If you want to call it fasting that's one thing. But calling it lent is another. As the Catholic Church would have it, 'lent' is about giving up something. And generally, it ends up being something that you do that is either (1) wrong (and shouldn't be doing in the first place), (2) something you idolize (and shouldn't be idolizing in the first place), or (3) completely innocuous to your daily life (like giving up chocolate or something). So yes, in that sense I think is wrong.
So you might ask, what about fasting? Well two things: (1) when we fast, we are generally not supposed to tell anyone. It is between us and the Lord... Unless you're fasting as a group of believers in prayer before Him and (2) fasting is not supposed to be a tradition or some sort of thing you do...in the Bible, fasting is usually done in times of extreme prayer, need, and even sorrow. Remember the psalm where it says that God doesn't delight in sacrifices, but a contrite and humble heart He desires (I don't remember the exact words)? Well fasting in this context (that of lent) puts a person in a dangerous place of deceiving themselves that their heart is in the right place (but then again, who am I to say? It is not my place to judge that... I really don't know. Just something that I notice about myself...)
And so is fasting wrong? No. Is lent intended to be wrong? Probably not... But the world doesn't see our heart. They see our actions and the actions of others. They see Catholics who are 'Christians' for forty days and then drop the act for the rest of the year.
Should Easter be a time of reflection? Certainly. But just like Christmas and Easter are holidays but we don't ever stop contemplating them in thanks, so too it is dangerous to relegate too much attention to the season rather than the work of Christ...
That is my humble take on it. Sorry for the long post... A fascinating question it is...
So you might ask, what about fasting? Well two things: (1) when we fast, we are generally not supposed to tell anyone. It is between us and the Lord... Unless you're fasting as a group of believers in prayer before Him and (2) fasting is not supposed to be a tradition or some sort of thing you do...in the Bible, fasting is usually done in times of extreme prayer, need, and even sorrow. Remember the psalm where it says that God doesn't delight in sacrifices, but a contrite and humble heart He desires (I don't remember the exact words)? Well fasting in this context (that of lent) puts a person in a dangerous place of deceiving themselves that their heart is in the right place (but then again, who am I to say? It is not my place to judge that... I really don't know. Just something that I notice about myself...)
And so is fasting wrong? No. Is lent intended to be wrong? Probably not... But the world doesn't see our heart. They see our actions and the actions of others. They see Catholics who are 'Christians' for forty days and then drop the act for the rest of the year.
Should Easter be a time of reflection? Certainly. But just like Christmas and Easter are holidays but we don't ever stop contemplating them in thanks, so too it is dangerous to relegate too much attention to the season rather than the work of Christ...
That is my humble take on it. Sorry for the long post... A fascinating question it is...
- J. P.