If it gives anyone a clue about where I am mentally right now, it wasn't until my prayer group met on Tuesday that I realized yesterday was the first day of lent. I've never observed lent, and though I considered observing it this year I was more excited to try something different - 40 Days of Faith, which is a faith experiment the Boston Vineyard (http://www.bostonvineyard.org/) has done over the past several years.
When I went to the site to check out this year's agenda, I was bummed to find out that they are doing something different this year: 40 Days Of Devotion. While I'm sure this will be powerful and lovely for all those who choose to participate, it feels much more like the traditional lent that most churches observe. For whatever reason, I'm not connecting to lent right now - and I don't want to do something just because everyone else is doing it.
The lead pastor wrote this about the Wikipedia entry on lent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent):
...And I'm especially intrigued by the last sentence, talking about how some folks don't like to follow any dietary restrictions in response to 1 Timothy 4:1-5, which might gain even more resonance when you realize (if the Wikipedia gang is right) that Lent came into being after Christianity was made a state religion under Constantine, and so suddenly church folks had to figure out who was "serious" and who was just going along with the societal flow.
It seems to me that the answer to those objections to fasting during Lent would come through seeing Lent as an opportunity, not an obligation. Lent clearly isn't biblical (being instituted, as it was, in the 4th century), but perhaps all those centuries of church folks practicing it suggest that many people have found value in such a season. And it doesn't seem to be anti-biblical if it's chosen, not imposed.
Maybe my objection to lent has more to do with a sense of obligation rather than choice. I know the Vineyard doesn't impose lent in an obligatory way, but it seems as though I've recieved it that way and have rejected it. I'm sure that my personality has a bit to do with that, but I feel like maybe what I really need to feel led to participate in lent is for the Holy Spirit to put it on my heart and highlight it for me. I don't know if I'm asking for that or not... I think I'm just trying to figure it out.
When I went to the site to check out this year's agenda, I was bummed to find out that they are doing something different this year: 40 Days Of Devotion. While I'm sure this will be powerful and lovely for all those who choose to participate, it feels much more like the traditional lent that most churches observe. For whatever reason, I'm not connecting to lent right now - and I don't want to do something just because everyone else is doing it.
The lead pastor wrote this about the Wikipedia entry on lent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent):
...And I'm especially intrigued by the last sentence, talking about how some folks don't like to follow any dietary restrictions in response to 1 Timothy 4:1-5, which might gain even more resonance when you realize (if the Wikipedia gang is right) that Lent came into being after Christianity was made a state religion under Constantine, and so suddenly church folks had to figure out who was "serious" and who was just going along with the societal flow.
It seems to me that the answer to those objections to fasting during Lent would come through seeing Lent as an opportunity, not an obligation. Lent clearly isn't biblical (being instituted, as it was, in the 4th century), but perhaps all those centuries of church folks practicing it suggest that many people have found value in such a season. And it doesn't seem to be anti-biblical if it's chosen, not imposed.
Maybe my objection to lent has more to do with a sense of obligation rather than choice. I know the Vineyard doesn't impose lent in an obligatory way, but it seems as though I've recieved it that way and have rejected it. I'm sure that my personality has a bit to do with that, but I feel like maybe what I really need to feel led to participate in lent is for the Holy Spirit to put it on my heart and highlight it for me. I don't know if I'm asking for that or not... I think I'm just trying to figure it out.
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