Thursday, April 17, 2014

Helpful comments about Lent and Holy Week



In the latest edition of The Mortification of Spin , Dr. Carl Trueman makes a very important point about the growing fad among evangelicals of observing Lent.  The first part of the broadcast features some inside humor but around the 13:10 mark it gets serious when Trueman says the following:

"We're at a season of the year when there is all this hoo-hah about Lent...I'm not a Lent person.  I am suspicious of the reasons why it has popped up in evangelical culture.  But the thing that really bugs me is we've got all of this passionate, evangelical, trendy discussion about Lent at the same time as the Lord's Day and observance of the Lord's Day is vanishing... in American church culture.
The idea of making the Lord's Day special has disappeared.  So we've got all of these people telling how you need to do Lent because it is so...cool, hip and counter-cultural.  Well, I want to tell you, the most counter-cultural thing you can do these days is start observing the Lord's Day as in a relatively traditional manner.  Be in church morning and evening.  Don't spend your day watching the television or kicking a ball around.  Spend your day with your family.  Spend your day having good conversations.  Spend the day fellowshiping with your brothers and sisters.
If you want to talk about Lent, I'll talk to you about Lent after, I'm convinced, that you have spent enough time reflecting on the importance of the Lord's Day."  

And, not to be outdone, D.G. Hart has a little reflection on "Holy Week."  Click  At Least Jesus Gets A Week  to read further.

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