Lenten Discipline or Lenten Discipleship?

Lent will soon be upon us - the penitential season of "giving things up" that begins on Ash Wednesday - March 9th this year - and extends to Holy Saturday (the day before Easter).  That's 40 days, not counting the Sundays. 

Why would anyone bother to do such a thing?  Well, Lent is a season for self examination, self discipline, and self denial as we prepare for Holy Week, that intensive scrutiny of Jesus' suffering and death, followed by the unexpected joy of his resurrection on Easter.  Holy Week and Easter are the absolute pinnacle of Christian religious observances, and warrant careful preparation.  


People often give up candy & sweets, chocolate, deserts, wine, a weekly meal, coffee, television, or similar pleasures during Lent.  But the manner in which many folk choose and follow their "Lenten Discipline" often misses the purpose of the exercise.  "Giving up" something for Lent isn't primarily about punishing ourselves, even though that's how many people view it.  There is no inherent virtue in denying ourselves, and we run the risk of becoming proud and self-sufficient, as English spiritual writer and mystic William Law (1686-1761) points out: 

Many people not only lose the benefit, but are even the worse for their mortifications [i.e., sacrifices, abstensions], ... because they mistake the whole nature and worth of them: they practice them for their own sakes, as things good in themselves, they think them to be real parts of holiness, and so rest in them and look no further, but grow full of a self-esteem and self-admiration for their own progress in them. This makes them self-sufficient, morose, severe judges of all those that fall short of their mortifications. And thus their self-denials do only that for them which indulgences do for other people: they withstand and hinder the operation of God upon their souls, and instead of being really self-denials, they strengthen and keep up the kingdom of self.

So, done wrong, "giving up" something for Lent can actually move us AWAY from the Kingdom of God and TOWARD the kingdom of self.  Yikes!


We'll have better results from "giving up" something for Lent if we keep in mind that our Lenten discipline is meant to improve our discipleship.  Whatever you choose to give up should encourage your discipleship - your life in Christ.  If you take something away, it needs to somehow add to your relationship with Jesus.  


Giving up television or skipping a meal clearly leaves additional time in your day that you could spend in Bible reading or prayer or meditation.  But what about something like giving up candy?  That's not really going to gain you any time in your day - unless you have a serious candy-eating problem!  However, every time you notice that you're yearning for the candy-coated, chocolaty, sweet deliciousness of an MnM (for example), you can use that as a reminder to turn you heart and mind to the Lord in prayer. 


That is where denying ourselves will improve discipleship: by adding reminders (with every hunger pang or craving) to turn to God.   Of course, we can add discipleship without giving up specific things.  You can add the discipline of daily prayer or study or Bible reading, etc., without also skipping the candy.  


I haven't decided my Lenten discipline yet for this year - whether or not I'll be giving up anything, and what discipleship endeavor I'll be adding.  I'd love to hear whether you observe the season of Lent, and what discipline you'll be taking on.  Please post your comments!  

Rock Tumbler, part 2: Rocks vs. Tomatoes

I've been thinking more about the rock tumbler (see my previous post from 2/12/11), and I feel I need to offer a bit more clarification.  Taking a spin in the rock tumbler, and coming out smoother and more polished, is something we do with our fellow Christ-followers.  Its a thing that will work when we are in relationship with people whose ultimate good intentions we trust, despite the rough edges and sharp corners we may encounter.

The rock tumbler works in Christian community because we are all made of similar "stuff."  We are all children of God, followers of Jesus, and in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit.  That identity makes us intrinsically different from others - as different in substance as a rock and a tomato.    

Here's a little thought experiment to consider.  What do you think would happen if you put a handful of tomatoes and a handful of rough, un-tumbled rocks into a rock tumbler?  With each turn of the drum, the rough patches and jagged edges of the rocks would  tear at the tomato's skin.  And with each subsequent revolution, the hard density of the rocks would bruise and then pulverize the soft fleshy tomatoes.

After a while, you'd have rough jagged rocks coated in tomato sauce!  The rocks are not improved, and the poor tomatoes have been destroyed.  Not a pretty picture, to be sure.  And even well-smoothed rocks will eventually pulverize tomatoes into sauce.

My purpose in considering this imaginary conflict between rock and tomato, is to point out that we need to know who we're dealing with when we encounter difficult people and are in conflict with others.  I want to make clear that I am NOT advising to stay in conflict with anyone and everyone, but only with our fellow Christians who are made of similar stuff as ourselves.

In unequal conflict, sometimes we are the rock.  As a rock, I do not want to be making sauce out of the very tomatoes that I hope might be rocks one day!   On the other hand, sometimes we feel like the tomato - receiving cuts and crushing treatment from people of ill-intent.  To submit to such treatment from people who do not ultimately wish us well, does not serve to improve either us or them.

So wisdom and discernment is required.  Tumble with your fellow rocks, but watch out for the tomatoes!

Rock Tumbler

We bought a rock tumbler some years ago.  You take a handful of rough, un-lovely rocks and put them into the tumbler with some water and grit, and let them tumble.  After a week or two when you open up the tumbler, you'll find smoothed and polished stones, suitably beautiful for use in jewelry and craft projects.  The jagged edges are smoothed, the rough surfaces are polished, and the color and pattern of the substance of the rock is revealed.  The transformation is quite amazing!

Rough, jagged rocks.

The rock-tumbler process is just a concentrated version of what happens in the wilds of nature, in rushing mountain streams.  The rushing water carries fine sand and grit that continually strike against the rocks and pebbles in the stream bed.  From time to time, the force of the rushing water will move a rock, striking its neighbors with a resounding "clunk."  And after thousands of years of this sort of action, you wind up with beautifully smooth rocks and pebbles that are just a delight to touch!

Smooth stones after stream tumbling.

All this tumbling reminds me of what its like living in Christian community.  We are all stones and pebbles of varying shapes and sizes.  Like grit and sand, the small irritations that are part of life  continually bombard us.  Learning to respond gracefully to those irritations smooths our rough places.  But its when we knock into each other that the more serious reshaping takes place - when a jagged corner here or a sharp edge there get knocked off.  


Persevering in difficult relationships is a great source of growth!  I know because recently I've been experiencing it first hand.  By stepping back and removing ourselves from relationships that seem to be less than fulfilling, we cheat not only ourselves, but also the other person of the opportunity for growth and refining - of the chance to spin a few rounds in the rock tumbler together.  If our difficulties and conflicts are lubricated by the water of the Holy Spirit, everyone comes out smoother.  And with the increasing smoothness and polish, our true nature  as children of God becomes more and more apparent and visible.

Before & After

If there is a Christ-follower you have taken to avoiding because of conflict or difficulties between you, perhaps you might reconsider and re-engage with them.  The "rock tumbler" is by no means an instant process, but in the long run, you both are likely to be better for making the effort!


Proverbs says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)  But I tell you this, "As one stone strikes against another, so one person smooths and polishes another."  Get out there and get tumbling!