To fast or not to fast?

Your news feed today may reveal scenes of wild celebrations in New Orleans and other cities on the Gulf Coast. Maybe you wonder, as I once did, what these rowdy scenes have to do with a holiday in the Catholic church.

Mardi Gras originated in the early centuries AD, when pagan Romans celebrated a fertility god with debauchery and drunkenness. Early Christians decided to transform the raucous celebration and make it a day for feasting to mark the end of “ordinary time” after Christmas and the beginning of Lent, the season of fasting and repentance before the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The French first coined the term “Mardi Gras” (Fat Tuesday) as they ate up all of the eggs and milk they would be fasting from during Lent.

Lent, short for Lenten, comes to us from the Old English word for “Spring”: lenten, which meant “lengthen.” As the daylight lengthens, life springs into view, buds blooming and bright stalks shoving their way through the earth.

Lent now refers to a season in the church calendar in which many Christians prepare for Easter by reflecting deeply on the love and sacrifice of Jesus our Savior. Some people choose to fast, giving up something they enjoy, or taking up a sacrificial act. Fasting is not believed to make people right with God; rather, it reminds us that we desperately need a righteous Savior and makes us grateful for God’s “plentiful redemption” (Psalm 130).

As Lent begins tomorrow, it’s a good time to consider the question: to fast or not to fast?

3 misguided reasons for fasting:

When our children were in elementary school and junior high, they attended a school which encouraged giving up something for Lent. I insisted (to a fault, I confess), that they not fast for the wrong reasons.

1. Because “everyone” is doing it. Teenagers aren’t the only ones who do religious things because of peer pressure. If we choose to fast only because it’s the thing to do, we may be worshipping people rather than God.
2. To show off our spirituality.This reason is closely connected to the first. Jesus warned his followers against fasting to show off.
3. To test our willpower. While discipline for the purpose of glorifying God is good, we need to beware of fasting only to glorify our own strong willpower.  

Jesus’ warning to his followers aptly sums up these three misguided reasons for fasting:

“When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity, but it won’t make you a saint.” Matthew 6:16.

4 good reasons for fasting:

There are clear biblical models for fasting, most notably, Christ’s practice while facing temptation in the wilderness. Consider these four ways God may work in us through this spiritual grace.

1. To identify our cravings: Fasting can reveal the food, drink, activities, etc. that we turn to for fulfillment of our longings and desires.
2. To practice waiting on the Lord: When we’re craving something we love, we can remember that it is good to wait on the Lord’s goodness: “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” This verse leads to the next powerful reason for fasting:
3. To discover how plentiful redemption is: When we let go of things we depend on, we begin to see how paltry they are in contrast to the generosity of God’s love for us in Christ.
4. To highlight Christ’s righteousness: If we try a fast for forty days, we will likely fail with regularity. (Even if you never break your fast, take note of how irritable you may become while keeping it!) We become even more grateful that our salvation is not based on our perfect keeping of any law but on Christ’s.

The problem with the food, drink and activities that we fill our lives with is that, like the well-water the Samaritan woman seeks, it will never satisfy. The fact is, unless we feed off Christ’s righteousness, we will starve. Though fasting has historically been way down on my list of spiritual practices, when I’ve tried it, God has filled me to overflowing with his grace.

A Prayer about Fasting or Not Fasting

Lord, whether we choose to keep a fast in the next forty days or not, we confess that we often try to fill our stomachs, our hearts, and our minds with things that do not satisfy. We bow before you, acknowledging our desperate need for the living water you have promised to give in our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us mourn our sin during this season; let us rejoice in your salvation. In Jesus’ name we ask, Amen.

What about you? What experiences do you have with fasting? What other good or bad reasons for fasting would you suggest?

Photo by Thomas Kinto on Unsplash