier one.
http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2011/03/09/why-bother-with-lent/
Thanks for sharing that link Amy, I will for sure read that:)
Thanks for addressing this Jen. I have noticed how popular it is these days to take part in Lent but have never really understood why. I haven't read the link Amy posted yet but I will :)
Amy, I read that article and I would love to hear your thoughts. According to the author, it seems as if Christians are observing lent if they take extra time to think about Christ's death and resurrection in the weeks leading up to Easter, or if they are engaging in regular times of repentance and prayer at this time. I don't that's a bad thing, but I also don't think that's what lent is. It's as if someone said they were going to celebrate Christmas by Christmas caroling, and when asked what Christmas caroling means, they said they were going to think more about the importance of Christ's birth. That might be a clumsy analogy, but I think there are ways to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection which are good and fine, but I don't think it's accurate to call taking extra time to think about Christ's death and resurrection lent. Lent is tied to the sacrament of penance. Prayer, fasting, and good works are the "what" of lent, but penance, as far as I understand, is the "why" of lent. What are your thoughts?
Here are some quotes from Catholic.org:
"...the already baptized deal with sin through the Sacrament of Penance. Lent is the primary time for celebrating the Sacrament of Penance...".
Here's the link if you're interested:
http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/faq.php
Jen-
Those are some great thoughts and I totally get your analogy. I don't have very concrete thoughts on lent, so I will give this more thought (I haven't given it much ever and am glad you brought it up). I personally, know many of my catholic family members that celebrate lent because that is just what they have ever known to do. I also see many evangelicals doing it as well. I have never participated because it is something that I just didn't quite "get". I need to get dinner going and will hopefully get back to this tonight. I love what you wrote.
p.s. I didn't think to check this sooner than today. Is there a way I can get notifications if you comment? And I am not in agreement with the article I linked. I just thought it might seem helpful in getting a better understanding of lent from the evangelicals who practice it :)
I am so glad you linked that article, because I've been wondering what different protestant takes on lent are. Thanks! I have no idea about the email notifications thing. I'm clueless! I let you know if I find out somehow though:)
Interesting post and I couldn't agree more. We (as do most Lutherans) observe Lent every year, but we never give anything up and we are not encouraged to. Lent is seen as a the time of the church year that we are to focus and reflect/remember our need for salvation. On Ash Wednesday, it is the one time of year that each individual receives a personal proclamation of forgiveness, as opposed to the corporate one we receive each Sunday. The climax of Lent is the death and Resurrection of Jesus. In light of that, giving up chocolate, Facebook or anything trivial like that almost seems demeaning or shows a lack of understanding of the salvation bought for us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Gene Veith brought this up, too. The conversation that follows is interesting:http://www.geneveith.com/2011/03/09/lent-catches-on/
I like what the LCMS president recommended for those observing Lent:
http://www.geneveith.com/2011/03/09/lets-pray-the-litany-for-lent/
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