As the Lenten season is upon us once again, I am reminded of last year’s post and what one commenter said about dying to sin daily and out of season. It is a good reminder, especially when the word Lent instantly conjures up all sorts of negative images (like drunken Mardi Gras revelers who will attempt to give up their alcoholic beverages the next day). There is good reason for Christians to approach Lent carefully when the culture at-large treats it so casually.

This evening I came across an article by Reverend Dr. Craig R. Higgins of Trinity Presbyterian Church, On Keeping Holy Lent, in which he attempts to de-mystify, explain and redeem the observance of Lent.

Lent…is a time for focusing on the heart, a time for asking questions about our spiritual health:

• What are my characteristic sins, and how can I work and pray for change?
• What idols have captured my imagination so that my love for the living God has grown cold?
• In what ways is my devotion to Christ and his church less than wholehearted?

The Lenten season is the spiritual equivalent of an annual physical exam; it’s a time to take stock of our lives, our hearts.

Keeping Lent, however, is potentially dangerous, precisely because of this focus on the heart. After all, it is much easier to read a book on prayer than to spend time leisurely speaking with our heavenly Father. It is much easier to fast from certain foods than it is to turn from idols of the heart. It is much easier to write a check than to spend time in ministries of mercy. Consequently, Lent is easily trivialized. The point of Lent is not to give up chocolate; it’s to give up sin!

Even with this warning, however, we need to beware of going from one extreme to the other. Yes, it is possible so completely to externalize your Lenten observance that you end up trivializing it. Yet we need to remember that we are not purely spiritual beings. God created humans as physical beings; we are psychosomatic creatures, a “nexus of body and soul.” What we do physically has an effect on us spiritually—and we neglect this principle to our peril.

Do you not find it odd that in Evangelical circles we celebrate Advent for many of the same reasons as Lent, but cringe at the thought of seasonal fasting or services leading up to Easter? Of course, it will not seem strange at all to some of my readers, especially those who do not hold to any form of an ecclesiastical calendar. While I agree that Lent is not a Biblical mandate, I do see it as a permissable means of grace if it is properly understood and applied. We must, however, be careful to avoid the “bestowing of power or grace to the object itself, so that by mere participation you benefit from the experience. The experience always has been, and always will be, a matter of the heart—a spiritual engaging” #. Along these lines, be sure to check out the questions for self-examination at the end of Higgins’ article.

HT: Batch