For and Against

We got a newsletter at the church on Monday. It talked about "the true meaning of Lent" as a time "of repentance...a time to see the evils of the world for what they are," and to re-dedicate ourselves to combating or avoiding them. The author then, handily enough, went on to list what/who several of those evils are and ended the e-mail with a paragraph about not being "of the flesh" in a world falling deeper into "spiritual decay" every day.

This brings back memories for me. One of the three preachers at the church I attended in Grad School was a man I nicknamed "Mr. Brimstone." Every time he preached he would paint vivid pictures of the evils present in the world...in culture, in government, in the seemingly harmless people that we walk by every day...and hell was never too far in the background, the heat not-so-subtly turned up as he talked about these evils lurking in the world. He would talk about the decline of the world around us, talk about the truth present "in these walls that is ignored, even hated by the world," and would (quite effectively) bring home that message that the Christian life was a battle; a constant, bloody struggle between God and secular belief and culture. I would leave his sermons with an odd mix of emotions. Sometimes there was some conviction, other times understanding...but there was always (above everything else) a whole lot of fear, and often times some anger against the world around me. I remember telling one of my friends one Sunday, as we left, "Well, now I have laundry lists of what God hates, what God is against...I think I'm ready to hear about what God is for."

What I'm realizing, the more I preach, is that I'm not that guy. Maybe it's naivety, maybe it's a reaction to Mr. Brimstone, maybe it's just brutally ignorant optimism...but I'm the guy who tries to preach about what God is for. I read the Bible and ask, "What does God want me to be, to do? How is God working in the world around me?" I don't think this is a bad thing...but I am wondering if this exempts me from effectively preaching Lent. I have done a sermon series on love for Lent...and I have tried to make it not just about some dumb puppy-dog "I get what I want" love, but a love that challenges us to change and see how love involves repentance, humility, and the like. I have tried to be convicting...I have tried to present the truth that the Gospel calls us to change dramatically and passionately.

But, if truly preaching Lent involves that next step... I just can't do it. I've heard too many people spend hours upon hours, sermons upon sermons, delineating all the dangers, toils, and snares that wait outside the church. I've heard too many people overplay the "battle" angle, making it seem like the world has spun out of God's control, now a cesspool full of dirty sin and dirtier sinners. I've spent too much time looking for the enemy in the culture, the government, in the people I meet. I think I've spent too much time thinking about what/who God hates instead of how God is working in the world and us to bring change.

And so that has been my approach to Lent. God has already moved, in Christ, to win the day. How can we, as the people of God, focus on the things Christ calls us to live out? How can we put aside selfish motivations and sin? How can we become who we are called to be? How can we focus on this merciful self-giving God in Christ...and not ourselves? Lent, as I guess I am approachign it, is less about feeling guilt or shame about doing what God is "against," less about advertising the evils of the world...but rather getting over our hesitations and fears to answer the challenge and see how God is bringing light and life into the world. To see how we are called to show the light that is greater than those sins. To see how we can be more Christ-like.

A time less to see the evils of the world for what they truly are...and more to see Christ for who he truly is.