Survey Says 24 Percent of Americans Observe Lent

The Wired Word for the Week of February 26, 2017

In the News

Your denomination may or may not observe Lent, but if you've been among those who have complained about the secularization of Christmas and Easter, there's good news for you: Lent seems to lack such crossover appeal. It has remained a religious observance.

We don't need a nationwide survey to know that. All we have to do is pay attention when we're shopping and notice that, with the possible exception of Christian bookstores, there are no Lenten displays and no Lenten "carols" playing in the background. There are no elves or bunnies. And even in Christian bookstores, there are no Lenten candies for sale and no signs urging shoppers to hurry and purchase gifts before Holy Week arrives. About the only secular connection is that some restaurants will have more fish dishes on Fridays during Lent as options for those who might be giving up meat on that day throughout the season.

What a nationwide study does tell us, however, is that about 24 percent of Americans do observe Lent in some way.

That is among the findings of a just-released survey from LifeWay Research, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention's Sunday School Board.

Of course, some churchgoers don't personally observe Lent, even if their denominations do, but the survey also concluded that those who attend church at least once a month are more likely to participate personally in Lent than those who attend less regularly.

At The Wired Word, it strikes us that 24 percent of all Americans observing Lent, not just of American Christians, is a significant number. We also note that as used in the study, "observing Lent" seems to mean doing something differently in the religious realm from how one does it the rest of the year. In practice, that typically means "giving up" as a form of religious sacrifice something one ordinarily enjoys or undertaking to a greater degree some spiritual or charitable practice for the duration of Lent.

The study found that in addition to some Christians from Catholic churches and Protestant churches with liturgical traditions, nearly three in 10 evangelical Christians also now observe Lent. (Note: The study apparently uses "Protestant" in the broad sense to mean Christian denominations that are neither Roman Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox. We are aware not all of these groups embrace the Protestant label. Also, the study seems not to have inquired about members of Eastern Orthodox churches, a Christian group that also observes Lent.)

Commenting on the fact that Lent hasn't been embraced by secular society, LifeWay Research executive director Scott McConnell speculated that such is the case because there are no social benefits to Lent, such as giving gifts or having family gatherings.

"Lent is not about having your best life now," McConnell said. "Those who observe it believe they are giving up things they want in order to focus on what God wants. There's little popular appeal in that."

Lifeway also asked respondents who said they observe Lent how they do it. About 57 percent said they fast from a favorite food or beverage, and about the same number said they attend church services. Some 39 percent say they pray more, 38 percent give to others, 35 percent fast from a bad habit, and 23 percent give up a favorite activity.

Lent is a season of 40 days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday (March 1this year) and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. The 40-day period represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry.

Lent is typically a time of self-examination, reflection and repentance, in preparation for the coming of Easter. In the early church, Lent was a time to prepare new converts for baptism.

Sundays in Lent are not counted in the 40 days because each Sunday represents a "mini-Easter."

More on this story can be found at these links:

Eat, Pray, Lent: Here's What Americans Actually Abstain From. Christianity TodayGiving Up Lent for Lent. LifeWay ResearchWhy Doesn't My Church Observe Lent? Ken Collins' Website

The Big Questions

1. What, if anything, does your denomination do to differentiate the period between AshWednesday and Easter from other times of the year? What benefit does that seem to have for the congregation?

2. If your congregation officially observes Lent, what, if anything, do you personally do to keep it? If you don't personally do anything different from other times, why not? If your congregation does not observe Lent, do you think anything spiritually speaking could be gained by doing so? Explain your answer.

3. How do you respond to LifeWay Research director McConnell's statement that "Lent is not about having your best life now. Those who observe it believe they are giving up things they want in order to focus on what God wants"?

4. If, during a previous Lenten season, you have done something intentionally to observe it -- either giving up something, undertaking a new spiritual discipline or engaging in additional good works -- what benefit, if any, did you receive from doing so?

5. Does God receive anything from our Lenten sacrifices and disciplines? How do we know? Compare and contrast the sacrifices that went on in the temple with our sacrifices during the season of Lent.

Confronting the News With Scripture and HopeHere are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Matthew 4:1-2
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. (For context, read 4:1-11.)

Jesus' period of temptation, told here by Matthew, along with the parallel accounts in Mark 1 and Luke 4, is the primary basis for the season of Lent. The tempting of Jesus came right after his baptism and right before he began his public ministry. Thus for Jesus, this wilderness experience was a time of spiritual refining and preparation.

In the Bible's use of numerology, 40 often conveys not only a significant period of time, but also a time of struggle or testing, or a time of preparation for some special action by God.

Question: What other "40" events in the Bible can you name? (See Genesis 7:4; Exodus 24:18; Numbers 13:25; Deuteronomy 2:7; Judges 3:11; 1 Samuel 17:16; 2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Kings 19:8; Nehemiah 9:21; Jonah 3:4; Acts 1:3; Acts 7:23, 30.)

Luke 9:51
When the days drew near for ]Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (For context, read 9:51-56.)

In a sense, this verse marks the beginning of Jesus' personal "Lent." This is the point at which his public ministry ceases and he begins his journey toward Jerusalem and the Cross. Though he knew full well what awaited him, he resolutely, "set his face" toward that end point. After this moment, Jesus does not disappear from the public eye, but his mission becomes less to teach the crowds and more to prepare his disciples for the agony to come and to fulfill his calling to die.

Questions:In what sense was this period also a kind of "Lent" for the Twelve? (See Matthew 20:17-19.) To what extent does it seem that the apostles do not understand the point of Jesus going to Jerusalem? Did they receive the same benefit as Jesus for going with him?

Luke 18:9-14
[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." (No context needed.)

This is Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, a story that illustrates two ways people can view themselves in relationship to sin. The Pharisee says I don't have any sin; the tax collector says, I am sin itself.

The Pharisee is dealt with first. His behavior is obnoxious and insufferable. The Pharisee's "prayer" is more like a litany of self-praise. He only acknowledges or "thanks" God for the fact that he is "not like other people." He cites a list of obvious sinners "thieves, rogues, adulterers," and even includes his neighbor-in-prayer "this tax collector." Besides stipulating what he is not, this Pharisee goes on to list what he is -- one so observant of the minutiae of the law that he fasts twice a week (once was generally all that was required) and pays the required tithe on his income. The Pharisee, without any sense of his own sinfulness or unworthiness, can have no true sense of God's grace.

The tax collector makes no such claims. The occupation of tax collector was a particularly despised by first-century Jews. The tax collector made his living by collecting the taxes imposed by the occupying forces of Rome. While this would have been enough to make him unpopular on its own, the tax collector necessarily added insult to injury. Because he received no wages from the Romans to do this work, he earned his living by charging more than the Romans required and pocketing the difference. In effect, the tax collector was both a usurer and a user of his people. But he recognizes his sinfulness and asks for mercy, and of the two, only he goes away forgiven.

Jesus' story helps us to see that God views people as righteous only when they recognize their own sinfulness and repent of it.

Questions: Of the two men in the parable, which one seems to have a sense of the Lenten mood, even if that season did not exist back then? Why? Do you identify with either of these men? Why or why not? Might there be a middle position between these two, and if so, how might that person benefit from Lent?
Which of the two characters in the parable would we want at our church? Would we prefer the tither, whose official position would give him standing in the community that would reflect well on us, whose ability to pray in public would make him an ideal worship leader, and who would probably just fit in better with all of us? Do we like people who set the bar higher for repentance and humility? What can we learn personally from this parable.

Psalm 51:16-17
For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (For context, read 51:1-17.)
Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect. (No context needed.)

There are many verses in both testaments that speak of sacrifice, including but by no means limited to Hosea 6:6; Proverbs 21:3; Hebrews 13:15-16, as well as those quoted above from Psalm 51 and Romans 12. Without making a distinction in what sort of sacrifice the verses are talking about, it's possible to read some of these verses as contradicting others.

In essence, however, they all have the same root message: Any sacrifice, whether of an animal slain during worship in the temple or of coffee given up for Lent is meaningless spiritually if the person making the sacrifice is just going through the motions and not personally committed to loving God and neighbor.

Thus, Psalm 51 and Romans 12, though written centuries apart, say essentially the same thing. Both call for a living sacrifice, though only Romans uses that terminology.

The words translated as spiritual worship can also be translated as "reasonable gutty service." The Greek logikyn can be translated rational or reasonable, and latreia was sometimes used to refer to the servant who did the cleanup around the temple. It is the root word for both liturgy and latrine. The Romans scripture encourages us to push our comfort level during Lent, in terms of service to others, and giving up some measure of dignity to do so.

Questions: In what specific ways is "a broken and contrite heart" a good thing? In what ways does Lent invite you not to be "conformed to this world"? How might the disciplines of Lent help you "discern what is the will of God" for you personally?

Matthew 16:24…If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (For context, read 16:24-27.)

The self-denial of Lent, often expressed in some form of fasting, is based on this statement by Jesus, which is a call to discipleship. By self-denial here, however, Jesus meant turning our backs on our own wills and surrendering to his will every day, abandoning our way for his way all the time. It means to dethrone self and enthrone God constantly.

In that sense, Lent can create a mistaken understanding that denying oneself is merely a seasonal activity. Mardi Gras, the "Fat Tuesday" festivities before Ash Wednesday, can further water down the call to self-denial by encouraging pigging out ahead of time as if to compensate for the subsequent (and short-term) self-denial of Lent.

In the plus column, however, Lent comes as an annual reminder of our ongoing commitment to follow Jesus.

By the way, bearing our cross does not mean putting up with diabetes, arthritis, a bad knee while waiting for a replacement joint, or living with family problems. It means doing the work to which Christ calls us, even when that means we are treated unjustly as a result.

Questions: What is wrong with calling a personal problem "my cross to bear"? Whose cross is Jesus calling us to carry? What does that cross look like? How can Lent help us learn that?

For Further Discussion

1. Discuss these four perspectives on Lent:

a) TWW team member Peter Surran pastors a Baptist church where Lent is not usually observed. He says that Lent is a "hard sell" in his church because it's perceived as "a Catholic thing." He adds that in a denomination that stresses "faith alone" to such a large extent, it's difficult to explain why we would need to make sacrifices of any kind because, as the song says, "Jesus Paid it All!"
            Still, during the Lenten season, says Peter, "I talk about it being a time for an intentional 'decluttering' of our lives so we can focus on developing our relationship with God. I also emphasize adding prayer or Bible reading to replace some other habits that are not quite as helpful in that endeavor."
b) TWW team member Liz Antonson is co-pastor of a Full Gospel congregation. She says, "Loosely we use the liturgical year as a way to sanctify time, to take advantage of special biblical events and teachings other than Christmas and Easter." She notes that in the expressions of Christendom such as Lutheran, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic, the liturgical year is the celebration of a series of religious feasts and seasons intended to make sacred the ordinary time of the calendar. "We have taken a page from their book not only to make time special but to introduce a variety of subjects that might be overlooked without the structure; it gives opportunity to shed light on church history and tradition."
c) TWW team member Mary Sells, who is a Roman Catholic, says, "No doubt in our society, even among true believers, humbling ourselves to follow God more closely takes effort that we often are not willing to commit for more than a day or two. Six weeks of Lent to make a commitment to a sacrificial change? Some of us get hung up on 'giving up' something we know is bad for us anyway. (Is that a true sacrifice?) Yet I think what God really wants as we prepare for the holy Easter season is closeness with him. Adopting an attitude of being aware of God's presence every day, being thankful and grateful each day for something that God made possible, doing a good deed for someone else, etc. -- those are things that will bring fruit of the Spirit over time and perhaps make one want to commit to other faith building.
            "God is not asking us to suffer during Lent; He simply wants us to behappier by being closer to him."
d) TWW team member Stan Purdum is a United Methodist pastor and says that in his denomination, the Lenten emphasis is often less on sacrifice and more on a special study of scripture or spiritual growth materials. But he adds, "I grew up in the Salvation Army. Back then, the SA did not observe Lent per se, but they did use that period of time to promote a mission offering called 'Self-Denial.' Now, checking online, I see that the SA provides Lenten materials for their churches."

2. Respond to this. As reported in TIME magazine, Pope Francis says that fasting must never become superficial. He quotes the early Christian mystic John Chrysostom who said: "No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great."
            Francis agrees that the Lenten season is a good time for penance and self-denial. But he says that these activities must truly enrich others: "I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt."
            In his 2015 Lenten message, the pope wrote, "Indifference to our neighbor and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience." He added, "whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God's voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades."
            But, said Francis, when we fast from this indifference, we can began to feast on love.

3. Comment on this, from Rachel Olsen Cocar, co-pastor at First Baptist Church of Dixon, Illinois, and a music teacher at a Catholic school. "In my Baptist upbringing, Lent was observed but not stressed in the same way I've observed in other traditions. ... When I asked my young students last week about Lent and what we do during those six weeks they responded with things like, 'Feel really sad!' or 'Don't do anything fun,' or 'Stop eating meat on Fridays.'
            "Is [Lent] about giving something up but adding something else in its place? ... I have tried both successfully and unsuccessfully in the past to give up something. I gave up TV a few times and actually really enjoyed it and felt like it drew me closer to God. But I've also set myself up for failure and guilt by giving up something and not being able to stick with it. It draws me back to the question, what am I really trying to achieve during Lent? Can I achieve that same goal by adding something to my routine rather than taking away?"
            Perhaps another question is, What is God wanting us to achieve during Lent?

Responding to the News

Whether or not you will observe Lent per se, this is a good time to embrace one or more of the spiritual disciplines: prayer, Bible reading, meditation, fasting, journaling, service, tithing.

You might also check what resources your denomination offers for this time of year.

If you do not observe Lent, but nonetheless desire a discernment time of faith, consider taking a "daily retreat" with God each day during the six-week period in the form of perhaps a half-hour of Bible reading and prayer.

Prayer

Lamb of God, come into our midst. Provide us with your presence so that we might be more fully aware of your call during this time. Walk with us on this journey, and may it have meaning and direction for our worship and for the lives we live daily. Amen