Recently I have been deeply bothered by the ritual of Lent.
From what I know, and I am not saying I know a lot about this, but that it is almost like a Holiday that follows Ash Wednesday for 40 days until the day of Easter (which is the holiday celebrated for the resurrection of Jesus Christ) I'll be honest and say I just looked up Wikipedia Lent to make sure what I just said was accurate. And I noticed that it described Lent as the preparation of the believer for the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I am disturbed.
Why is that as Christians we have to prepare only 40 days out of our year for a death that we did not die? One- Never in my life have I had railroad stakes piercing my palms on to a cross. How would I ever even prepare for that excruciating pain? Two- I do not understand why this forty days should be any different than any other day throughout the year. Jesus told us to "take up our cross daily" (Luke 9:23). I take that at face-value. Okay, I guess to an extent I don't carry a cross up a mountain literally. But do I die to myself everyday? Allow my Creator to plan my day? Go outside of my comfort zone to glorify God everyday? I try to at least. I am not contained to rituals. I am consumed with a relationship.
Maybe I am being sassy now- but I wonder what our generation will look like if we stopped publicly declaring what we are giving up, but instead start openly loving what God gave up for us, which is His only Son. I think that would be radical.
I think as Christians we are settling when we abide to these rituals. What is the heart behind giving up chocolate for 40 days? Where is the scripture to back up why Christians give up luxuries for Lent? When are we going to stop doing things for Him and start doing things because of what He did for us?
In high school I was so dramatic. I know, surprising. I went through dramatic changes. I would try to fix myself. I thought that if I gave up cussing then I would be more able to have a closer relationship with Jesus. If I would stop doing bad things... if I would stop finding my worth in boys... on and on... As you could predict, I would fail time and time again at changing myself to become a better person for Jesus. So hear me when I say this: I get it, we are part of a culture that is based on performance.
But-- the Jesus I know hates that our view is distorted. Hates that we think we have to earn His love. There is nothing we do that will make Him love us more. And there is nothing we can do to make Him love us less.
We can't change ourselves. He can do that in us. I truly believe that. I just think Lent being described as a preparation period is hard for me. I don't want to be consumed with becoming a better person, a more deserving person for the anniversary of Jesus' death and resurrection, because the truth is I will never reach a point and think I totally deserved Him to die in my place.
My good friend tweeted while I was in the process of writing this "I'm amazed at what people give up for Lent but won't do for love of Jesus."
I do not want to say Lent is a terrible thing. I am for anything that brings someone closer to Christ. Seriously. Christ brings full and satisfying life. The misuse of Lent just upsets me. I just want to see more people in love with Jesus rather than just loving Him.
