Lent and Other Christian Traditions

In the last few years, I've heard a lot about Lent. I don't remember hearing much about it growing up. I knew it was a period of time before Easter and that people often fasted during it. But I knew little else about it. Beginning to hear about it more increased my curiosity to learn more about it.

My crash course in Lent taught me the following:

• Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter and excludes Sundays.
• Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the Thursday before Good Friday.
• Lent is a time of preparation leading to Easter, commonly observed by fasting.
• Ultimately, Lent is a time of preparation leading up to the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Learning about Lent also explained to me why I had never heard much about it before. It's not something all Christian churches observe, mine being one that traditionally does not.

I've also come to realize that learning from traditions in other Christian churches can help us to grow in our understanding of following Christ. I think this is one of those times.

Even if we choose not observe lent ourselves, there is value in realizing the importance of making time in our lives for fasting and repentance. And for taking time to reflect on the events we remember each year at Easter.

Lent isn't mentioned in Scripture, so we can never make it something required for all Christians. But, if something has survived as many years of church tradition, it may be something worth looking at. Not because we necessarily need to follow the tradition, but because we need to understand why so many who have gone before us have seen the value in something.

And so I'm left to reflect on what, if any, place the observance of Lent should have in my life. I see value in it and yet, I find myself cautious of getting caught up in legalism over it.

I guess ultimately this is something to talk to God about. If it's being done for the right reasons, then it can be a good thing in our relationship with God. If it's being done for the wrong reasons, then it can have the opposite effect to what we want it to.

I guess the thing I want to leave you with in this post is a challenge to think about your own life and about the things you do in certain seasons to grow deeper in your walk with God. You might have things you do at certain times without realizing you do. We have them because they help us.

But, they might not work the same way for someone else. They may have different things they do in those seasons. And maybe if we take the time to hear from others and learn what works for them, we'll grow more in our own walk with God.

Whose Approval Are You Seeking?

"Am I now trying to win the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10)

Whose approval do you most want to receive?

Who does it matter most to you that they recognize and appreciate what you do?

If we're honest, we probably all have people in our lives where knowing they appreciate, value, or approve of what we do is important to us. We want to hear from them we're doing a good job.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with us, unless getting their approval becomes the driving force behind all that we do and the choices we make.

Sometimes being a follower of Christ means we have to do the unpopular thing. And the people we want to hear tell us we did a good job, won't necessarily like what we do.

It's in those moments when we have to decide to do things to please God, not other people. That's what Paul is talking about in Galatians 1:10. Learning to live for God's approval rather than man's.

It may not always be easy, but it is important. In the end, it's God's approval that matters.

Whose approval are you seeking?

No Excuses for not Knowing

If you're a friend on Facebook, you would notice that I have my "causes" I support and I share things from them regularly. In the last week, that has meant many mentions of an event coming up this evening. I've always been hesitant to post too much about anything because I don't want to frustrate people.

But, when I think about it, I realize that the only way people know what's going on outside of their little world, is if other people let them know. It doesn't mean I'll share everything, but it does mean I will share what I see as worthwhile to share.

It's so easy to get stuck in our own world and never go beyond it. But the truth is, there's an entire world out there that we can't ignore. Living in ignorance in the ultra-connected world we now have isn't acceptable.

Once we know, it becomes our choice how we respond. Each of us is supposed to help with different things. We may feel like one area is where we are supposed to be involved, while another area is not the place we are to be involved. But, even if we're not involved in one area, it doesn't become an excuse for us to not know anything about it.

So, I find myself wondering, what are you involved with that you need to be sharing with the world around you? What do you believe in that needs to be shared with the world around you?

And how do you share it without pushing people away?

For me, I think it comes down to those things being a part of who you are. My friends know where I work and they know why I work there. So, when I share things about the place where I work and the "cause" we are part of, they know it's coming from who I am. I'm not just telling them they should do something. I'm doing something and then telling them about it. Because I believe in it.