Five Reasons Not To Give Up Something for Lent

For Lent, I'm giving up the idea of giving up something for Lent. There are some good reasons to do it, but I can think of a few reasons not to.

1. It's not the Self-Denial Olympics. If the point of giving up something for Lent is nothing more than self-congratulation for feats of abstinence, I'm not interested. Fasting, in centuries of monastic practice, is only worthwhile as far as it increases your spiritual focus, your meditation, your awareness of utter dependence on God. In our diet-happy culture, simply avoiding something is itself is an accomplishment, a triumph of willpower and demonstration of self-control that, ironically, gives you a higher, not a lower, view of yourself. "The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself," said C.S. Lewis in his timeless sermon "The Weight of Glory." "We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ." Which brings me to #2.

2. Chocolate Ain't a Cross. I have friends giving up chocolate, or alcohol, or TV, or ice cream, for Lent. I admire their sacrifices. But those are still pretty trivial sacrifices. I'd be more impressed if people gave up not a minor indulgence but a supposed non-negotiable of modern life. Driving. E-mail. Mirrors. Consumer goods produced more than 100 miles from your house.

That would impress me. But I still don't think it would impress God. "Take up your cross and follow me." It's a call to complete self-emptying.

3. We're not trying to beat Christ at his own game. Sometimes I wonder if giving up something for Lent comes out of a twinge of guilt about Jesus' suffering--"Jesus went through so much pain for me, the least I can do in return is keep my hand out of the cookie jar for a month." First, Christ endured hell precisely so that we don't have to (not that a lack of cookies is hell; see #2 above). He emptied himself in order to invite us to a life of abundance. Not self-indulgence. Not indifference. Not hoarding. But abundance. A life of fasting and feasting.

4. Fuzzy Math, Part 1: 40 does not equal 46. A pastor pointed out in passing last year that Lent is not actually 40 days, but 46. To get to 40, you have to subtract the six Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Why? Because Sunday is always a day of Resurrection, a "mini-Easter." Our jubilance about Jesus' defeat of death interrupts even our somberness in a season dedicated to his suffering.

That was brand new to me. But I love it; I love Easter's persistence in piercing our gloom. Do Lenten self-deniers know this quirk of the church calendar, and do they, accordingly, let the chocolate flow on those six Sundays?

5. Fuzzy Math, Part 2: One does not equal 40. In his stirring new book Surprised By Hope, N.T. Wright says, "I regard it as absurd and unjustifiable that we should spend forty days keeping Lent, pondering what it means, preaching about self-denial, being at least a little gloomy ... and then, after [Holy Week], we have a single day of celebration."

Easter, Wright points out, is a whole season, 40 whole days of its own before Ascension Day, not "simply the one-day happy ending tacked on to forty days of fasting and gloom," as he puts it. So after fasting for 40 days (give or take; see #4 above), how will we feast for 40 days? Chocolate cake for dessert every night? 40 bottles of wine? Or would that would be as trivial as giving them up? No matter what, we have to let Easter be a whole season--a whole year, really--a feast that's as good as the fast.

Login to comment

Comments (25)

This is actually the first year I have attempted to give up something for Lent. While I agree with parts of your post, I don't think I would make a blanket statement that Christians shouldn't give up something for Lent. I'm a firm believer that at certain seasons, we all need to fast from certain things. If one chooses to do that during Lent, so be it. However, I would caution people not to just "give something up" but to replace it with something good. For example, I have decided to give up secular media (TV, movies, Facebook, etc.)and instead spend time reading and studying the Word, listening to sermons, or reading Christian literature. In other words, when we give something up, we should have a purpose of drawing closer to God through it. And, I agree with the sentiment that says Easter should be an everyday celebration, not just one day or forty or once a week. Every day we live is in light of the resurrection.
My instructions for "Lent" or any other season of fasting:
1. Don't do it to "please God" or earn his favor. Grace can't be earned, else it wouldn't be grace.
2. Don't try to "pay Jesus back" - that flies in the face of grace and says I'm going to reimburse you (which by the way is IMPOSSIBLE)."
3. Don't do it to be recognized. Which would you rather hear: a person saying, "Wow you're so spiritual" or God saying "Well done, good and faithful servant"
4. Replace whatever you are giving up with opportunities to serve others or draw closer to God. After all, fasting isn't just about abstaining, it's about drawing near to God and even helping the poor and broken (see Isaiah 58)
5. Evaluate what you have given up and ask yourself if you should EVER go back to it. Is it keeping you from Christ? Is it healthy in anyway? It may be that over the course of your fast you will find that you shouldn't return to the food/drink/activity that holds you in some form of an addiction.
Well, that's my fifteen cents on the matter.
Regarding your #5, a couple years ago at our church we had 40 days of confession (Lent) followed by 50 days of celebration (Easter-Pentecost).

We had a lot harder time practicing celebration than confession!
Celebrate everyday, because he is among us. I gave up some of my time so that others could enjoy learning a new language for free. Oh they could have done it themselves, but this way they have someone to bounce questions off of. I gave of my time, but I still celebrate the fact that he is here with us. Sit quietly and listen to the whisper in your heart, " I am here, what shall we do today." Love God and Love one another, in God's Grace John
Wow, Nathan. Very well put! My husband and I were just going to "give up" in general for Lent, as in casting all our burdens on the LORD and letting him have all our worries and concerns. Now there's an exercise for you!
I understand what you are saying to a point. When we gives something up or fast it is to strengthen our prayer life by creating an emptiness that we fill with God. We also do it to experience a little piece of Christ's suffering for our sins and that suffering can in turn be offered up for the souls in purgatory.
I am aware the lent is 40 days when you take away the Sundays and I do take Sundays off from my lenten sacrifice because I am celebrating(some Catholics choose to give something up for the full 46 days). As far as Lent being 40 days and Easter being only one, well that is not true. In the Church we have the Easter Season which lasts 50 days.
Like very ritual or doctrine, if it brings you closer to God, do that, if it drives you farther from God, avoid it. None of our rituals are impressive to God, but the spirit in which they are offered may be.
Lent, hmmmm. Not a part of my tradition, history or even my vocabulary. I've heard from friends over the years. “No thanks, I'm giving up chocolate for lent.” or “I'm giving up coffee for lent.” I've never really understood it. I know historically what it means. I know the source of the tradition and practice. I know it's part of the 40 day lead up to Easter, reflecting Christ's 40 day fast in the desert. I know that St. Gregory writing to St. Augustine of England laid down the rule, "We abstain from flesh meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese, and eggs." So far so good, but from my theological backyard the view is a bit different. The Liturgical year, it's cycles, and its feast and fasts don't find any root in the soil of my tradition so how should I observe lent? Please forgive my ignorance, but I don't know a shrove pancake from a confessing crepe. There is something here though. The more I think about it the more I begin to understand that there is something here about getting rid of those things that get in the way between me and God. What are the things that keep me far from God? What behaviors are there in my life that move me towards sin? Are there things that I need to get rid of so that I may live in greater obedience to God and extend greater grace to the people around me? I once asked a friend why I shouldn't gamble. I was looking for this big Bible answer but he just turned and with a smile said, “Dan, with your addictive personality you're asking why you shouldn't gamble?” Those kind of questions drive me far from thoughts about chocolate and coffee and deeper into other things. Things like self reliance and pride which do more to seperate me from God than I can imagine. I know there are too many things in my life that get in the way of my love for God and Lent sounds like a good time to consider them. For me, while the season of Lent isn't officially on the calender, a season of some soul searching will be. So this year for Lent, I'll be the guy drinking coffee, eating an Aero bar and trying to understand what I need to give up so I can do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8)
It is not what you give up but what you replace it with. Sure give up your chocolate, or TV, or Sports ... Replace it with time w/ God ... devotions, and prayer!
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that too often is relegated by the modern church because of its difficulty and unpleasantness and I believe we are doing ourselves a disservice to write it off or giving ourselves easy outs.

In point number one I agree with you about how fasting is often self-congratulatory, but as all of our deeds are tainted by sin and fall short of the glory of God should we avoid fasting simply because we have an ulterior motive?

I find your logic in points two and three somewhat contradictory. In point two you say that Chocolate isn't a cross, and that giving up something more difficult would impress you (but would not impress God). However, in the next section you say we are not competing with Christ's sacrifice. I doubt that the key to fasting is finding the Goldilocks activity that is not too easy or too hard, but just right. I don't think the purpose of fasting is to impress God, but to become more connected to Him

The final two reasons you cite are simply misunderstandings of Lent, and hardly reasons to give up the practice of fasting. Specifically on point number five, while Lent is a season, so is Easter, Hallelujah! You hit it right on the head that we are called to a life of fasting and feasting. But to properly experience the feast, we have to experience the fast, and vice-versa. And breaking one's fast can be quite celebratory. Savoring the food or activity that you have denied yourself for weeks is quite a feast. Additionally I would be surprised if in the next few weeks going back to that food or activity doesn't remind you of that period of fasting.

I think we should be analyzing our motives and understanding of fasting and Lent. If we do fast in the proper fashion that whenever we get that pang of hunger or desire to do something that we are denying ourselves our thoughts are brought to the sacrifice of Jesus, we are engaging in a spiritual discipline that our Lord engaged himself. But I am in complete agreement with you that too often we fast for the wrong reasons.
I agree with much of what you said. I've "given up" complaining for Lent, simply to allow me to further focus on the blessings God has given me. Also, I'm tithing ten cents per complaint (they add up), so it is to benefit Christ's Church as well.

I also think giving up treats, etc for Lent is absurd. That doesn't bring you much closer to God, which is (I think) the whole point.

See the latest in:

Promotion

promo 1 promo 2
promo 3 promo 4

Donate Now