Lent

[Salty]

Resurrection Sunday will be coming up in a few weeks. So that means that Lent begins on 9 Mar 11.

So do you observe Lent?
If so, why do you
If not, why not

Is Lent Biblical, un-Biblical or a-Biblical?


If you are opposed to Lent, and someone in your congregation was observing it, what would be your reaction and/or action.

Salty

 

[BobinKy]

I observe Lent because I like to follow the traditional seasons (and themes) of the church calendar.

...Bob

 

[Old Union Brother]

According to Wikipedia "The traditional purpose of 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."

I do not observe Lent and I'm not condemming anyone that does. But, shouldn't every day be a day of prayer, penintence, almsgiving, and denial for a christian? There is no way I can give up anything, be tempted as much or suffer anything as horrible as my Lord. I celebrate his resurrection everyday because he called me out of darkness into his marvolous light.

Peace and Prayers


Jeff

 

[freeatlast]

For those who follow lent that is their choice. There is no biblical spell out for it.

 

[stilllearning]

Hello freeatlast

You said........

“For those who follow lent that is their choice. There is no biblical spell out for it.”

You hit the nail on the head, but......something that isn’t in the Bible, SHOULD NOT be a part of any Christian’s worship.......
Mark 7:7
“Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.”
--------------------------------------------------
But people can do what they want, even if it makes their worship vain.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

I do not 'do Lent' here, mainly because it is such a part of the RC tradition and we try to distance ourselves from that.

Other than that I do not think it would be wrong to spend the forty days in a special time of prayer, meditation on Scripture, and memorising the word of God. We do a lot that is not specifically spelled out in Scripture.

I do however observe Pancake Tuesday ;-)

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Hello freeatlast

You said........

You hit the nail on the head, but......something that isn’t in the Bible, SHOULD NOT be a part of any Christian’s worship.......
Mark 7:7
“Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.”
--------------------------------------------------
But people can do what they want, even if it makes their worship vain.

I take it then that you do not use Sunday School since it is not spelled out in Scripture?

 

[freeatlast]

Hello freeatlast

You said........

You hit the nail on the head, but......something that isn’t in the Bible, SHOULD NOT be a part of any Christian’s worship.......
Mark 7:7
“Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.”
--------------------------------------------------
But people can do what they want, even if it makes their worship vain.

I understand what you are saying in principle, but I think it is incorrect based on scripture. In the passage you gave the Lord was speaking about false worshippers, (unsaved people) who were trying to worship God their own way. God can only be worshiped in Spirit and truth and only the saved can do that.
Within "spirit and truth" we are given certain latitudes. For instance you might attend church on Sunday, Wed, or other days. There is no command for that. You might have the Lord's table every week or once a year. The same thing as there is no direct command as to how often. You might stand at the reading of the word and another church stay seated. One church may use intruments as they sing and another none. So it is not as cut and dry as one might like.
We have a passage in Romans that makes it clear that as long as we are worshipping in Spirit and truth as pointed out in John our worship is accepted even if what we are doing is not literally spelled out in scripture. I have this thing that I never lay my bible on the floor or put anything on top of it. I have no command for such yet that is worship on my part and I am convinced it is accepted as such. So we do have some latitude.
Romans 14:1-9. So as long as the person is a believer and their type of worship is not against anything that is forbidden or dishonoring to the name of the Lord their worship is accepted. So for those who want to follow lent that is fine. If it is done in Spirit and truth thier worship will be accepted. I cannot do it in spirit and truth so I don't practice the custom.

 

[stilllearning]

I take it then that you do not use Sunday School since it is not spelled out in Scripture?

But it is, spelled out in Scripture.......
Acts 5:42
“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

But it is, spelled out in Scripture.......
Acts 5:42
“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

So you have daily Sunday School in the Temple and from door to door?

I am not anti-Sunday School, but today's concept is modern, it did not develop until about 200 years ago. If it was so Biblical was the church wrong to ignore it for 1800 years?

BTW - this would probably be best discussed in another thread instead of allowing my post to derail this one. Will I start it - or would you like to?

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Hello freeatlast

You said........

You hit the nail on the head, but......something that isn’t in the Bible, SHOULD NOT be a part of any Christian’s worship.......
Mark 7:7
“Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.”
--------------------------------------------------
But people can do what they want, even if it makes their worship vain.

If Lent becomes a legalistic observance you are correct.

If, however, it is used to focus our thoughts on the death, burial, and resurrection of our Saviour for six weeks it is hard to see it as being in vain. It, like so mush else, is matter of the heart.

In answer to the OP it is abiblical.

 

[stilllearning]

I understand what you are saying in principle, but I think it is incorrect based on scripture. In the passage you gave the Lord was speaking about false worshippers, (unsaved people) who were trying to worship God their own way. God can only be worshiped in Spirit and truth and only the saved can do that.
Within "spirit and truth" we are given certain latitudes. For instance you might attend church on Sunday, Wed, or other days. There is no command for that. You might have the Lord's table every week or once a year. The same thing as there is no direct command as to how often. You might stand at the reading of the word and another church stay seated. One church may use intruments as they sing and another none. So it is not as cut and dry as one might like.
We have a passage in Romans that makes it clear that as long as we are worshipping in Spirit and truth as pointed out in John our worship is accepted even if what we are doing is not literally spelled out in scripture. I have this thing that I never lay my bible on the floor or put anything on top of it. I have no command for such yet that is worship on my part and I am convinced it is acdepted as such. So we do have some latitude.
Romans 14:1-9. So as long as the person is a believer and their type of worship is not against anything that is forbidden their worship is accepted. So for those who want to follow lent that is fine. If it is done in Spirit and truth thier worship will be accepted. I cannot do it in spirit and truth so I don't practice the custom.

Your right. Sure enough Romans 14, tells us that we should let other Christians worship any way they want.

But your also wrong; In Mark 7:7, Jesus was not talking about lost people.
He was talking about the Jew(God’s people), who added man-made rules to their worship.

 

[Baptist Believer]

But your also wrong; In Mark 7:7, Jesus was not talking about lost people.
He was talking about the Jew(God’s people), who added man-made rules to their worship.

But we're not talking about man-made RULES, we are talking about a voluntary devotional exercise which is helpful to many people. Some find no value in it and that's fine too.

 

[Jerome]

Some ideas:

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/holy-week-at-the-pipers

Noel (Mrs. John) Piper writes about their Lenten practice; includes a description of an elaborate candle-snuffing ritual.

Or how about a "Spirit Fund"?
http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=frLJK2PKLqF&b=6553001&ct=9110215

I issued a challenge to the members of my church in a sermon on Leviticus 6: Instead of a cocktail before dinner, drink water and put $6 into a Spirit Fund jar; instead of a glass or two of wine at night, put $7 in the fund; instead of a cooler of beer while watching basketball, have soft drinks and invest the $24 in the jar. We sent an e-mail to those who weren’t in attendance and also posted the challenge in our church newsletter.

You can imagine the buzz that arose in our hip, partying community. Individuals and families engaged in meaningful conversations about the role of alcohol in their lives, how dependent they are socially on it, and its adverse impact on children, who themselves often drink too much and too young.

 

[stilllearning]

Some ideas:

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/holy-week-at-the-pipers

Noel (Mrs. John) Piper writes about their Lenten practice; includes a description of an elaborate candle-snuffing ritual.

Or how about a "Spirit Fund"?
http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=frLJK2PKLqF&b=6553001&ct=9110215

Just imagine, during the lenten season, their Church fellowships won’t be...BYOB.
How “Holy” they are during lent!

 

[BobinKy]

Like many worship differences, Baptist support or criticism of Lent links up with perspectives on church history, theology and kinship. Bottom line -- if your church is independent, fundamental, or conservative, lent is a no-no; if your church is main stream, moderate, or aligns with mainline church traditions, lent is accepted and practiced.

...Bob



The Kentucky Parson has this to say about Baptists and Lent (2011).

Here is a similar thread from Baptist Board (2007).

Increasingly, Baptists turning to the observance of Lent from Associated Baptist Press (2009).

The Beginning of Lent from Christianity Today (2008).

Lent—Why Bother? To Take Up the Cross from Christianity Today (2010).

Should Baptists Celebrate Lent? from Baptist Bulletin (2010).

Lent from Learn the Bible University (2011).

Lenten Resources from Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (2011).

 

[stilllearning]

Hi Bob

The two main problems with lent is:
(1) It calls for Christians to do things, that they should be doing all the time:
(If people put away unwise or wicked things

(2) It also sets up a kind of false standard of righteousness:
“I am righteous because I do without this or that”.
And the Bible has a lot to say about this..........
Romans 10:3
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
--------------------------------------------------
As for your second statement........

“if your church is main stream, moderate, or aligns with mainline church traditions, lent is accepted and practiced.”

This sounds like something I covered a few years ago..........
http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=63209
--------------------------------------------------
In God’s Church, there aren’t things that are a “no-no”: (We aren’t children.)
There are things that are “wise” and things that are “unwise”.

A person may be my brother or sister in Christ, and do unwise things and I will still see then in heaven.
But when they get their, they are going to wish that they had chosen the wise things!

 

[BobinKy]

Hello stilllearning...

Great to hear from you. I always enjoy your posts.

...Bob

 

[Ron Wood]

The practice of anything that supposedly gets you closer to God is not resting in Christ but looking to something you do. Faith isn't about feeling spiritual by wearing crosses, having a picture of Jesus on your wall or going through rituals and ceremonies. It is about the daily trust and total reliance on the person and work of Christ as your all in all. If Christ isn't enough for you what more can practicing lent or anything else add? Paul calls it will worship in Col. 2

 

[stilllearning]

The practice of anything that supposedly gets you closer to God is not resting in Christ but looking to something you do. Faith isn't about feeling spiritual by wearing crosses, having a picture of Jesus on your wall or going through rituals and ceremonies. It is about the daily trust and total reliance on the person and work of Christ as your all in all. If Christ isn't enough for you what more can practicing lent or anything else add? Paul calls it will worship in Col. 2

Dido!

And welcome Ron Wood.