Can Lent be Evangelical?

              The season of Lent, a period of forty days starting with Ash Wednesday, is often easily misunderstood by evangelicals.    Lent is not a way of earning grace or performing works that earn you God’s favor. Instead,

Lent is like the “cry in the wilderness” to prepare for the way of the Lord.  The season of Lent serves a two-fold purpose.

First, it allows you to meet the Lord in solitary actions and devotions. In Lent you join the Church in a time of self-examination with the goal of bringing before the Lord those maladies of the soul that need grace and healing. Second, Lent unites you with that great host of all believers that prepare for Holy Week. Participation in Lent is like “setting your face toward Jerusalem”.

You are moving with the Church to once again witness the suffering of Christ and celebrate the triumphant of his resurrection.   

              As the Book of Common Prayer states, “it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them [the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection] by a season of penitence and fasting.” Engaging the various Christian disciplines in Lent not only nourishes your soul but lets you participate with the whole community of faith in a movement toward Holy Week. These practices are not burdensome or harsh--instead they act as a “school” for Christ.  This school for Christ teaches us that we can be transformed by grace through the disciplines of fasting, penitence and prayer.  There are two elements to any successful spiritual endeavor: consistency and intention. The Church provides the structure for consistency- the forty days of Lent. The intention of your heart and soul

comes from your own desire to enter into a deeper relationship with the Lord.  

              From the ancient Church to today, fasting was always part of Lenten devotion. By fasting from a particular food(s) or a meal, you are creating a break or space in your regular routine. Lent can also be a time when you add something to your life, such as expanding the time you dedicate to Scripture and prayer. Also, you can expand upon one of the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love. In the contours of our lives, Lent allows a place for us to step back slow down and hear from the Lord. This space is a time for preparation, movement, resolve, growth, self-examination and reflection. The Prodigal Son amongst the pigs is

a profound image for Lent.  It is a time to “come to our senses”, leave the distant countries we have journeyed in and return to our Father’s house.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down,

especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Hebrews 12:1-2

© Kenyon / Grow Center 2006