I realize I don't do a very good job of keeping this updated anymore, but I just really needed a place to write what I'm feeling. Of course I also did not want to offend people by posting this on Facebook, etc.
If you'll allow me, I'm going to quote Wikipedia a bit:
Lent is "the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ"
If this if the intent and goal of your sacrifice during Lent, this post is not directed at you. I believe this is a beautiful and worthy cause because if we truly recall the events leading up to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can find the spiritual celebration in Easter that it originally was. I'm sure for many people, the best way for them to remember and appreciate fully His sacrifice for us is by reliving that in some way in the 40 days before Easter.
The problem I have with Lent is the pettiness of the "sacrifices" made today. Forgive me for not seeing the parallel between your struggle to give up chocolate, Starbucks, or other luxuries in the name of drawing closer to Jesus and understanding His true sacrifice.
The 40 days of Lent is representative of the 40 days Jesus spent in the dessert fasting, and Luke 4:1-2 says, "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, [2] where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry."
Jesus was hungry. What an understatement, but how much oversight do we have to have to think that as a form of self-sacrifice in our lives we can substitute a Venti Latte for food? Or baked goods for all food? Or checking Facebook for eating nothing for a month and a half? How far are we from understanding this kind of self-denial that we think something so small can help us to understand His torment?
By devoting Himself to this 40 day fast, Jesus was committing all of his trust in God and pulling all of his strength from God. By sneaking a piece of bread, He'd be turning His trust inward and not allowing God to be His strength. A 40 day fast is not something you do while saying, "I hope I can make it!" And a 40 day fast for God is not something you take lightly when committing to or especially when breaking because you only remember you weren't going to eat chocolate when you're halfway through a pack of cookies. Oops.
All of this is to say that I do not take part in Lent because I am angered that it is taken so lightly without any remembrance to the reason. I believe fasting is a fine thing to take part in, but there must be a goal and a reason. I'd like to ask most people what their goal is. Are they doing it to see if they can? To break a bad habit they know they should stop anyway? To lose a few pounds? I'd love nothing more than to hear someone say that their sacrifice, which may seem petty in my eyes, has much deeper meaning to them and for them it IS the best way they can recreate the reliance in God alone to get them through.
