Lent

As a typical Baptist, I don't usually do Lent very well. It has always seemed a little too stuffy, religious and legalistic to me (as most traditions do). But over the years I have slowly come around.

This year has been significantly different already. This is the first year that I received ashes on my forehead. The Ash Wednesday service at the Episcopal church was beautiful and meaningful, but I was still very aware how out-of-place and uncomfortable I was with it all. Nevertheless, I was glad to be connected to something that Christians all over the world were a part of.

Then there is the commonly observed practice of giving up something for Lent. It is meant to be a time of self-denial and repentance (which in it's true form indicates a change of behavior) that leads to the Cross of Good Friday and the Empty Tomb of Resurrection Sunday. So with a fairly honest assessment of my life, I committed to drinking only water for 40 days. Giving up soft drinks (of which I typically consume several each day) was the big one, but it includes everything else, too. It may be healthy, but it is not meant to be a diet or for health reasons; it is meant to set me free from something in my life that has been addicting. I cannot allow anything in my life to compete with Jesus for control over it.

Another part of Lent this year is our church's emphasis on listening through the New Testament together. We have been encouraging the congregation to join us each day in listening to a few chapters of an audio version of the New Testament. I have to admit, after trying out the material we were distributing, I went back to my old copy of The Bible Experience audio Bible because it is so much better of a dramatic reading. I'm now in the first few chapters of Luke, and this has been a really nice part of this season as well.

Finally, thanks to a link on a friend's blog, I found Mars Hill Bible Church's Lent 2010 experiential calendar. This calendar is set up so that on each of the 40 days I will participate in an activity that challenges me and stretches me to grow toward Christ and his love. This includes activities like doing something you've been putting off or making a phone call to someone you've had a falling out with or shoveling snow from a neighbor's driveway or fasting from food or technology or music. I like that it helps Lent to be about more than just giving up something for a duration of time, but it also adds in spiritual exercises to your life in a wide variety of areas.

The funny thing about this season of Lent is how these added observances have bumped up against my regular life. The ashes coincided with a youth mission project, which helped me reflect on serving others as a proper response to repentance from self-centeredness. The audio Bible listening has been mixed in with a variety of activities throughout my day. The nothing-but-water fast creates tension whenever I go to the refrigerator or out to eat. My experiences from the Lent calendar are not always convenient with my day-to-day schedule so I have to find ways to make it work.

Tomorrow I'm headed to the Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Chicago, and I'm going to be thinking and talking a lot about youth ministry. I'm hopeful that my deeper observance of Lent this year will also pay off in a fuller understanding of ministry as I reflect and study it together with some other great youth leaders. (Btw, I'm planning on blogging from there this weekend, too... or you can follow me on twitter.)