Again, I’m not Catholic. So if a person keeps Lent…great! If a person doesn’t observe Lent…who cares? However, if a person makes a commitment to Lent, I believe they should be faithful to it. That being said, I think we all have either been, or encountered “Lent breakers”: people who start, and then quit their Lenten sacrifice. Why does this happen?! There are some solid possibilities: laziness, forgetfulness, etc. But I think the point where the fish Friday REALLY hits the fan is at the point of inconvenience.
Inconvenient - inopportune, untimely; not suiting one's need or purpose.
There comes a point when the sacrifice you make starts to feel “inconvenient.” When you consider ceasing your abstinence from chocolate, Facebook, meat, ice cream, alcohol, etc., simply because you WANT those things, or because you will be in a situation where having those things would enhance the good times. For example:
Scenario 1: I gave up alcohol BUT there is a party this weekend! Maybe I’ll just have one drink, and then restart on Monday…
Scenario 2: I gave up Facebook, BUT I met this really cute guy last night, and he said he’d look me up on FB! What if I have a friend request and cool message waiting?!!
These are serious dilemmas…
In my opinion, up until this “inconvenient” moment…the sacrifice is not sacrificial. What do I mean?
Sacrifice - the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.
In the case of Lent, the thing surrendered/destroyed is Facebook, meat, ice cream, blah, blah, blah…but the higher and more pressing claim is the sake of Christ. Right?
Someone please correct me if I am mistaken on the meaning of Lent. Maybe it has nothing to do with Christ. You tell me.
So, if I quit Lent, for reasons X, Y, or Z…then X, Y, or Z was actually the higher or more pressing claim, and it was my praise/worship that I surrendered or destroyed (i.e. sacrificed). Let that marinate for a moment.
… (Simulated moment)
That means you pulled a reverse-sacrifice!. AHHHH!!! Totally unintended!
I then started to think of this on a much bigger scale--you know--the Romans 12:1 scale:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
I have not broken my Lent commitment, but I will admit that yesterday it was in real jeopardy, which partially brought on this blog. Yet, I worry. If I fumble at the small stuff, how then am I faring with the doozies?
My Life. My Body. Broken Spirit. Contrite Heart.
Paul wrote the epistle of Romans to believers (check Romans 1:7-8), but yet later, he had to beg them to present their bodies a living sacrifice. So…it’s not something that comes automatically. It’s something I have to pray through. It's yet another work that Christ has to do in me, by His grace. Because even though we have been beseeched...
Good thing there are TWO presentations: Mine, and God's.
