In case you weren’t aware, Ash Wednesday occurred this week. And if you don’t know what that is, it’s the kickoff to Lent in the Catholic (and some Protestant) churches. On Ash Wednesday, ashes are smeared in the shape of a cross on the foreheads of willing participants. Lent is then observed for forty days until Easter and consists of abstaining from something of your choice. Many people give up their favorite food or drink, or some other meaningful or not so meaningful thing in their life. For forty days, they are to avoid this chosen item.

I’ve attended a Protestant church my entire life. We never ever observed Ash Wednesday or Lent. We never gave up any type of food for forty days unless directed by a doctor. And we never had ashes in the shape of a cross smeared across our foreheads. Not to be disrespectful of anyone who observes the practice of Lent, but it’s never been an event in my life.

According to Dr. Glenn Sunshine, Lent is a period of time prior to Easter when Christians prepare themselves to commemorate Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. Lent ends on Easter when we celebration his resurrection. Forty days are set aside for people to prepare their hearts, to repent, and to be ready to celebrate Christ’s victory over death.

The forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday signify the forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness before he started his ministry. Which gives me pause. Many people “suffer” and give up their favorite food or drink or activity, or whatever it is that they lean on for these forty days. Here’s the kicker. After their forty days of fasting, what ministry do they start? What ministry do we as Christians dive into as a celebration of our denying ourselves for forty days? Or, do we just gorge ourselves to break the fast of the favorite thing we’ve given up?

Someone says Lent isn’t a moment of forced piety, but isn’t it? Why wait until a certain time of year to abstain from something that has a stronghold on your life? If God doesn’t need Lent, then why do we? If Lent is for us, then why wait until forty days before Easter to check our spiritual pulse? Shouldn’t we be doing that on a daily and weekly basis? Shouldn’t we be fellowshipping with other believers on a weekly basis, anyway? Why would we give ourselves only forty days out of the year to pause and ask the Holy Spirit what is most needed in our lives? Shouldn’t we do that regularly?

Some churches are now offering drive-thru ashes, so you don’t have to get out of your car. There is no service even at some churches. You just walk in and get a smear of ashes on your forehead. No reminders of what you are observing. No encouragement to abstain from something truly sacrificial. Why do some people believe the act of ashes on the forehead and abstaining from something for forty days is sacred? What part is sacred? The act of smearing the ashes is seen as a holy moment, but it seems to be a meaningless ritual for the sake of tradition. Because as soon as the person drives or walks away from that oh so sacred moment, do they act holy the remainder of the day?

As believers of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, we must be in the habit of dying to ourselves daily, not just for forty days each year. And if the only thing we deny ourselves during that forty days is chocolate or alcohol, well is that really a sacrifice? It’s time we take a deep dive into the practice of being a self-denying believer every day of every year, not just for forty days of the year.

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If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

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Just as Jesus fasted for forty days, we are told to do the same for these forty days, but we give up only one thing of our choice. And Jesus walked away from his desert experience stronger than ever in spirit. He felt a closeness with his Father that no one could take from him. Oh sure. Satan came along during that time and tempted him greatly. He tempted Jesus’ hunger by telling him to turn a stone into bread. Then he took him to the top of the Temple and suggested he jump off, because angels would protect him. Wouldn’t they? And then Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world and promised them to him if Jesus would only bow down to him. Jesus strongly rebuked him with each temptation, and with the final one Jesus commanded him to leave. Angels came and cared for him. During his forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus relied solely on God the Father.

You can read this entire story at Matthew 4:1-11.

I have to ask those who observe Lent. Do you walk away from your experience feeling close to God because you didn’t scroll through social media for those forty days? Or did the lack of caffeine give you a sense of God’s presence when you didn’t drink your daily cappuccino? When you didn’t swipe your credit card for forty days, did you feel the holiness of God’s spirit surrounding you? Did you deny yourself that favorite thing and then tell Satan to flee after he tempted you to give in to it? Or did you give in?

Do we see Lent only as a liturgical ritual?  Does it hold any true significance to the believer today if on day forty-one nothing about us has changed? If so, why observe Lent? It isn’t a requirement for salvation, and it isn’t mentioned in the Bible. I know. It’s a part of the historic church calendar, and it’s part of the liturgical year in some denominations. Is it used as a crutch for some to show they’re able to refrain from their favorite activity for a little over a month each year? If observed properly and sacredly, could Lent actually provide personal benefit and spiritual growth?

For those who are believers in the One True God, isn’t suffering supposed to make us more holy and move us closer to God? Who, after suffering through forty days without chocolate, feels more holy than they did when they ate the last bite the day before their abstinence began? I don’t mean to disrespect the practices and observances of other denominations, but what I’ve seen and heard over my years of life is that people just give up something for forty days that they could easily live without. They aren’t really sacrificing. And if the only thing that is done is a swipe across the forehead without attending a service commemorating the meaning and beginning of Lent, then what’s the purpose?

And now I see that some Protestant churches are starting to observe Ash Wednesday and Lent. Why? Why is this practice creeping into other denominations who once ignored it? Why the ashes on the foreheads of some Christians? What has caused the shift? And is this shift causing Christian churches to allow other nonbiblical practices to inch their way into other areas of the church? Are churches promoting the act of gaining God’s approval by some petty sacrifice rather than through God’s plan of salvation? Because, if so, it won’t work. God’s approval is received by confessing our sins and repenting of them. We can’t gain God’s forgiveness by giving up something we’ll take back in forty days.

If you attend a church that has now begun to observe these rituals, you might want to ask yourself why. Better yet. Ask your pastor why. What has caused him to decide that observing Ash Wednesday and Lent has anything to do with Christianity?

Oh sure. It’s admirable to deny ourselves an item we love from time to time, but it never takes the place of dying to ourselves daily so we can become more like Jesus.

To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. ~Oswald Chambers